With Sen. Scott Brown now favoring the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, plus all 58 Democratic Senators, pro-repeal forces need only one more vote to end debate, and move forward with the broader Pentagon spending bill that would wipe the controversial law out, effecting one of Obama’s campaign promises. And many are speculating that the one vote could come from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), as early as tonight. But she’s issued Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an ultimatum. TPM has the scoop:
Here’s what Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that she needs to support a full Senate debate on the defense authorization bill (the vehicle for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal): 15 guaranteed votes on amendments (10 for Republicans, and 5 for Democrats), and somewhere around four days to debate the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid already promised her the 15 amendments, but his initial offer was for a day or two of debate. Here’s her response to reporters tonight, after a Senate vote.
“The majority leader’s allotment of time for to debate those amendments was extremely short, so I have suggested doubling the amount of time, assuring that there would be votes, and making sure that the Republicans get to pick our own amendments as opposed to the Majority Leader.”
“If he does that I will do all that I can to help him proceed to the bill. But if he does not do that, then I will not,” she added.
Late this evening, per Collins’ request, Reid delayed a test vote he’d planned to hold tonight.
“Everyone on the Republican side wants to see the tax package completed first,” Collins said…
Keep in mind that this would cement her support for debating the bill. Presumably she’ll withhold endorsing the actual legislation until after that debate is over.
May we hope to see Sen. Scott Brown forcibly ejected from the Republican Party the very instant his vote is not critical?
This may be the first known instance of demonic possession of Senator by Senator: Ted is still working his evil agenda from beyond the grave.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEvery GOP senator who votes for this DADT repeal must be targeted for defeat. I don't care what it does to the numbers in the Senate.
Same with the house. But the senate at least has the chance to stop it. Brown already caused me to withdraw any support for the NRSC, now he is simply a democrat by another label. He needs to be defeated.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI wonder 1. if the people of Maine really are so stupid they cannot figure out a vote by Collins for debate of a measure favored by Democrats who have 59 members in the Senate is a vote to pass the measure, and 2. if Collins is so stupid she can't figure that out.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Every GOP senator who votes for this DADT repeal must be targeted for defeat. I don't care what it does to the numbers in the Senate."
Why is that, Sean? Allowing our brave gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly and effectively without fear of reprisal or blackmail is a national security imperative, and I say this as someone who works in (broadly speaking) the world of national security and speaks regularly with people who understand the ground-level realities of repeal.
Brown is simply doing what he was elected to do -- protecting America's national security interests, to say nothing of protecting the principle of equality under the law.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTelevangelist -- what, like Bradley Manning?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'll tell you why televangelist -- because homosexuality is incompatible with military service. If homosexuals are allowed to serve without criminal penalty, then before you know it, the backbone of the military, Christian soldiers, will drop out, leaving the US Military as nothing more than the feckless Dutch army social experiment.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusehey televangelist,
no, its not a national security imperative, stop being a friggin' drama queen!! do you think we wouldve won WW2 sooner if gays could serve? or the Civil War? our Armed Forces will be no more effective if gays can serve openly, in fact the opposite just may well be true.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSeanB,
If the military's "Christian soldiers" are as sensitive to different opinions and lifestyles as you imply, then why not implement DADT for atheists . . . for Jews . . . for Muslims . . . . and so on? And if "homosexuality is incompatible with military service," what about bisexuality, promiscuity, adultery, having children out of wedlock? Where do we draw the line?
Furthermore, do you really want to eject Scott Brown from the Senate, which is likely to happen anyway in 2012 and becomes a foregone conclusion if the GOP turns on him. Don't you get it? He's the best Republicans are going to get from Massachusetts, and I can guarantee that his Democrat replacement would not vote your way on DADT or just about anything else.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSeanB, it is not a Christian Military. It is the military of the United States of America, an all volunteer force. Where do you get off discriminating against people, oh, that is right, your narrow minded interpretation of what it means to be a Christian. Let us take it to an extreme, why allowed DIVORCED PEOPLE to serve, after all they violated countless dictates.
Hate mongers like you need to go away, your give liberals and independents all the reason they need to scoff at Conservative view points.
Face it, Israel, which is recognized as having a spectacular military does so with gays serving. So what if some soldier suddenly now wants to worry about another guy checking out his stuff, women have been putting up with this for years.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFor the life of me, I cannot figure out why republicans oppose the repeal of DADT. It makes us look small and petty. We should be better than that. Issues like this, where we purposely discriminate against a sector of our society because we don't approve of their sexual orientation is one of the reasons why we can't build a permanent majority. The religious right is just going to have to get over their bigotry -- or the republicans are just going to have to cross them on this issue. We always say that we are a big tent party. Issues like this prove otherwise.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI oppose repeal of DADT because openly homosexual soldiers are incompatible with military unit cohesion. We need to realize that our soldiers are primarily teenagers and in their early 20's. Please think back to what it was like to be in a high school locker room when someone was credibly accused of being gay. The suspicion and mistrust that openly gay soldiers will create within our military units will destroy the bond that men need when they are fighting for their lives. Ultimately, repeal of DADT will get some of our soldiers killed.
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