Where The Rubber Meets The Road (11/27/09)

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 (not a lot going on again today - and I also posted here).

House

Medicare doctor payments. Voting 243-183, the House passed a bill (HR 3961) that would avert a 21 percent cut next year in Medicare payments to doctors. The bill was opposed mainly because its cost of $210 billion over 10 years would be deficit spending. The bill would permanently change the Medicare formula for paying doctors. It would increase payments by nearly $20 billion per year over 10 years and cause slight annual increases in Medicare premiums.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

By the way, the Medicare reimbursement formula was concocted in 1997 when the Repugs ran Congress, and it has remained in force up until now.

GOP Medicare plan. Voting 177-252, the House defeated a Republican motion to restructure HR 3961 (above) as a two-year rather than permanent fix of Medicare's system for paying doctors. The motion also identified a revenue source to pay for the proposed two-year remedy.

A yes vote backed the motion.

Voting yes: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

And as long as I’m highlighting yet another bad vote by John Adler, I should note that former Philadelphia Eagles (and now San Diego Chargers) offensive lineman Jon Runyan has announced that he will run as a Repug next year and seek Adler’s seat (here).

I’ve always admired Runyan as a player, and the fact that his former employer chose to let him go (along with fellow all-Pro Tra Thomas) were moves of such astonishing stupidity that the fan base of this city should have immediately turned on this moribund franchise. But I’m not sure that that will ever happen.

Concerning politics, though, it should be noted that Runyan’s voting record is questionable (here), and I’ll await his attempt to explain how a million-dollar-salaried professional athlete can speak with knowledge and insight to the issues facing working men and women earning a fraction of his yearly income.

Senate

Guantanamo prisoners. Voting 57-43, the Senate allowed funds in the 2010 military-construction budget (HR 3082) to be used for securing U.S. prisons to hold terrorist suspects transferred from overseas. The vote tabled (killed) an amendment designed mainly to prevent detainee transfers from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

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

And by the way, I’m sure it comes as no surprise whatsoever that the amendment was sponsored by Jim Inhofe (stand up and take another bow, all you brainless Oklahomans who support this numbskull).

Update 11/30/09: And here is another golden moment with Oklahoma's senatorial mistake.

Judge David Hamilton. Voting 59-39, the Senate confirmed federal Judge David Hamilton, 52, of the Southern District of Indiana, for a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Based in Chicago, the court hears appeals from federal rulings in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

A yes vote was to confirm Hamilton.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

As noted here, part-time songwriter Orrin Hatch decried Hamilton as an “activist judge” who didn’t honor a parental consent law the way Hatch wanted and also didn’t impose a life sentence on a drug dealer (with the “activist judge” label particularly funny from someone who voted to confirm Antonin Scalia and “Strip Search Sammy” Alito to the “show”). Also, as noted here, Hatch and his pals were given a second chance to question Hamilton, even though they threw a hissy fit and chose not to do so at their first opportunity.

This week, the House and Senate are in Thanksgiving recess.