Prevent U.S. corporations controlled by foreign governments from pumping in secret money to influence U.S. elections;
Require corporate CEOs to stand by their ads in the same way that candidates do, and require corporations and other organizations to disclose their political expenditures;
Prevent large entities receiving taxpayer money - including government contractors and TARP recipients - from making political expenditures;
Stop the manipulation of elections by fly-by-night "hit" groups funded by corporations, special interests, foreign companies, and multimillionaires;
Give shareholders, organization members, and the public the right to know about corporate and interest group campaign expenditures;
The bill passed by a 219-206 margin and here is how our members of the delegation came down:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Congressman Rothman is listed as not voting on the bill. Following the vote, here is what Congressman Holt had to say about the need for the bill:
"Would you want Hugo Chavez or Vladimir Putin to attack a candidate in your state using a sham front organization? Would you want BP to set up 'Americans for Clean Water' so it can discretely run against candidates who stand for accountability? Would you want a corporation that received TARP funding to use taxpayer dollars to run a political ad? This legislation would prevent all of that from happening,"
The bill was drafted after the "Citizen's United" Supreme Court decision in January. Questions have been raised about exemptions in the bill for groups like the NRA. It looks like there may still me more work to do, but this takes steps forward.
The House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation raising the debt ceiling above $14 trillion and establishing "pay as you go" rules that mandate that Congress find ways to pay for an additional spending. Here's where our members came down:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Over at MSNBC.com, they pointed out that Adler was one of twenty four Democrats who voted against raising the debt ceiling and for PAYGO:
Democrats broke up the debt ceiling vote to give vulnerable members a chance to say they were against the raising of the debt ceiling but later to say they were in favor of PAYGO. This legislation has already passed the Senate and will go to the desk of President Obama.
It's amazing that the Republicans, who would want you to believe they are the party of fiscal conservatism and talk about living within budgets just like our families, would oppose a bill to actually pay for the things as you go. At the same time, they'll blame the Democrats for the deficit and debt.
Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. This would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. Permits to import and dispose radioactive waste from Mexico and Brazil are also pending. If these permits are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be sent to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah.
According to the bill sponsor, we are the only nation in the world that accepts nuclear waste from countries for disposal. Well 111 Republicans decided to vote against the bill and want to keep importing nuclear waste. While Scott Garrett normally joins them, even he voted with the majority to prohibit on this one. Rodney Frelinghuysen on the other hand, was the only member of the NJ delegation to oppose the measure.Here's what the DCCC said about the opposition:
The Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act (H.R. 515) would prevent foreign-generated radioactive waste from being imported for processing and disposal in the U.S. If those 111 Republicans had their way, America could become a dumping ground for other nations' radioactive nuclear waste. Instead of protecting Americans from the dangers of nuclear waste, Republicans including Michele Bachmann (MN-06), John Boehner (OH-08), and Pete Sessions (TX-32) voted to put corporate interests ahead of the health and safety of America's families.
Why would Rodney vote against prohibiting the importation of radioactive waste?
The House of Representatives yesterday passed the Senate version of the Credit Card Card Holders bill of Rights. The measure, supported in the Senate, included Sec 512 or the Coburn Amendment:
Yesterday's provision, originally sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), would allow gun owners to bring the weapons into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are permitted by the laws of the state in which the park is located. The bill codifies a change the Bush administration had sought in its final months, but a federal judge blocked the effort in March.
Obama administration officials had not sought to overturn the judge's ruling. But Coburn, who had long sought the change, inserted his amendment this month on credit card legislation that is one of Obama's top priorities. The move effectively forced Democrats to vote on the gun provision if they wanted to pass the credit card bill.
Adler
Pallone
Garrett
Frelinghuysen
LoBiondo
Lance
Smith
Sires
Andrews
Holt
Payne
Pascrell
Rothman
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
You can see Congressman Holt speaking in favor of the Credit Card measure and against the gun amendment:The Coburn Amendment passed 279-147 and the larger Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights passed 361-64. Scott Garrett was the lone dissenting NJ vote on the Bill of Rights piece. The Coburn Amendment was a more interesting split with Democrats Adler, Pallone and Sires joining Republicans passing the measure. Senators Menendez and Lautenberg helped lead the effort in the Senate toward passing the legislation. President Obama has said he will sign the bill into law.
