With Democrats calling it a political stunt and a sham, the Senate on Tuesday voted down any attempt at starting debate on their Green New Deal.
Fifty-seven Senators including Jim Inhofe and James Lankford of Oklahoma voted against the plan. No one voted for it as 43 Democrats voted “present.” Republicans were joined by red State Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put the plan to a vote to force Democrats to take a public stand on the measure.
”I could not be more glad that the American people will have the opportunity to learn precisely where each one of their senators stand on the ‘Green New Deal’: a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire US economy,” McConnell tweeted.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) made the following statement after the Green New Deal failed to receive enough votes to clear a procedural hurdle for consideration:
“In short, the Green New Deal is a bad deal for America. This is especially true for the hard-working people of Oklahoma,” Inhofe said. “The Democrats’ plan seeks to ‘reorient our entire economy,’ including overhauling whole industries such as energy, transportation, manufacturing, farming and health care, costing millions of jobs and tens of trillions of dollars. Yet, despite the Green New Deal being a Democrat proposal, none of them voted to support the resolution, because they know their socialist agenda is a non-starter for the American people who love their freedom and hate heavy-handed government interference in their lives.
“This is a signal that the Democrats do not have the courage of their convictions to be honest with the public that their dreams are not about a cleaner environment, but about consolidating more and more power in Washington instead of in the individual. I was proud to vote against the Green New Deal and I appreciate the Majority Leader for holding this vote today. Every member of Congress should be on the record as to their position on this radical, left-wing legislation.”