Article snippet: GOP senators are accusing Democrats of exacting revenge for a Senate vote that occurred six years ago. Republicans say their colleagues across the aisle are holding up a disaster relief bill that would provide assistance to Midwest and Southern states because of GOP opposition to aid for Senate Minority Leader MORE’s (D) home state of New York after it was hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Sen. MORE (Vt.), the lead Democratic negotiator for the pending relief legislation, brought up the 2013 vote during a recent, contentious conversation. “The senator from Vermont called me last Friday and said, ‘I want to show something,’ so he sent over this two-page spread on that vote. Of the 37 ‘no’ votes, I was one of them,” Isakson said when asked whether Democrats are stalling disaster relief for Georgia and other GOP states as a form of political payback for opposing prior legislation that also provided assistance to New Jersey and Connecticut. “We had a few words,” Isakson added. The conversation is proof that the current impasse over disaster relief is a form of political payback, according to Republicans. “That dynamic is at least a part of the calculation on the part of the Democrats,” Senate Majority Whip MORE (R-S.D.) said when asked about Isakson’s allegations. The Georgia lawmaker was one of 36 Republican senators who voted against a $51 billion package for Sandy relief. GOP Sens. MORE (Neb.) were among those three dozen senators, and both of their states would ben... Link to the full article to read more