There ain’t a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.
This quote is attributed to the late George C. Wallace, governor of Alabama in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, and frequent candidate for President of the United States.
I used to think it was true and have thought so at times recently. But take a look at the vote on the recent farm bill, which spends an ungodly amount of money on farmers. Remember that the beneficiaries tend to be in rural districts and that rural districts and rural states are disproportionately represented by Republicans.
That makes the lopsided nature of the vote all the more striking.
Of 190 Democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted on the bill, only 3 voted against. That’s only 1.6%.
Of 226 Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted on the bill, 44 voted against. That’s 19.5%.
Now take a look at the Senate vote on the same bill. The results are even more striking.
Of the 51 Republican Senators, 13 voted against the bill. That’s 25.5%.
Of the 47 Democratic Senators and two Independent Senators (who typically vote with the Democrats), 0 voted against the bill. That’s 0%.
Looks like well over a dime’s worth of difference.
READER COMMENTS
Steve S
Dec 17 2018 at 7:29pm
I think you have to remember those votes don’t exist in a vacuum. There might be some other dynamics at play where certain representatives or senators knew their vote wouldn’t be decisive so they made it for or against to further some other interest.
Benjamin Cole
Dec 17 2018 at 7:41pm
Yes, but there are other bills. How about the $1 trillion plus we spend every year on national security?
US foreign, trade, and military policy appears to be made by multinationals, regardless of which party is in power.
And there is a legitimate role for government in the area of the environment and places where the price signal does not capture the cost of pollution.
Sure, there may be a dime’s worth of difference on this issue or that issue but at the end of the day DC appears to be one blob, soaked in lobbyist money.
JVM
Dec 17 2018 at 8:19pm
The divisive issue on the Farm Bill was not the question of massive subsidies for farmers, which were a foregone conclusion, rather whether or not it would include food stamps and how generous those would be, which affects urban areas. That’s why Democrats were more supportive of this compromise than Republicans.
Random article from google news on why it was stalled, but feel free to do your own search: http://www.tpr.org/post/farm-bill-remains-stalled-because-disagreements-over-food-stamps
The whole thing is really a massive bipartisan pork machine, that in effect is not nearly as rural-specific as your post suggests.
Dylan
Dec 18 2018 at 7:43am
Thanks for providing this context JVM.
Andre
Dec 18 2018 at 8:23am
This is completely intuitive. The Farm Bill isn’t primarily support for farmers: something like 80% of it is food stamps and free and reduced school lunches (i.e., the nutrition programs). Both farm and nutrition are bundled this way to ensure they BOTH pass.
It makes perfect sense that ALL democrats would support this (feeding kids!), whereas some minority fraction of conservatives (fiscal conservatives, I’d guess), as a matter of principle, would be against the spending.
Alan Goldhammer
Dec 18 2018 at 9:06am
I was just getting ready to write the same thing! Andre is correct about the various programs in the bill.
David Henderson
Dec 18 2018 at 9:33am
Thanks, Andre. So my reasoning about the Republicans going against farmers is wrong. My reasoning about there being more than a dime’s worth of difference is right.
Hazel Meade
Dec 18 2018 at 12:52pm
Either way it is still a minority of Republicans, and in a democracy, the difference between 25% of the vote and 0% of the vote is effectively zero. The people that favor more spending did not have to work hard to pass this bill.
Adam
Dec 18 2018 at 2:37pm
Ditto to Andre’s point about spending. 80% goes in SNAP and associated programs. https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2018/01/focus-snap-largest-farm-bill-program/
Mark Z
Dec 18 2018 at 6:31pm
I wonder if what state or district senators/reps came from better explains how they voted than party/ideology.
Phil
Dec 24 2018 at 6:11pm
The data say more about the difference between Representatives and Senators within the same party than they do differences between the parties.
Comments are closed.