Senate’s Vote-o-Rama Shows Donors’ Influence

| Every Voice Staff

They call it the “vote-o-rama.” Beginning yesterday, continuing into the wee hours of this morning, senators voted on 57 different amendments to the budget resolution until approving the overall bill after 3 in the morning.

These amendments not binding but are a chance for senators to make a public stand over an issue, often becoming fodder come election time in ads. And of course, many of those stands have something in common with what big campaign donors want. Consider:

Global warming. Forty-nine senators voted in favor of an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) that called for Congress to address carbon emissions. The energy sector sank more than $111 million into 2014 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Top recipients were Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who both took around $1.2 million.

Global warming part II. McConnell also offered an amendment — although this one passed by a vote of 57 to 43 — that prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from denying highway funds to states who don’t submit plans to comply with President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan to combat global warming. As we wrote earlier this week, McConnell has taken more money from coal mining interests than any other member of Congress. That $838,000 is a subset of the $4 million he’s taken over all from the energy sector, which also gave $1.4 million to Kentuckians for a Strong Leadership, a super PAC that supported him in his 2014 race.

Consumer protection. A proposal by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to establish a fund for consumer protection went down, 46 to 54. The back story: Merkley and Sen. Elizabeth Warren cried foul when they saw the budget resolution contained language subjecting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to congressional approval for its budget. The CFPB, created after the 2008 financial meltdown, which Warren helped establish, has long been a target by the GOP in Congress. Overall, the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors poured nearly half a billion dollars into the 2014 elections, according to CRP.

Student loans and taxes on the wealthy. Two Democratic amendments, one by Warren and another by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) sought to eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy. Warren’s would use the money to help students refinance their loans. Both lost. The median wealth for a member of Congress was more than $1 million in 2013, according to CRP. And big campaign contributions not only come from a very small percentage of the population — less than one percent of the one percent give contributions of $2,500 or more — but candidates raise large amounts of cash from wealthy neighborhoods, like the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

These are just a sampling of what kept senators up late at night. Other amendments dealt with opposing an energy tax, increasing defense dollars (dueling amendments by presidential hopefuls Sen. Paul Rand (R-Ky.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)), an attempt to raise the minimum wage, and more. And it’s hardly an end to debate-via-budget policy: McConnell has vowed to attach riders to spending bills to thwart the Obama administration’s programs on the environment, health care, and financial services.

Every Voice Staff