SALON

Wednesday, Jan 2, 2013 4:34 PM UTC

Who were the Democrats who voted against “fiscal cliff” deal?

The "fiscal cliff" bill, which split House Republican leadership, also saw opposition from Dems in both chambers

By

Topics: Democrats, Fiscal cliff, Budget Showdown, John Boehner, Barack Obama, Editor's Picks,

Who were the Democrats who voted against Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa (Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Though the deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” passed with overwhelming Democratic support, there were those in both the House and the Senate who were disappointed with the legislation that Congress ultimately pushed through.

In the House, 172 Democrats voted for the bill, with 16 who opposed it. Of the 16, nine lean more liberal, including Rep. Peter DeFazio, Ore., who explained:

While the Senate plan included an extension of unemployment insurance that will save benefits for over 29,000 Oregonians and an essential ‘doc-fix’ that will continue payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, this ‘deal’ hinders our ability to deal meaningfully with the deficit and burgeoning debt and puts in jeopardy Social Security and Medicare in the coming confrontation over the debt limit.

Jim Moran, Va., also more liberal, argued that the bill just paves the way for three more showdowns over the budget:

Unfortunately the bill before us today is wholly inadequate. It leaves our country with three more “fiscal cliffs” to negotiate over the next three months. There’s no clarity as to how we preserve the full faith and credit of the U.S. by raising the statutory debt limit, the economically devastating sequester is delayed two months but remains in full effect, and there’s no direction as to how we will fund the government for the remainder of the year when the continuing resolution runs out in March.

Of the more conservative House Dems who voted against the bill, Jim Cooper, Tenn., said his opposition was because the deal offered “No real spending cuts. No real deficit reduction. No acknowledgement of America’s out-of-control national debt.”

Mike McIntyre, N.C., took similar issue with the bill. “1) It will add almost $4 trillion to the nation’s debt; 2) It delays spending cuts; and 3) It does not provide for comprehensive tax reform that can help our small businesses create jobs,” McIntyre said in a statement.

The other Democrats to vote against the bill were Reps. Xavier Becerra, Calif., Earl Blumenauer, Ore., Rose DeLauro, Conn., Jim McDermott, Wash., Brad Miller, N.C., Bobby Scott, Va., Pete Visclosky, Ind., John Barrow, Ga., Jim Matheson, Utah, Collin Peterson, Minn., Kurt Schrader, Ore., and Adam Smith, Wash.

On the Senate side, the opposition came from three Democrats, each of whom cited different reasons for their opposition.

Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa, said he was angry that the bill raised the threshold for tax cut extensions to $450,000 per household. ”I’m disappointed to say that in my opinion, this legislation that we’re about to vote on falls short,” Harkin said. ”First, it doesn’t address the number-one priority: creating good middle-class jobs now. Unemployment remains way too high. This bill should include direct assistance on job creation measures.”

Sen. Michael Bennet, Colo., chalked up his opposition to the bill’s not addressing the deficit. “This proposal does not meet that standard and does not put in place a real process to reduce the debt down the road,” he said in a statement.

And Sen. Tom Carper, Del., explained that “When push came to shove, we walked away from entitlement and meaningful tax reform, at least for now. Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Obama, is fond of saying, ‘Never waste a good crisis.’ I’m afraid that we’ve just wasted a doozie at a time when our President’s bargaining power was at its zenith.”

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 10 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations