Where The Rubber Meets The Road (12/28/07)

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.

House

New energy policies: Voting 314 for and 100 against, the House on Dec. 18 sent President Bush a bill that would raise vehicle mileage requirements by 40 percent by 2020; boost residential and industrial energy-efficiency standards; phase out the incandescent light bulbs now used in most U.S. homes; and increase production of ethanol and other biofuels sixfold by 2022.

A yes vote was to pass the bill, HR 6.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.) Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), H. James Saxton (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.).

How apropos to close the year with another utterly pointless and stupid “No” vote on a piece of legislation that would do a world of good from Pancake Joe Pitts.

(I wonder if Inquirer reporter Maria Panaritis still considers Pitts a “moderate” as she did here, by the way?)

Catchall 2008 budget: Voting 272 for and 142 against, the House on Dec. 19 sent President Bush a fiscal 2008 budget bill that appropriates $473.5 billion in non-defense discretionary spending, $70 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and $11.2 billion in emergency domestic spending.

A yes vote was to pass the bill, HR 2764.

Voting yes: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Pitts, Saxton, Schwartz, Sestak and Smith.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Murphy.

I wish Admiral Joe would stand as steadfast on not approving more money for Dubya to waste in Mesopotamia without a timetable for troop withdrawal as Patrick Murphy has so far.

Alternative minimum tax: Voting 352 for and 64 against, the House on Dec. 19 sent President Bush a bill to exempt about 21 million middle-income households from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) this year. The bill, HR 3996, will add $50 billion to the national debt as a result of Senate Republicans' refusal to accept House-passed tax increases and loophole closers designed to offset its cost.

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

Voting no: Andrews and Murphy.

I already noted Patrick’s objection last week (don't know if Rob Andrews voted that way for the same reason, but nice work by him also), and kudos to the Inky for a change for stating exactly what is wrong with this bill, which is why Patrick voted no.

Senate

Catchall 2008 budget: Voting 76 for and 17 against, the Senate on Dec. 18 sent the House a bill appropriating $555 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal 2008, including $70 billion to finance war in Iraq and Afghanistan through May. The House (above) then sent the bill to President Bush, completing congressional work on the 12 spending bills that fund the federal government.

A yes vote was to pass the bill, HR 2764.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R., Pa.).

Not voting: Joseph Biden (D., Del.).

And ladies and gentlemen (you’d better sit down and brace for the shock), you’re not going to believe this…but President George W. Milhous Bush ACTUALLY SIGNED THIS BILL INTO LAW AND DIDN’T VETO IT!!! (here - from that typically bizarre look on his face, he seems to be admiring his pennmanship; I guess he finally mastered cursive).

But of course, he simply had to take yet another shot at the “Democrat” party in the process, didn’t he? And that’s why he stated that “Congress dropped into the bill nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion.”

Funny, but I didn’t hear him complaining when the 109th added 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006 into legislation, as noted here (#5).

Iraq-Afghanistan funds: Voting 70 for and 25 against, the Senate on Dec. 18 added $70 billion to bill HR 2764 (above) to fund U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through May 2008 without conditions set by Congress.

A yes vote backed unconditional war funding.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey and Specter.

Voting no: Menendez and Lautenberg.

Not voting: Biden.

Sideshow Bob Casey ends the year with the first of two bad votes…

Iraq withdrawal mandate: Voting 24 for and 71 against, the Senate on Dec. 18 rejected a bid to require President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 90 days of enactment, leaving behind a small force to protect American interests, train Iraqi security forces, and conduct strikes against foes such as Al Qaeda. The amendment was offered to HR 2764 (above).

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Menendez and Lautenberg.

Voting no: Carper, Casey and Specter.

Not voting: Biden.

…and this is the second one (both typical for Carper, of course).

And kudos to Russ Feingold for keeping up the good fight here (I don’t say this in a flip manner, but if there is anyone in our government truly acting in a manner similar to that of Churchill in Great Britain in the 1930s, it is Feingold and certainly Chris Dodd also).

And by the way, not only did Biden fail to vote for this, he didn’t even bother to sign on as a cosponsor. What a joke.

The House will resume legislative business on Jan. 15 and the Senate on Jan. 22.