If the Senate passes the bill and allows Obama to sign it, it will put tighter oversight on mortgage brokers, and lenders will have to prove that homeowners are well-served when they refinance a home loan under the rule. The legislation would also help renters fight eviction when their landlords default on their mortgages.
mortgage lenders make loans that benefit the consumer and prohibit them from steering borrowers into higher cost loans
all mortgage refinancing provides a net tangible benefit to the consumer
the secondary mortgage market, for the first time ever, is responsible for complying with these common sense standards when they buy loans and turn them into securities
there are incentives for the mortgage market to move back toward making safe, fully documented loans
tenants renting homes that are foreclosed would receive notification and time to relocate
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Congressman Pascrell had some strong words accusing Republicans of dealing in gibberish:
In New Jersey, 1 out of 24 homes are in foreclosure. In my home town of Paterson, NJ 1 out of 7 are in default. And to hear many on the other side is outlandish. You cannot support what you are talking about.
Scott Garrett and Rodney Frelinghuysen must be proud of their vote to kick families out of their homes and for predatory lenders to continue being able to prey on the public. Before the vote, Republicans also offered 3 bank oriented amendments to undermine the effectiveness of the legislation, all of which failed. Frelinghuysen and Garrett were joined by Lance, Lobiondo and Smith supporting two of those three measures.
Updated by Jason: FogerRox makes a great catch that Frelinghuysen, Lance and Smith all tried to weaken the bill all along before finally voting for it. Profiles in courage I tell you.
Guess which New Jersey Congressman is playing by himself once against, this time screwing consumers and siding with the Credit Card Companies?
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Since I criticize regularly when they are on the wrong side, I should give credit to Lance, LoBiondo, Frelinghuysen and Smith who joined the Democrats in the delgation supporting the bill, which passed 357-70. Here's a little bit about what the bill would do:
The measure would prohibit so-called double-cycle billing and retroactive rate hikes and would prevent companies from giving credit cards to anyone under 18.
[snip]
The House measure incorporates Federal Reserve regulations due to take effect in July 2010 but goes further by adding restrictions for credit cards for college students as well as other changes. Payments made by card holders that exceed the minimum monthly level would have to be applied first to the portion of the remaining balance with the highest interest rate, and then to any other balances in descending order.
Consumers would have to be notified 30 days before their accounts are closed.
Double-cycle billing eliminates the interest-free period for consumers who move from paying the full balance monthly to carrying a balance.
That's right, Mr. 12-1 Scott Garrett couldn't bring himself to give 30 days notification or ban double billing. And just how bad is the credit card problem Garrett would like to continue ignoring:
Amid the recession and rising job losses, consumers - even those with strong credit records - have been defaulting at high levels on their credit cards. Banks already battered by the mortgage and credit crises have been bleeding tens of billions in red ink from the losses.
U.S. credit card debt has jumped 25 percent in the past 10 years, reaching $963 billion in January, according to figures from the White House. The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a card was $10,679 at the end of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online market.
Don't get me wrong, people have to take responsibility for their own actions and keep the plastic in their wallet. But when the consumer plays by the rules and tries to fix the mess they've already helped to create, they shouldn't be penalized because the credit card company wants to make a few extra bucks. The measure now heads to the Senate for a vote.
...the House passed and sent to the Senate a bill backed by the new Democratic White House to broaden such laws by classifying as "hate crimes" those attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability.
The current law, enacted four decades ago, limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin.
The bill would lift a requirement that a victim had to be attacked while engaged in a federally protected activity, like attending school, for it to be a federal hate crime.
But of course, Scott Garrett couldn't bring himself to oppose Hate Crimes giving these protections and this time he wasn't alone as Chris Smith joined him voting no:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Here is video of Congressman Holt speaking in favor of the bill and giving a shout out to Garden State Equality in the process:
The legislation did pass 249-175 and now heads to the Senate. There's no reason why anyone should lose a loved one to a hate crime and this legislation will help prevent that. As opposed to when President Bush helped stop the bill in Congress last year, President Obama has said he will sign the bill into law.
