The Senate needs a kick in the ass: Call them now!

I recommend you cash in your 401K, buy guns, ammo and MREs cause the apocalypse is coming. It's not the Mayans, it's Congress.

Why am I ringing the alarm bell? Well, the fiscal cliff will surely destroy humanity and I have proof that we're going to drive off it at full speed. We know Congress can't agree on jack shit. But now I've found they can't even agree upon stuff that they agree upon. Sound stupid? It is.

Exhibit 1: The Sportsman's Act of 2012 (S. 3525)

This Act is a wonderful thing. It takes twenty smart, relatively politically neutral laws, packages them together into something that both the House and Senate like and sends them up the flagpole to get saluted. The saluting commences.

Are there details to be worked out? Sure. The House has passed their version. The Senate has their own version. But everyone seemed to be rowing in the right direction. Hell, the bill was supported by both the White House and the NRA. When was the last time that happened?

Well, apparently one provision of this law will raise the price of a duck stamp from $15 to $25* and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) pointed out that this violated Senate rules (and perhaps the U.S. Constitution).

So, all the Republicans piled on and killed this thing.

Let's say that again slowly:

The Republicans (and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)**) killed a law the NRA supported because of a procedural issue.

Against the Senate rules!? Jeez.

This is just the sort of crap that could get worked out in committee. The bill has to go there anyway to get reconciled with the bill the House approved. But instead of just letting this thing sail through with high-fives all around and a bit of non-partisan cooperation, a wrench was thrown in.

Good grief.

Now we (you) need to act.

A list of how the Senator's voted (taken from Field and Stream) is below. If one of these.... Senators is in your neighborhood, give them a call. Let them know how important it is to get things sorted out ASAP so we can get this thing passed.

This bill is too important to die under the weight of partisan crap.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Till then, I'll see you in your zombie-proof, bomb shelter. You better be armed or I'm taking your canned chick peas.

SENATORS WHO VOTED 'NO' (44)
Alexander, Lamar; 202-224-4944 (R-TN)     
Ayotte, Kelly; 202-224-3324 (R-NH)          
Barrasso, John; 202-224-6441 (R-WY)       
Blunt, Roy; 202-224-5721 (R-MO)          
Boozman, John; 202-224-4843 (R-AR)          
Boxer, Barbara; 202-224-3553 (D-CA)          
Brown, Scott; 202-224-4543 (R-MA)          
Burr, Richard; 202-224-3154 (R-NC)         
Chambliss, Saxy; 202-224-3521 (R-GA)          
Coats, Daniel; 202-224-5623 (R-IN)          
Coburn, Tom; 202-224-5754 (R-OK)          
Cochran, Thad; 202-224-5054 (R-MS)          
Collins, Susan; 202-224-2523 (R-ME)          
Corker, Bob; 202-224-3344 (R-TN)          
Cornyn, John; 202-224-2934 (R-TX)          
Crapo, Mike; 202-224-6142 (R-ID)          
DeMint, Jim; 202-224-6121 (R-SC)          
Enzi, Michael; 202-224-3424 (R-WY)          
Graham, Lindsey; 202-224-5972 (R-SC)          
Grassley, Chuck; 202-224-3744 (R-IA)          
Hatch, Orrin; 202-224-5251 (R-UT)          
Heller, Dean; 202-224-6244 (R-NV)          
Hutchison, Kay; 202-224-5922 (R-TX)          
Inhofe, James 202-224-4721 (R-OK)          
Johanns, Mike; 202-224-4224 (R-NE)          
Johnson, Ron; 202-224-5323 (R-WI)          
Kyl, Jon; 202-224-4521 (R-AZ)              
Lee, Mike; 202-224-5444 (R-UT)              
Lugar, Richard; 202-224-4814 (R-IN)          
McCain, John; 202-224-2235 (R-AZ)          
McConnell, Mitch; 202-224-2541 (R-KY)          
Moran, Jerry; 202-224-6521 (R-KS)          
Murkowski, Lisa; 202-224-6665 (R-AK)          
Paul, Rand; 202-224-4343 (R-KY)          
Portman, Rob; 202-224-3353 (R-OH)          
Risch, James; 202-224-2752 (R-ID)          
Roberts, Pat; 202-224-4774 (R-KS)          
Rubio, Marco; 202-224-3041 (R-FL)          
Sessions, Jeff; 202-224-4124 (R-AL)          
Shelby, Richard; 202-224-5744 (R-AL)          
Thune, John; 202-224-2321 (R-SD)          
Toomey, Patrick; 202-224-4254 (R-PA)          
Vitter, David; 202-224-4623 (R-LA)          
Wicker, Roger; 202-224-4623 (R-MS)

SENATORS WHO VOTED 'YES' (50)
Akaka, Daniel (D-HI)
Baucus, Max (D-MT)
Bennet, Michael (D-CO)
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM)          
Blumenthal, Richard (D-CT)
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) 
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) 
Cardin, Benjamin (D-MD) 
Carper, Thomas (D-DE) 
Casey, Robert (D-PA) 
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) 
Coons, Christopher (D-DE) 
Durbin, Richard (D-IL) 
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) 
Franken, Al (D-MN)
Gillibrand, Kirsten (D-NY)
Hagan, Kay (D-NC)
Inouye, Daniel (D-HI) 
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) 
Kerry, John (D-MA) 
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Kohl, Herb (D-WI) 
Lautenberg, Frank (D-NJ)
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) 
Levin, Carl (D-MI) 
Lieberman, Joseph (ID-CT)
Manchin, Joe (D-WV) 
McCaskill, Claire (D-MO) 
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) 
Merkley, Jeff (D-OR) 
Mikulski, Barbara (D-MD) 
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) 
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) 
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) 
Reed, Jack (D-RI) 
Reid, Harry (D-NV) 
Rockefeller, John (D-WV)
Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Schumer, Charles (D-NY)
Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH)
Snowe, Olympia (R-ME)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Tester, John (D-MT)
Udall, Mark (D-CO)
Udall, Tom (D-NM)
Warner, Mark (D-VA)
Webb, Jim (D-VA)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

Notes:
* Every duck hunter I know would support the increased fee.
** Why, you ask, would Senator Boxer vote with the Republicans? Well, it has nothing to do with Senate rules or the US Constitution. One provision of the law would prevent the EPA from regulating lead in bullets and apparently California has banned those bullets. She's just voting against that provision. I won't comment on the idiocy of that....oops, I did.

Additional Reading
US Senate Kills Sportsman Bill
Senators try to bring back the Sportsman Bill
Help Us Save the Sportsmans Act