Where The Rubber Meets The Road (3/14/08)

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 (barely worth the trouble to post, as it turns out).

House

Mental-health insurance. In a 268-148 vote, the House passed a bill (HR 1424) requiring the same level of coverage between mental and physical illnesses in group medical plans. The bill applies to employers with more than 50 workers.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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.) and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Yep, Joe Pitts would have been crazy to vote for something that makes as much sense as this does (sorry, too easy - and to help Bruce Slater, click here).

Senate

Safety commission overhaul. In a 79-13 vote, the Senate passed a bill (S 2663) to expand powers of the Consumer Product Safety Commission while more than doubling the agency's budget over 10 years and beefing up its staff and testing capabilities.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

And Nancy Nord still is in charge, by the way, despite this (and this tells you who the 13 cretins were who voted No, including Diaper Dave Vitter, who still takes up space in the Senate while Eliot Spitzer prepares to vacate the governor's mansion in Albany).

Tune in for more fun next week.