Guess who stands alone once again. Yesterday, not even Police officers, law enforcement technology and prosecutors were worthy of support from Mr 12-1 Scott Garrett. Here's the roll call:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Here's more about what Garrett opposed this time:
the House passed the COPS Improvements Act, H.R. 1139, which reinvigorates the highly successful COPS program. It calls for putting 50,000 additional police officers on the street over the next 5 years authorizing $1.25 billion a year for COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) hiring grants. It also authorizes $350 million a year for COPS technology grants, and $200 million a year for hiring community prosecutors. Created in 1994 under the Clinton Administration, the COPS hiring grants program was an enormously successful, popular program helping local law enforcement agencies to hire more than 117,000 additional police officers, in every state in the union, from 1995 to 2005. Under the COPS program, our nation experienced a significant drop in crime rates and independent studies confirm that COPS hiring grants helped contribute to this reduced crime.
The Congressman can't even bring himself to support anything like law enforcement. Of course he'll talk tough on terror, but then doesn't provide the resources to ensure we can be protected. Congressman Pascrell on the other hand spoke in favor of the legislation during the debate on the House floor:The legislation passed overwhelmingly 342-78. I hope everyone makes sure law enforcement knows just how Scott Garrett feels about what they're worth.
Now, with President Obama's budget coming up for a vote, another opportunity has presented itself for these three "moderates" to show if they are truly moderate or if they are comfortable being out of the mainstream.
Maybe the no button got stuck, because rather than showing their moderate credentials, they opposed both the President's budget that passed and their own party's effort which failed:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
The budget passed 233-196 with a party line vote in opposition from the NJ delegation. There were also two Democratic budget alternatives that did not pass. At least the Democrats can say their members sometimes voted for Republican budgets and priorities under President Bush (even when we didn't agree with those votes). This vote is just further evidence that the lack of bipartisanship is a uniquely Republican attribute.
The Republicans couldn't even get the members of their own party to support their version of a budget. Lance, LoBiondo and Smith opposed that reckless effort, but Frelinghuysen and Garrett went along for that ride off the cliff. In fact, 38 GOP lawmakers voted against a plan supported by their own leadership. It appears the party of no can't even figure out how to say yes to their own plans anymore.
What a surprise, Scott "Mr 12-1" Garrett held down the no vote for the NJ delegation, this time opposing the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act.
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Once again, the cheese stands alone. The bill passed 321-105. Let's see what Garrett opposed:
The GIVE Act aims to more than triple the number of volunteers serving in the country from the current 75,000 to 250,000. The Act will also create a new Summer of Service program with stipends for students that can be used to pay for college; it establishes Youth Engagement Zones, a new service-learning program to help bridge partnerships between community based organizations and high schools; it forms four new service corps, including a Clean Energy Corps to encourage energy efficiency and conservation measures, an Education Corps to help increase student engagement, achievement and graduation, a Healthy Futures Corps to improve health care access, and a Veterans Service Corps to enhance services for veterans; finally, it includes a Call to Service Campaign to launch a national campaign encouraging all Americans to engage in service and to observe September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Oh what a terrible idea. Thankfully we have Scott Garrett to stand up to all things that would help people out. Congressman Rothman was proud of his vote in favor of the bill:
"With the nation facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, I cannot think of a better time to encourage Americans to be part of the solution to the many challenges we face than through volunteering," said Rothman. "At a time when our public needs are growing and our resources for meeting those needs are declining, we must encourage Americans of all ages to help their neighbors."
And what could those additional volunteers do?
"If there were more volunteers we could have more families come in (to the Center for Food Action), but right now we are handling all we can help," said Susan Strauss, a six-and-a-half year volunteer at the Center for Food Action in Englewood, New Jersey. "I like to be able to help people, and volunteering this way is instant gratification - someone puts a meal on their table for their family because of what we do. I think you get more out of volunteering than you give."
So in conclusion, Garrett doesn't want the government to pay for anything, but he also doesn't want volunteers to do the work either. Make sense?
With the help of the New Jersey delegation, the party of no kept their streak in tact today opposing a bill that would help families stay in their homes by avoiding foreclosure:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
The measure passed 234-191. There were seven Republicans in Congress who supported the bill, none from New Jersey. Here's a description of the intent of the bill they opposed today:
To prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability.
Three New Jersey districts are in the top 50 district nationally for 2009 foreclosures: NJ-03 has the 13th most, NJ-01 the 14th most, and NJ-02 the 44th most. What's more, the 2009-2012 numbers project an even bleaker future. This mortgage relief bill is badly needed.
So the question arises: Will NJ Republicans vote for a mortgage relief bill to help thousands of families struggling in their districts? Or will they continue to kowtow to Rush Limbaugh and sell out their voters? Time will tell, but don't count me among the optimists.
