With entirely Democratic sponsorship other than Susan Collins.
The Hill reports that a bill to provide domestic-partner benefits for federal employees is moving in the House, with Tammy Baldwin as the sponsor, and in the Senate, with Joe Lieberman (!) as the sponsor.  Lieberman is trying to cast this as a matter of adjusting federal benefits policies to attract top talent by matching the strides big private employers have already made, rather than as a civil-rights issue.  But he’s also expected to carry the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Maybe he hopes that a couple of major gay-rights initiatives will protect him from the fury of progressives; I doubt it will work if he finally finks out on health care reform.
Baldwin has 126 co-sponsors, all Democrats. Lieberman has 24 co-sponsors, 23 Democrats plus Susan Collins. Remember this the next time someone tries to tell you that there’s no difference between the two parties.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
Similarly, when last I saw the list of House sponsors for DADT repeal, about a month ago, in a spreadsheet assembled by the blog "Pam's House Blend", they were ~180 D's and maybe an R or two.
"Remember this the next time someone tries to tell you that there’s no difference between the two parties."
The thing to remember when someone tries to tell you that there's no difference between the two parties is that they're an idiot.