Where The Rubber Meets The Road (7/6/07)

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.

(Lots of non-Blogger network issues today, by the way - it's a wonder I can get anything published at all.)

House

Congressional pay raise. The House affirmed, 244-181, a pay increase for members of Congress set for January 2008. The vote, which occurred during debate on a federal budget bill (HR 2829), cleared the way for an approximately 2.7 percent raise that will hike rank-and-file salaries to nearly $170,000.

A yes vote was to raise congressional pay.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), H. James Saxton (R., N.J.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Allyson Schwartz (D., Pa.) and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Patrick Murphy believes that Congress should be tightening its fiscal belt, especially to make a sacrifice during wartime, hence his vote. He’s absolutely right, and so is everyone who went along with him (and a big raspberry goes out to the bipartisan clowns on this who don’t recognize that).

Vice president's budget. Members refused, 217-209, to eliminate Vice President Cheney's budget, following his claim to be separate from the executive branch and therefore not covered by a presidential order on the archiving of secret papers.

A yes vote backed the amendment to HR 2829 (above).

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy and Schwartz.

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Pitts, Saxton, Sestak and Smith.

This is the first time I’ve been disappointed by Admiral Joe. This was close, and we could have used his help (it would serve that criminal right if Congress cut off his funding).

Global warming. Members rejected, 274-153, a proposal to strip an Interior Department appropriations bill (HR 2643) of a nonbinding call for regulations to limit the emissions that help cause global warming.

A yes vote was to remove the global-warming section.

Voting yes: Pitts.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Saxton, Sestak and Smith.

Not voting: Schwartz.

Joe Pitts takes up his almost-permanent position out on the proverbial limb once again. And what’s really dumb about this vote in particular is that, as noted here, he didn’t even receive that much from oil and gas interests when running for re-election last year, and those are the people who would be impacted the most by something like this.

So he could have done the right thing, but he didn’t, though the proposal failed anyway. What a fool.

Offshore drilling. Members rejected, 233-196, a proposal to end the 26-year-old ban on Atlantic and Pacific offshore energy drilling. The vote occurred during debate on HR 2643 (above).

A yes vote was to repeal the ban.

Voting yes: Dent, Gerlach, Holden and Pitts.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Castle, Fattah, LoBiondo, Murphy, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Kudos to Castle, LoBiondo, Saxton and Smith for doing the right thing (this should be a no-brainer for the Dems).

Clean air. The House voted, 252-178, to block a proposed EPA easing of the rule that all smokestack industries install the best available antipollution technology when upgrading units.

A yes vote backed the amendment to HR 2643 (above).

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Murphy, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Voting no: Holden and Pitts.

As much as Pitts has a base anywhere, it would be in Lancaster County, parts of which are truly beautiful. It would be nice if the people living there who vote for him realized just how much this man is an enemy of the environment and thus the most prized asset that they have (and an interesting vote once more for “Democrat” Tim Holden).

Senate

Immigration overhaul. Senators failed, 46-53, to reach the 60 votes needed to advance a bill that would crack down on employers of illegal immigrants, tighten U.S. borders, start a new guest-worker program, and set a long path to legality for undocumented aliens.

All Philadelphia-area senators voted to advance the bill (S 1639).

Way to go, Repugs (for killing this and making yourselves look stupid again, I mean).

Union elections. The Senate failed, 51-48, to reach the 60 votes needed to advance a bill enabling workers to vote for union shops by signing cards, in place of the existing secret-ballot process.

All Philadelphia-area senators voted to begin full debate on the bill (HR 800).

The person more than any other responsible for the death of the Employee Free Choice Act is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was as good as his word when he pledged to kill it. And this is totally in accord with the wishes of his wife, Dragon Lady Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who enjoys lecturing U.S. workers on their tempers and personal hygiene as opposed to doing her job on our behalf as opposed to that of her corporate benefactors.

At this time, Congress is in recess until Monday July 9.