Where The Rubber Meets The Road (12/18/09)

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.

House

Tax-break extensions. Voting 241-181, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 4213) to extend through 2010 a $31 billion package of temporary tax credits and other fiscal incentives that benefit a multitude of U.S. businesses, farms, units of government, schools, charities, individuals, nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, and other recipients.

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.).

So just remember boys and girls – if you’re rich, you’re entitled to as much of a tax cut as the Repugs can finagle/cajole/browbeat/steal if possible through legislation. Otherwise, as a former Illinois senator once said when describing the “ownership society,” as far as they’re concerned, you’re on your own.

Catchall 2010 budget. Voting 221-202, the House sent the Senate a $447 billion catchall spending bill (HR 3288) for 2010 composed of six appropriations bills that Congress has failed to enact individually. Covering the fiscal year that began in October, the bill would fund military construction projects; dozens of independent agencies in areas such as financial regulation and disaster relief; and the budgets of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Commerce, State, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development.

The bill also would clear $650 billion in fiscal 2010 entitlement spending for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans' benefits.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Voting no: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Have fun losing to Jon Runyan next year, Adler. An almost unceasing parade of crappy votes just like this one will do the trick (he has actually supplanted Joe Pitts in that category, and I didn’t think that was possible).

Financial rules. Voting 223-202, the House passed a bill (HR 4173) that would increase federal regulation of the financial-services industry, establish an independent agency to protect financial consumers, and provide congressional review of Federal Reserve policies. The bill awaits Senate action.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency would protect consumers against abusive home-lending and credit-card practices but would be barred from regulating auto dealerships and community banks.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

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

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

See my comment on the tax break extension vote above (the “Party of No” strikes yet again).

Senate

Abortion dispute. Voting 54-45, the Senate rejected an amendment to bar federally subsidized private insurance plans from covering abortions and prohibit individuals who receive government premium subsidies from buying plans that cover abortion. The bans would have applied even if a woman were to use her own money to buy the policy. The amendment to health-care legislation (HR 3590) went beyond "Hyde Amendment" language already in the bill that would bar federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

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

Voting no: Bob Casey (D., Pa.) and Ted Kaufman (D., Del.).

Casey actually isn’t bad as a senator on most issues, but when it comes to the “God and guns” stuff, he’s absolutely horrible (and the only reason I can think of why Kaufman would go along with this is because he’s Roman Catholic also).

Insurance executives' pay. Voting 56-42, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to pass an amendment to limit the compensation of health-insurance executives. The amendment to HR 3590 (above) sought to reduce from $1 million to $400,000 annually the amount of executive-compensation packages that firms could deduct as a business expense.

Lautenberg said: "This amendment will not tell insurance companies what they can pay their executives. They can pay them whatever they choose to. But only $400,000 annually can be treated as an expense. That is what the president makes."

A yes vote was to cap executive pay.

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

Voting no: Carper

A senator from (the former) MBNA strikes again; for votes like this, I wish Carper’s seat were in play next year instead of Biden/Kaufman’s – it might make me do the unthinkable and consider a Repug, or more likely, a third-party candidate.

Medicare at home. Voting 41-53, the Senate refused to strip HR 3590 (above) of its $43 billion slowdown in spending growth over 10 years for a program that delivers Medicare services at the patient's home. The proposed cuts would help pay the $848 billion cost of the bill while securing the Medicare trust fund.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Medicare advantage. Voting 42-57, the Senate defeated a motion to reduce taxpayer subsidies of Medicare Advantage plans by $120 billion over 10 years. The savings would be used to help pay for the pending $848 billion health bill (HR 3590) and secure the Medicare trust fund.

A yes vote opposed Medicare Advantage cuts.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez and Specter.

I believe this was included in a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers’ credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes, introduced by John McCain.

Based on last week’s vote, I thought our area delegation opposed funding Medicare Advantage, which would have been the right thing to do. Apparently (and sadly), I was wrong about that, since MA is nothing but a Bushco-engineered gift to their pals in the insurance industry.

This week, the House considered the 2010 defense budget and a jobs measure, while the Senate debated the defense budget and, of course, engaged in the health care circle jerk (no, the Inky didn't really say that, of course - funny if they did, though).