So with his district ranked 44th in 2009 foreclosures, Frank "the moderate" LoBiondo turned his back and walked the party line. He was joined by Leonard Lance, Chris Smith, Rodney Frelinghuysen and of course Scott Garrett. Keep making New Jersey proud guys.
The stimulus bill is about to become law with no Republican votes in the House and only a handful in the Senate...
No legislation is perfect, but there are a lot of things in the bill that will benefit New Jersey, including tax credits for homebuyers and more Medicaid reimbursement. To the Republicans who voted no, just what would they do?
So our Republican Congressmen made a statement by voting no. Fantastic. I hope they feel all warm and fuzzy inside at the stand they made, while people continue to lose their homes and struggle to get by. What would they need in a bill to get them to say yes? Apparently helping homebuyers, building infrastructure, fixing the AMT tax, lots of tax cuts, and helping the states wasn't enough.
The House yesterday voted on the re-authorization of SCHIP and delaying the transition to digital TV. The votes were exactly the same as when the bills came up in the last few weeks. Scott Garrett still stands alone denying health insurance to children. Maybe he wants to give up his own to feel their pain. If not, he could share with the children he's denying, after all their parents are paying for it:
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
President Obama signed the SCHIP legislation into law last night and there was plenty of reaction for NJ's officials. Senator Menendez:
"With the enactment of this law, we can help ensure that as many as 100,000 additional children in our state and almost 4 million across the country have a fighting chance to reach their full potential. This is a big step toward ensuring that no child goes to sleep at night without health insurance in the greatest country in the world."
Governor Corzine:
"Ensuring that children have access to health insurance so that they have a healthy start in life has been one of my top priorities as Governor. I'm pleased to say that through our successful SCHIP program, NJ FamilyCare, we are making great strides to reach these children and we will continue our outreach efforts to enroll every eligible child.
"For two years, Congress sent similar bills to President Bush's desk. The bills received strong bipartisan support in Congress, but President Bush used his veto pen twice, denying millions of low-income children access to health care.
"Thanks to this landmark law, four million more American children will have the opportunity to see the doctor of their choice so that they can live healthy and productive lives. In New Jersey, we will be able to reach an additional 116,000 children through FamilyCare, reducing the percentage of uninsured children by 43 percent.
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Regarding the Economic recovery vote, it passed with absolutely no Republican support in this new era of bi-partisanship by a 244-188 margin. Americans United for change ripped the NJ GOP opposition to the plan, leaving out Scott Garrett who also voted no:
Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, the U.S. House has acted quickly and decisively to move forward this major economic recovery plan that will put millions of middle-class Americans back to work and back spending money again. This was perhaps the most historic vote in Congress since the vote to authorize the war in Iraq. Yet, amid a crippling economic recession that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and threatens millions more if nothing is done, Representatives Frelinghuysen, Lance, LoBiondo and Smith all chose to put partisan politics and the failed policies of the past over the struggling families they represent. President Obama reached out to Democrats and Republicans alike and set aside partisanship and ideology to craft a bold measure to get America back to work. It's sad that these Representatives are still clinging to petty partisanship and the same failed, well-worn ideology of Bush 'trickle-down' economics that got us into this mess to begin with.
The delay of the digital transition vote failed by a vote of 258-168. It wasn't a party line vote and in NJ, Congressman Adler voted against, while Congressman Lobiondo voted for. Congressman Payne did not vote on the bill. I'm not sure what the delay would have done, it's not like there is going to be more money available in four months.
Frank LoBiondo once again took a ride with Scott Garrett and Rodney Frelinghuysen opposing fair pay for women. I'm sure women are very thankful for the lack of support:
Adler
Andrews
Holt
Pascrell
Payne
Rothman
Sires
Lance
Smith
Frelinghuysen
Garrett
LoBiondo
Democrats are in blue, and Republicans are in red.
Frank Pallone voted for the bill on Jan 9, but did not vote this time. Both Senators Menendez and Lautenberg supported the legislation in the Senate. Capitol Quickies shed some light on why they needed a second vote in the House:
The House of Representatives on Tuesday had to vote a second time on the bill, after the Senate broke out from the bill a more controversial, related proposal the House had lumped in that would allow women to get compensatory and punitive damages if the equal-pay law is violated.
It now heads to President Obama's desk for signature.
"Soon we will have a new president who has committed himself to reforming our nation's health care system so every American can access affordable and quality health care." said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. "The bill we are considering today makes a down-payment on that promise."
