Politician Watch

A Work in Progress

If this upsets you, make sure you vote accordingly, then come back and check our "Attempts to Help Us" and "Kudos" page. Even after all of this, we are still certain that the good guys still far outnumber the bad.

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             A politician is put on this list when something in one of the votes I reviewed made me wonder where their priorities were. I may or may not be right, but being here is meant to draw the attention of the voters in charge of them.

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Senator Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment Vote Results

           Yes is voting for the amendment - No is a vote against it.

By Vote Position

What I’ve Learned From Watching the Senate Finance Committee Hearings

            Keep in mind that it is my opinion that all of our politicians are trying to figure out how to pay for a five hundred dollar hammer – rather than trying to do something about the cost of the bleeping hammer.

                 Without a public option, it cannot be considered real reform.

            Volume buying and cutting out the middleman, the insurance companies are mandatory to making it all affordable.

            Senator Baucus is a fairly good chairman. His “translations” are helpful and he generally votes for the people. The exception to this is the public option which would have been the quickest way to the goal.

            There are some Senators that fight tooth and nail to try and help the general public. One is Senator Stabenow. (Michigan ) Rockefeller (New York ) is damn near heroic.

            Senator Baucus walks the middle, leaning towards the people. Same for Schumer.

            Senator Kerry, as a rule, votes in favor of the people.

            Senator Bob Menendez (New Jersey) has done some serious talking in favor of the people, but I’ve not kept angelic track of him.

            Senator Bingaman can go either way. He fights for the insurance companies, but seems reluctant to stick his head in the guillotine for them. *chuckle*

            Senator Snow leans toward the insurance companies but I think mostly because she is worried about how we will pay for all of it. (furtive-pensive-hunched over her figures)

             What I’ve seen of Senator Conrad is in favor of the insurance companies -  but I’ll confess I’d lost track of him.

            Many votes on amendments were as close as 11-12. Think about that.

            No doubt I’ve left some out. You can check them out.

            There are a few Senators that are fighting tooth and nail for the insurance companies. They are:

            Kyl (Arizona)

            Bunning

            Grassley

            Roberts

            Hatch

            Crapo

            Enzi

            Ensign

            Cornyn (Texas )

And     Blanche Lincoln.  (Ark)

            In other words, the usual suspects.

             Don't take my word for it. CSPAN has videos of these proceedings.

            Several of these would no doubt sell their mothers if someone offered a good price and stock options for her.

            You know what to do.

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                     If one of your Senators or Congressperson  [click here to see who your reps are] appears on this list, I suggest you check and see what they've been doing. Are they voting the way you think they should? You can easily check them out at Project Vote-smart or some of the other links I list in the links page.

Note:

               Be cautious about interest group ratings, particularly in trade and tax issues. Make sure you know who the groups are and that they have your best interests in mind.

              For example, every time I read something from the Kato group, it appears to be enamored of trade policies that step on American manufacturing and markets. It may be coincidence, but I'd still proceed cautiously.

             Not too hard of a thing to do when you realize it's desperately important to getting America back on course, eh?

            This isn't meant to be a judge-jury-executioner page. It's a "heads up" for American voters, who will figure out for themselves if there's a problem. They don't need me to do it for them. I'm pointing out smoke, voters will decide if there's a fire.

The politician (not their reps) is free to submit a response if they wish.

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                  If the Political Stray gave out "Worst Of" Awards, we don't. The Politicians that cropped out most often when it came to speaking up AGAINST the best interests of Americans, I'd have to give it to Kyl and Boehner. Big business boys down to the last drop of ice water in their veins. 

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Does Everything in Your House say "Made in China" on the Bottom? Here's the votes on the bill that made it all possible. 

Final House Vote on China PNTR

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 228

(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

H R 4444RECORDED VOTE24-May-20005:41 PM
QUESTION:  On Passage
BILL TITLE: To Authorize Extension of Nondiscriminatory Treatment (Normal Trade Relations Treatment) to the People’s Republic of China

Final Senate Vote on China PNTR

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 106th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Grouped By Vote Position

Grouped by Home State

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                                             The Big Bailout

               Here's your Congressional Votes. Additionally, note the following who have been stepping up to promote it.

                 Baynor

                 Blunt

                 Kyl

                 Gregg

                 Garrett (New Jersey)(voted against, but still scheming for it)

                 Ruppersberger D-MD

           The "Bailout" has it's very own page.

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(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)

      H R 3997      RECORDED VOTE      29-Sep-2008      2:07 PM
      QUESTION:  On Concurring in Senate Amendment With An Amendment
      BILL TITLE: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes

In The Mood to Bite? From Nevada?

           Senator John Ensign (R-NV) is single-handedly blocking legislation to require politicians to add more transparency to political campaigns by requiring them to file electronic reports. The kind of arrogance it takes to take actions that effectively tell the public that it's none of our business, is the kind of arrogance that needs close inspection of all their actions.

            You can find out more at the Sunlight Foundation. A gathering spot for people that are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore.  

           Anyone from Nevada out there? Is this man yours? Take charge. Americans run America.

Keep your eyes on the ball,

The Political Stray 

Another Important Energy Bill

How Did Your Senator Vote?

Vote for them?! Consider Tar and Feathers.

            The Political Stray does a lot of mind-numbing, eye-blurring scrolling through legislation. After a while, one notices certain voting patterns. Some politicians vote consistently to protect and help the public. Others vote in favor of big business and against even the smallest help to the public.

              Whether a bill passes or not is not always the criteria. If a bill is particularly damaging, it's good to see who voted how. There are thousands of bills though and if any help is to be given to the public, one has to determine quickly which ones to take note of.

            The big ones are easy because there is so much commentary on them. Those I automatically check. Often I go looking for a certain bill. But sometimes, it's the little unknown bills that nab us, so I'll search through those.

            The first thing I've learned to do is check for certain Senator's names:

Feinstein, Collins (Susan), Boxer, Kennedy and Byrd. Sometimes Lieberman too. These politicians generally try to help the public.

            Then I check for Kyl, Allard, Alexander, Inhofe, Sununu, Domenici, Chambliss, Crapo and Enzi. I don't know who these guys are working for but it's not the people that voted them in.

            If these two groups are aligned on opposite sides, I take the time to read the bill.

            Just thought you ought to know that.

            If your politician's are coming up for a vote this November, at least check the politician watch page. Then Project Vote Smart and Opensecrets.

People died to give us the vote, so…vote.

The Political Stray

So, in the Senate Vote #194 --- Jul 31, 2008

Which Senators voted against the College Affordability Act of 2008?

These:

Nay TN Alexander, Lamar [R] 
Nay OK Coburn, Thomas [R] 
Nay TN Corker, Bob [R] 
Nay SC DeMint, Jim [R] 
Nay OK Inhofe, James [R] 
Nay GA Isakson, John [R] 
Nay AZ Kyl, Jon [R] 
Nay AL Sessions, Jefferson [R] 

Those That Know Say This Act in 1999 That Is Responsible for Legalizing

 the Conduct that Led to Today's Home Mortgage Crisis

How did your Senator vote?

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 106^th Congress - 1^st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Grouped By Vote Position

Grouped by Home State

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Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005

Consumer groups say this was a major blow to consumers. How did your reps do?

Yes is against us  - No is for Us

This act made it far harder for consumers (but not businesses) to discharge debts. Chief sponsor, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) who has received $2 milllion plus from the Fire Sector.

(Finance, Insurance and Real Estate)

Some of the information in last two entries were obtained from http://www.MotherJones.com - A good public watchdog source. we may not always agree with them, but they are well worth checking out.

The Political Stray

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