Let the Spin Begin!

I was shocked this afternoon while working when flashed across the screen was the message, "The Farm Bill is Defeated in the House."  It is a clear signal that the United States House of Representatives is broken.  The answer is simple.  The Republicans (for the most part) do not want to work with the other side.  Now Kristi Noem is able to come back to South Dakota and say, "Golly Gee.  Those darn Democrats.  They won't do what we tell them."  The problem is she was basically promising that the bill would pass.  In fact in the March 16, 2013 issue of the Argus the headline read "Kristi Noem: House will pass farm bill"  OOPS!  So now she is blaming the Democrats?

The Argus quotes her explanation:

Noem said both sides contributed to the bill’s failure, but pointed her finger primarily at the other side of the aisle.

“Both Republicans and Democrats today share the blame for this outcome,” Noem said.

But Democrats told Republicans they “would have more votes for the bill” than actually appeared, she said. The amendment process cost the bill some support, but she said a bigger factor was President Barack Obama’s late-game opposition.

It turns out the Democrats promised 40 votes and delivered 27 even after moves by the Republicans to end dairy subsidies and Cut SNAP benefits and reward states for forcing hunger people from the program.  The 13 additional votes promised would not have been enough to pass it.

Guess who voted for the Southerland's amendment? (One of the amendments being held up as the vote that destroyed the chances of passage.)

The reason why some Democrats were pushed away from supporting the bill is explained by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains the amendment and what it would actually do.

The Democrat leader on the AG issues (Collin Peterson) best explained what needs to be done:

Peterson said House GOP leadership should take a look at the Republicans who voted for the Southerland and Goodlatte amendments but voted against final passage of the bill.

"I would guess it didn't get them a damn thing on their side, plus it's wrong policy," he said.

Kristi needs to stop blaming the Democrats because in the end, she is the one that promised passage (sort of) and she is in the seat right now.