Dr. No Lives

So today the Senate tried to ruin Tom Coburn's day by packaging over 30 bills that he has held up despite overwhelming bipartisan majorities into one "Tomnibus" bill.

Engineered by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, the bill includes 35 of the most irresistible-sounding measures stuck on the docket, including the Mothers Act and the Protect Our Children Act.

There are items to commemorate “The Star-Spangled Banner” and to try to curb pornography, cut drug use and help victims of Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Officially known as the Advancing America’s Priorities Act, the catchall legislation includes a measure to improve life for victims of paralysis, which Mr. Reid calls the Superman bill in tribute to the late Christopher Reeve.

The obvious intent is to apply a little legislative Kryptonite and embarrass Mr. Coburn into dropping his procedural objections to the measures while highlighting his willingness to put roadblocks in front of bills that have support from all corners — a textbook case of what Democrats view as extreme Republican obstructionism.

A lot of these bills have Republican sponsors, and all of them have overwhelming support. Kagro X, writing for Daily Kos, put it this way: "here's the question going into the vote: Will Senate Republicans flip on their own legislation, just to back up the paranoid theories of a crazy doofus whose main concern in life (besides crossword puzzles) appears to be the growing menace of teenage bathroom lesbians?"

But Senate Republicans, nothing if not a loyal group, decided to go crashing down with the Coburn ship, backing up the wackadoo from Oklahoma just enough to stop the bill in its tracks. The final cloture vote was 50-35, with 10 Republicans shrinking from their duty and not voting.

"Holds" like this hold up because Republicans have more loyalty to each other and their party than they do to the country. A hold like Chris Dodd trying to stop the march of the surveillance state and expansive executive power failed because Democrats have no such fealty.

...Just to update, this was a good move by Reid. We now have Senators like Susan Collins on the record as voting against treatment for stroke victims, stopping child predators, victims of paralysis, homeless youth, and about 20 other popular programs.