From health care reform to the confirmation of countless Obama administration appointees, Republican members of the United States Senate have been on a non-stop campaign to obstruct initiatives put forth by Democrats and the White House.
Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are among those paving the way to cement the GOP's reputation as being the "party of no." The conservative Senators say "nay" to legislation in roll call votes more frequently than any of their colleagues on either side of the aisle, according to data analysis conducted by Brighten Godfrey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Godfrey, whose research examines Senate roll call votes recorded over the last 20-plus years, writes:
Does one party vote "no" more often? ... There is some signal in this data, such as the Republican takeover in the mid-90s. And 2010 is so far at very low fraction of Yea votes by Republicans (49%), beat only by 1993 (43%).
It seems that Sarah Palin would be pleased with the finding. "Party of no? Nah. We're the party of 'hell no,'" the ex-Alaska Governor boasted back in April.
So, which sitting Republican Senators most frequently adhere to a "just say no" mantra when it comes time to cast an up or down vote?
Below, a slideshow counting down the top five GOP lawmakers vying for the title of top obstructionist (check out Godfrey's analysis here):
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