A Little Debt Ceiling Vote History

For Senate leaders Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and former Senator Obama, their calls for Republicans to get in line and raise the debt ceiling to "save America" ring hollow, as Byron York points out:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has frequently accused Republicans of playing partisan politics in the debt ceiling crisis. "The moment for partisan games is long since passed," Reid said on July 21. "It is time for patriots on both sides of the aisle to join hands and actually govern." On July 26, Reid released a statement headlined REPUBLICANS PUT POLITICS AHEAD OF THE ECONOMY. And on July 24, Reid cast himself as a bipartisan compromiser, trying to talk sense into his partisan adversaries. "We hope Speaker Boehner will abandon his 'my way or the highway' approach," Reid said, "and join us in forging a bipartisan compromise."

A look at Reid's record, however, shows that in the last decade his own voting on the issue of the debt ceiling is not only partisan but perfectly partisan. According to "The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases," a January 2010 report by the Congressional Research Service, the Senate has passed ten increases to the debt limit since 2000. Reid never voted to increase the debt ceiling when Republicans were in control of the Senate, and he always voted to increase the debt ceiling when Democrats were in control.

Other Democrats have also accused Republicans of partisanship in the debt fight. "It's time for bipartisan leadership, not partisan gamesmanship," said the number-two Democrat in the Senate, Richard Durbin, after Republicans pulled out of budget talks with President Obama. And Obama himself described the debt debate as a "partisan three-ring circus" -- leaving no doubt that it is Republicans who are practicing partisanship.

At look at Durbin's record shows that he, too, has voted along absolutely partisan lines. In the last decade, Durbin never voted to increase the debt ceiling when Republicans were in control and always voted to increase the debt ceiling when Democrats were in control. As for Obama, there were four votes to raise the debt ceiling when he was in the Senate. He missed two of them, voted no once when Republicans were in charge, and voted yes once when Democrats were in charge.

If you're thinking there's a similar partisanship among the Republican leadership, continue reading York's piece and he will prove that wrong.  If the GOP acted as Reid, Durbin and Obama have in the past, we would not see a debt ceiling increase again as long as Harry Reid runs the Senate and Obama is president.