This bill was passed without a veto threat looming as was the case with the previous administration. Maybe that was motivation for Rodney Frelinghuysen to switch his prior no vote to support healthcare for children. Here's how they voted on this one:
As Jay noted below, the Paid Family Leave legislation cleared another hurdle today when it passed the Assembly by 46-30.
With a few exceptions, it was mostly a party-line vote, with most Democrats voting for it while most Republicans voted against.
There were only a handful of cross-over votes. On the Democratic side, Assemblyman Matthew Milan voted against it, while Republican Assemblymen John Amodeo and Ronald Dance voted in favor.
Assemblymembers Joan Voss (D) and Joseph Malone (R) abstained.
Last week we posted the roll call for the Senate on the Paid Family Leave legislation. It passed 22-16.
Yesterday the Assembly Labor Committee voted 8-4 to clear the bill. It was a party line vote with Democrats voting in favor of the legislation and Republicans voting against.
How they voted on Paid Family Leave [A873/S786]
Pro-family Pou, Nellie
Vainieri Huttle, Valerie
Albano, Nelson T.
Barnes, Peter J., III
Burzichelli, John J.
Conaway, Herb, Jr.
Greenwald, Louis D.
Ramos, Ruben J., Jr.
Anti-family Addiego, Dawn Marie
Doherty, Michael J.
Merkt, Richard A.
Thompson, Samuel D.
It's scheduled to be voted on by the full Assembly on Thursday. Since this version was amended from the one passed in the Senate, the Senate would have to revote next week.
Even though the NJ legislature website is supposed to post the roll call on votes, it takes them a long time to do it (in internet time, anyway). Maybe they're dragging their feet hoping people forget to check the next day. Or maybe they haven't discovered the computer yet. The abacus is pretty cool, but kind of slow. My guess is this is just a manifestation of an inefficient government.
Either way, they should look into fixing that. If they can get a board to light up red and green lights to indicate how someone votes, they can easily put those votes into a database and online. And since I'm asking for stuff that will never happen, permalinks would be nice, too.
Anyway, below is how the Senate voted on S786, the legislation to provide partial paid family leave to workers. Note that while Republicans constantly (and correctly) point out how expensive it is to live in this state, they almost all voted against giving working families a leg up. All hat, no cattle.
The vote was largely along party lines, though Bill Baroni (R) voted in favor of the bill while Shirley Turner (D) voted against it. Diane Allen (R) and Ron Rice (D) didn't vote.
On Monday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee will consider the legislation and the bill will be up for a full vote next Thursday. We'll be watching and post a diary just like this one to let you know how they voted. Jump below for the contact information for the members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Ask them to support Paid Family Leave (A873).
How they voted on Paid Family Leave [S786]
Pro-family Adler, John H.
Baroni, Bill Buono, Barbara
Codey, Richard J.
Cunningham, Sandra B.
Gill, Nia H.
Girgenti, John A.
Gordon, Robert M.
Lesniak, Raymond J.
Madden, Fred H., Jr.
Redd, Dana
Van Drew, Jeff
Vitale, Joseph F.
Weinberg, Loretta
Whelan, Jim
Ruiz, M. Teresa
Sacco, Nicholas J.
Sarlo, Paul A.
Scutari, Nicholas P.
Smith, Bob
Stack, Brian P.
Sweeney, Stephen M.
Anti-family Bateman, Christopher
Beck, Jennifer
Bucco, Anthony R.
Cardinale, Gerald
Ciesla, Andrew R.
Connors, Christopher J.
Haines, Philip E.
Kean, Sean T.
Kean, Thomas H., Jr.
Kyrillos, Joseph M., Jr.
Lance, Leonard
O'Toole, Kevin J.
Oroho, Steven V.
Pennacchio, Joseph
Singer, Robert W.
Turner, Shirley K.
Just to follow-up, the "How They Voted" column was back in the Star-Ledger today. It's in the "New Jersey" section, on page 26. I was extremely surprised, and am hopefull that it will be continued on a weekly basis. Thank you, so much, to all who wrote to the editor for the inclusion of this very important column. It was not so much for those of us who are computer literate, that I was so concerned, but for those who do not have access to the computer. Now, more than ever, it is crucial that we all be politically informed. For some, the newspaper is the only means of obtaining that information. The Star-Ledger does a real public service by publishing that information, and we should be most appreciative.
