Senate GOP forces Democrats to vote on their issues to get budget

 Fox News:

Senate Republicans forced Democrats to take tough votes on issues ranging from critical race theory to abortion to fracking during a 14-hour "vote-a-rama" Tuesday and Wednesday as they put up resistance to the budget resolution that opens the door for Democrats to pass a $3.5 trillion spending plan.

The vote-a-rama – in which senators can bring nonbinding amendments up for votes until they get tired of doing so – is a necessary procedural step in budget reconciliation. Democrats are using that process to sidestep the legislative filibuster in the Senate, therefore allowing them to pass a wish list of programs without input from Republicans.

But GOP senators extracted their pound of flesh during the vote-a-rama, getting Democrats on the record on dozens of issues that could serve as messaging points during the 2022 midterms. They even forced Democrats to split on several issues, therefore successfully passing some of their amendments.

One of those victories was an amendment from Sen. Tom Cotton R-Ark., supporting banning federal funds from backing critical race theory in schools. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., joined all 49 Republicans present to vote in favor of the amendment.
...

Republicans forced Democrats to split on a several other votes. Eight Democrats backed a proposal from Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from banning fracking. Four Democrats voted for an amendment by Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., opposing any policies from the Department of Agriculture that would cut federal funding to fossil fuel plants.

"A fracking ban would weaken national security, increase global emissions, and take more money out of the pockets of hardworking Americans," Cramer tweeted. "By enacting one, Democrats would be putting their reckless agenda ahead of the needs of their constituents. Glad my amendment passed."

Four Democrats – both Nevada senators and Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. – voted in favor of an amendment that supported more resources for deporting criminal illegal aliens. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced that amendment.
...

And all but nine Democrats voted in favor of an amendment from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, that would support building renewable energy technology with parts that are made and sourced in America, rather than China.

All Democrats, meanwhile, voted against an amendment from Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opposing changes some Democrats are asking for to reinstate the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which provides tax relief to wealthy people in blue states. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., counterpunched, introducing an amendment in favor of a progressive tax code in which the wealthy pay more than their proportional share. No Republicans voted for that.

Nearly all Democrats, meanwhile, opposed an amendment from Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., supporting a ban on abortions of children with Down syndrome. Manchin joined Republicans in supporting the amendment while Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, opposed it.

"Senate Democrats just voted to allow the most lethal kind of discrimination imaginable: being singled out and brutally killed because of a Down syndrome diagnosis," Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., tweeted. "Every life is precious, no matter how small, no matter how many chromosomes they may have."
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There is more.

Democrats will pay a price at the polls for supporting some of these issues.  The RNC should be drafting the political ads as the votes were taken. 

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