Toomey Joins Wacko-Bird Caucus

Senator Pat Toomey has joined marathon-pseudo-filibusterer Ted Cruz and 17 other Republicans in voting against a bill that would keep the government running. Why? Because it wouldn’t include a provision that also sought to defund Obamacare. (Next up: The Senate sends the bill back to the House, which then gets to decide whether or not they want to let the government die.) It’s one thing for unruly populist Tea Partiers in the House to bring the country to the brink of shutdown every few months or so; it’s another altogether when 19 members of the more cautious (read: sane) upper chamber join the “wacko-bird” caucus too. Toomey, for the record, said he would vote to keep the government running if the Senate added a provision repealing Obamacare’s controversial medical device tax. It did not, so here we are. [Slate]