Because there are only 44 Democratic senators, the list is limited to those who voted more than once with Republicans, plus all those who cosponsored the Corker-Cardin bill (formerly the Corker-Menendez bill). It’s really only the top ten in this list who present any real concern with regards to their voting. I included the final eleven because eight of them had cosponsored the Corker-Cardin bill which in and of itself is a stain on their record.
Most of the information for compiling this list was sourced from the diaries of Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees who provides an outstanding service to Daily Kos readers with diaries detailing Democratic voting records on major legislation in the House and Senate.
As an avid follower of these diaries, I found myself wishing for a spreadsheet display of all those recalcitrant Democrats who vote Republican. Then it occurred to me that if this is what I want to see, then the easiest and quickest way to accomplish that is to do it myself. (It only took me til mid April to figure this out... d’oh!)
I began with the Democratic Reps in the House and you can find the spreadsheet results in this diary. The Senate spreadsheet was an easier task. This worksheet includes a column with the Obama–Romney percentages for each senator’s state, an improvement recommended by David Jarman, David Nir, our Daily Kos election specialist, and MarioDemocrat. David Nir made sourcing this information simple by providing me with excellent links that rendered the task a very easy one.
The spreadsheet below ranks 22 senators with the worst at the top. The worksheet uses color-coding to distinguish the votes, ie the dot colors match the bill/amendment designation colors to show who voted for which legislation. The only exception to the dot key is the Keystone XL Pipeline vote-o-rama which comprised 46 votes plus final passage of the bill. Rather than assign a dot for every one of those votes, I followed the example set by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees and simply provided the number of times each senator had voted with Republicans. To see the full-sized spreadsheet, just click inside the image.
Below the spreadsheet is a list of the bill and amendment designations with a brief description, whether it was passed (P) or rejected (R), date of vote, and links to relevant diaries or website for further information.
If you have one or two senators on this list, then by all means use the information which follows to let them know what you think of their voting record. However, please consider carefully how you will frame your message to them. If there’s any chance at all of turning these senators around, then that must be our first priority. Please also take into account that the first four on the list hail from states which favored Romney in 2012 as this fact is bound to have influenced them.
What we really need is a campaign to turn as many recalcitrant Democrats around as we can. It is far more satisfying (and less work) to persuade them to be better Democrats than it is to work to replace them. If we can succeed with just a few then it’s a few more we can add to the "more and better" column.
If your Democratic senator(s) do not appear on this list, please let them know how very pleased/proud/happy you are with them - a little encouragement goes a long way!
(Click inside image to see full size spreadsheet)
January
Am1 – Warren amendment to HR 26 (R) Jan 8, 2015
Am48 – Gillibrand amendment to remove the Halliburton loophole from the Safe Drinking Water Act. (R) Jan 29, 2015
Summary of all Keystone XL Pipeline votes: How often did your Senator break party lines? Jan 12 - 29, 2015
S1 – Bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline* (P) Jan 29, 2015 *Diary by Meteor Blades
February
Democratic senators voted on party lines to pass a clean bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security and reject a bill prohibiting funds from being used to carry out the President’s Executive Order on immigration.
March
Am471 – Wyden amendment to S Con Res 11: To create a point of order against legislation that would cut benefits, raise the retirement age, or privatize Social Security. (R) Mar 25, 2015
Am498 – Hatch amendment to S Con Res 11: To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund for Social Security. (P) Mar 24, 2015
Am777 – Sanders amendment to S Con Res 11: To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to recognize that climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution. (R) Mar 25, 2015
Am601 – Bennett amendment to S Con Res 11: To create a point of order against legislation that would privatize Medicare, cut guaranteed benefits, increase out-of-pocket spending, or turn Medicare into a premium support plan. (R) Mar 25, 2015
Am1094 – Warren amendment to S Con Res 11 to expand Social Security. (R) Mar 27, 2015
Am928 – Blunt amendment to S Con Res 11 to prohibit a carbon tax. (P) Mar 27, 2015
Am432 – Baldwin amendment to S Con Res 11: To provide additional resources to create the opportunity for more Americans to obtain a higher education and advanced job skills by supporting two free years of community college paid for by raising revenue through requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. (R) Mar 26, 2015
April
Thus far in April, most votes have been along party lines. The most significant exception to this has not been a vote but allegiance shown to a Republican bill by cosponsoring it. That bill is the Corker-Cardin bill (formerly the Corker-Menendez bill) which seeks to force the President to include Congress in international negotiations with Iran. The bill has changed from its original demands into something more tolerable but it still doesn’t excuse those fourteen Democrats who didn’t just support it, they cosponsored it. Senate Republicans boasted from the outset that they could get a veto-proof majority for this bill. It’s shameful that so many Democrats fell in with their scheming so willingly. That is why the spreadsheet was extended to include every one of those fourteen Democrats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~❀~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~