Where The Rubber Meets The Road (02/01/08)

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

Health-Coverage Veto. Members failed, 260-152, to reach a two-thirds majority for overriding President Bush's veto of a bill that would renew the State Children's Health Insurance Program through 2012 at a cost of $60 billion, up $35 billion over current levels.

A yes vote was to enact HR 3963.

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.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) and H. James Saxton (R., N.J.).

Instead of wasting more time bemoaning Pancake Joe again (not bothering with Saxton since he’s leaving), I just want to note that Bruce Slater declared himself against Pitts, and you can read more about Bruce here (happened awhile back I know – sorry to be so late with this; if I get word on Bruce’s web site, I’ll let you know).

Senate

Government Surveillance. Senators killed, 60-36, a bill to tighten court oversight of the government's warrantless surveillance program and allow lawsuits to proceed against telecommunication companies that allegedly cooperated with the secret program for years after 9/11.

A yes vote was to kill S 2248.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.) and Arlen Specter, (R., Pa.).

Voting no: Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D., Del.), Bob Casey Jr. (D, Pa.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Here’s more on that vote, and more importantly, here’s more on what we can do in anticipation of next Monday’s vote on the consent agreement reached on the FISA bill (and Tom Carper continues to be absolutely awful).

Defense Budget. The Senate voted, 91-3, to send President Bush a $649 billion fiscal 2008 defense budget. The bill replaces a measure Bush vetoed over language exposing today's Iraqi government to lawsuits based on acts by Saddam Hussein.

A yes vote was to pass HR 4986.

Voting yes: Biden, Carper, Casey, Lautenberg, and Specter.

Not voting: Menendez.

And the three Nos, as noted here, were from Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, and Bernie Sanders (as opposed to the “No Vote” votes from Repugs John McCain, John Thune, and John Warner, as well as Dems Hillary Clinton, Menendez, and Barack Obama).

This week, the House was expected to take up a $150 billion economic stimulus package, while the Senate continued to debate changes to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.