Tuesday 7 February 2017

America, Your Heartless Vice President Just Casted An Historic Vote Against Kids

Posted by sizzledfeed on 12:04

America, Your Heartless Vice President Just Casted An Historic Vote Against Kids

Pence’s Tiebreaking Vote Confirms DeVos As Education Secretary

Vice President Mike Pence cast an historic vote in the Senate today, following a 50-50 vote on the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. All 48 Senate Democrats, after partaking in a 24-hour speaking session on the Senate floor, voted against President Trump’s pick. They were joined by two Republican Senators: Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). In his role as President of the Senate, Pence was tasked with casting the deciding vote. While there was little doubt about how the VP would vote, according to the New York Times, the mere fact that he was called upon to do so made history:

It was the first time that a vice president has been summoned to the Capitol to break a tie on a cabinet nomination, according to the Senate historian.

While many of Trump’s cabinet picks have been met with varying degrees of resistance from Senate Democrats, none were as galvanizing as DeVos. Following the votes of Collins and Murkowski, she was the only nominee who failed to get full Republican support. Criticisms of DeVos were loud and constant, often leading to a complete shutdown of Senate phone lines. Her confirmation hearing was routinely described as “botched“. And the objections from Democrats as well as concerned citizens were strong and varied. Chief among them:

Her assertion that schools may need loaded firearms to prevent against attacks from grizzly bears.
She has hinted that special needs children to not necessarily belong in the public school system.
She did not attend, nor send her children to, public schools.
Her strict advocacy of vouchers and charter schools are viewed as a direct threat to public education.
DeVos’ lobbyist history is so vast that she said in 1997, “My family is the single biggest contributor to the RNC—we expect a return on our investment”.

RELATED: DeVos Fries Kids Brains With Fake Science For Money

Pence is hardly the only Republican who showed a lack of courage in this particular vote. He was obviously only called upon to do so because the entire Senate was divided. But the fact that he made Senate history this afternoon will not only follow him throughout his political career, but throughout American history. It will be forever recorded that Betsy DeVos was the sole cabinet appointment in America’s first 241 years that brought the Senate to a tie. And her actions as Education Secretary will shadow those 51 Republicans in every campaign from here on out.