No, but it doesn't necessarily have to. They will use their leverage to blackmail the leadership on bills they really want to use to garner support for their particular pet projects. This is why Frist needs to bring to bear the full power of the leadership on the 7 Republican traitors. He and Sen. McConnell (whose job as Majority Whip is to keep these traitors in line) need to have a nice little sit down with Senator Cochran, the chair of Appropriations and explain to them that no piece of pork legislation (or better yet, any appropriation excluding defense)originating from the office of any one of these 7 Senators will be buried in committee until these 7 publicaly repudiate the compromise. And perhaps make a phone call over to their House counterparts and make sure that it doesn't find it's way into the matching House bill either. Once that's done, the hold will be lifted....but it will be immediate reimposed should they deviate from party line votes on important legislation and amendments to bills. These men only understand it when you take away their votes or their pork. We can take away our votes and our cash contributions. It is within the Leadership's position to deny them their pork. The Majority Leader needs to use some of the perks and privileges of that position to advance the party's agenda....or he needs to return to his nice quiet surgery practice to make room for someone who can. If McCain had that position, do you think for a moment he wouldn't be strong-arming people using every bit of power he could gather?
Six of them anyways.
Make it permanent with Chafee. He makes Jeffords look like Rush Limbaugh.
And thus begins the decline of principled conservatism: you don't get your pork unless you ignore your principles.
Well done.
"The Majority Leader needs to use some of the perks and privileges of that position to advance the party's agenda...."
Think...Conservative LBJ...Conservative LBJ...why doesn't someone send an oil portrait of him to Frist to hang in his office for inspiration?