New day, new vote.
The Senate did an abrupt about-face yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to begin paying for 370 miles of fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, just three weeks after voting against the same spending.
The amendment’s sponsor said senators were so embarrassed by that July 13 vote that most felt they had to reverse course and vote for it this time — especially after so many were on record in May voting to build the fence in the first place. The amendment, which provides nearly $2 billion for the project, passed 94-3, with 66 senators switching from “no” to “yes” votes since last month.
Did you catch that? 66 Senators switched their vote from “no” to “yes”. Gee, I wonder why!?!?
“I think people wanted to get right,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican. “People heard from their constituents after they voted to authorize the fence in May and then voted against funding it a couple of weeks ago.”
Duh.
The fact of the matter is, after the “no fence” vote, the constituent phone rang off the hook. Those who got through left bone chilling messages like, “I won’t be voting for you in November because you are weak on border security, and you’re an idiot too.”
That’s what it takes to get a reaction out of Washington. Too bad we don’t do it more often.