But by blocking the bill on Tuesday, opponents made clear that their real problem was disclosure itself.
In his speech, Mr. Obama drew chortles from lawmakers -- and laughed at himself -- when he suggested that perhaps Republicans were hoping to spare Democrats political pain by blocking the bill.
By blocking the bill from moving to the Senate floor, Republicans accomplish the objective of stalling the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and blocking the Senate from considering the DREAM Act, which would give young, undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they enlist in the military or enroll in college.
By blocking the Defense Authorization bill, Republicans have deprived our military of more than $700 billion in authorized funds for a pay-raise for troops, an extension of Tricare benefits, and needed equipment in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The bill would block the cut until Jan . 1
Mr. Reid had initially planned to vote on the spending measure last Thursday night, but in a surprise development, Republicans, joined by a few Democrats, succeeded in blocking the bill.
Ironically, xHamster is the same site that boycotted North Carolina's transgender bathroom bill by blocking the state's users, so it looks like party politics just go out the window when people are online trying to bust a nut.
Greenpeace UK energy and climate campaigner Daisy Sands said: "Ministers have just moved to raise everyone's energy bills by blocking the cheapest form of clean power, whilst continuing to back the impossibly expensive Hinkley C and going 'all out' for unpopular, risky, and unproven fracking.
A decision by the Senate to block the bill would present the government with another potential trigger to call a double dissolution election.
By rallying colleagues to block the bill's rollback of corporate accountability and American rights, the Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, would perform a valuable public service.
The Senate blocked the bill by 33 votes to 31 before the debate reached the stage where the government could move the amendments it had announced.
