Links, 9-22-11

Despite House Speaker John Boehner's assurances that the bill would pass, the House yesterday failed to pass a temporary spending bill that would allow the government to function from October 1st through November 18th and provide aid to victims of the recent hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods.  6 Democrats voted "yes" and 48 Republicans voted "no".

Democrats remained nearly united against the measure because they saw the amount of disaster assistance — $3.65 billion — as inadequate, and they objected to the Republicans’ insistence on offsetting some of the cost with cuts elsewhere.

The vote also showed the Republican leadership’s continuing struggle to corral the most conservative members of the caucus, as more than 40 Republicans rejected the measure because they did not believe it cut spending enough.

Since Republicans control the House, they could go back to the drawing board and devise a plan to placate some of those 48 members that would then pass.  But the Democrats control the Senate and Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority leader Mitch McConnell already passed a bill supported by Democrats and 10 Republicans that provides twice as much disaster assistance.


The other big news of the day was that Troy Davis, a convicted murderer, was put to death in Georgia.  After years of appeals and protests, thousands of people in the United States and around the world had come to believe that Davis was innocent.  After delivering a petition signed by 630,00 people -- including 51 members of congress -- to the Georgia Parole Board, supporters were hopeful.  But the Parole Board voted 3-2 in favor of rejecting the appeal.

The Supreme Court briefly delayed the execution last night, but declined to stay the execution and removed the last legal hurdle around 11pm.  The Supreme Court has shown an increasing reluctance to intervene in death penalty cases since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor shifted the court rightward.  O'Connor was replaced by Anthony Kennedy, formerly considered a member of the conservative wing of the court, as the swing vote.  New Chief Justice John Roberts has led an ascendant conservative wing consisting of Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Samuel Alito to a record number of 5-4 decisions in which the liberal wing (consisting of Obama appointees Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg) has consistently formed a 4-vote minority.