Guantánamo Closing Hands Republicans a Wedge Issue (hopefully the correct U.S. House and last week's 90-to-6 vote in U.S. Senate vote diffused)

From The New York Times:

Senate Democrats, who last week broke with their president to join a 90-to-6 vote against funds to close Guantánamo, faulted the White House for failing to provide political cover by reassuring the public that he had a clear plan the for the prisoners. The Democrats left open the possibility of authorizing the money later this year, once Mr. Obama provides a detailed plan.

Mr. Obama has pledged to press ahead, saying he is doing his best to correct the mistakes the last administration made with the prison. But Republicans have now beaten the Democrats twice on this issue in the last two years with overwhelming votes against transferring detainees to the United States.

Several Republican lawmakers in both chambers taunted California Democrats like Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, a leading Guantánamo critic, by proposing that the prisoners should be sent to the prison Alcatraz.