Guest Post by Mara Zebest
Dancing with the devil…
The Washington Times reports the following:
Sen. Mark Kirk says the real driving force behind the gun deal that was hatched by bipartisan work was booze and boat retreats.
The Illinois Republican said to reporters that visits to the Black Tie, a yacht owned by Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, played a large role in the Democratic-Republican come-together over background checks and other legislation related to gun control, Roll Call reported.
“You guys really ought to go out to National Harbor and see the Black Tie, which has been much of the reason for much of the bipartisan cooperation around here,” he said, as quoted in Roll Call.
Frequent visitors to the luxury vessel: Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Mr. Kirk said.
“Sometimes alcoholic beverages might be served and ties might … get loosened,” he said, in Roll Call.
Mr. Manchin and Mr. Kirk are known in the Senate as great friends, both in and out of office, Roll Call said.
Read More. The 16 GOP senators that voted to end debate were:
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee;
Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire;
Richard Burr of North Carolina;
Saxby Chambliss of Georgia;
Tom Coburn of Oklahoma;
Susan Collins of Maine;
Bob Corker of Tennessee;
Jeff Flake of Arizona;
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina;
John Hoeven of North Dakota;
Johnny Isakson of Georgia;
Dean Heller of Nevada;
Mark Kirk of Illinois;
John McCain of Arizona;
Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania;
Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the full roll-call vote:
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