Focus Of Disappointment

Many of our messages leading up to the November 2 election expressed hope that the new senators elected with Tea Party support would caucus with Jim DeMint (SC) & Tom Coburn (OK) to form a solid body of fiscally responsible senators.  I was greatly encouraged when I learned that Rand Paul (KY) had formed a Tea Party Caucus on January 24.  The good news & enthusiasm ends here.

 

Tom Coburn himself has not joined this caucus.  In fact only Senator Mike Lee (UT) has joined Senators Paul & DeMint.  Notable senators who ran with Tea Party support who have not joined this caucus are Marco Rubio (FL) & Ron Johnson (WI).  Business as usual in the Senate with the establishment old-guard Republicans is in place except for DeMint-Paul-Lee.

 

But the more immediate focus of disappointment occurred Friday in the House when 92 Republicans joined every Democrat who voted to defeat an amendment that would cut an additional $22 billion from the 2011 FY spending plan.  This cut would have let Republicans keep their 2010 campaign promises.  Taking the promised total $100 billion out of a $3.8 trillion spending plan does not seem like a hard task if they really wanted to do it.  I don't remember any campaigner saying they would take $100 billion out on a prorated basis for the 7 months left in the current fiscal year with greater cuts to follow in future years.

 

Check the list below for how your representative voted.  To save my neighbors in NJ some time Rodney Frelinghuysen, Leonard Lance, Jon Runyan, & Frank LoBiondo all voted the wrong way. 

 

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 103 (Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)
      H R 1      RECORDED VOTE      18-Feb-2011      2:46 PM
      AUTHOR(S):  Blackburn of Tennessee Amendment No. 104
      QUESTION:  On Agreeing to the Amendment

	Ayes	Noes	PRES	NV
Republican	147	92		1
Democratic		189		4
Independent
TOTALS	147	281		5

---- NOES    281 ---

Ackerman Adams Aderholt Alexander Altmire Andrews Baca Baldwin Barletta Barrow Bass (CA) Bass (NH) Becerra Berg Berkley Berman Biggert Bilbray Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Bonner Boren Boswell Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown (FL) Butterfield Calvert Camp Cantor Capito Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carney Carson (IN) Carter Cassidy Castor (FL) Chandler Chu Cicilline Clarke (MI) Clarke (NY) Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Cole Connolly (VA) Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Cravaack Crawford Crenshaw Critz Crowley Cuellar Culberson Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette DeLauro Denham Dent Deutch Diaz-Balart Dicks Dingell Doggett Dold Donnelly (IN) Doyle Dreier Duffy Edwards Ellison Emerson Engel Eshoo Farr Fattah Filner Fortenberry Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Fudge

Garamendi Gibson Gingrey (GA) Gonzalez Granger Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Grimm Gutierrez Hanabusa Hanna Harman Harper Hastings (FL) Hastings (WA) Heck Heinrich Herrera Beutler Higgins Himes Hinchey Hirono Holden Holt Honda Hoyer Inslee Israel Issa Jackson (IL) Jackson Lee (TX) Johnson (GA) Johnson (IL) Johnson, E. B. Jones Kaptur Keating Kildee Kind King (NY) Kingston Kinzinger (IL) Kissell Kline Kucinich Lance Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latham Lee (CA) Levin Lewis (CA) Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lucas Luján Lungren, Daniel E. Lynch Maloney Markey Matheson Matsui McCarthy (CA) McCarthy (NY) McDermott McGovern McIntyre McKeon McKinley McNerney Meehan Meeks Michaud Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, George Moore Moran Murphy (CT) Nadler Napolitano Neal Noem Nunes Nunnelee Olson Olver Palazzo

Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Paulsen Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Peters Peterson Petri Pingree (ME) Polis Posey Price (NC) Quigley Rahall Rangel Reichert Reyes Richardson Richmond Rivera Roby Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross (AR) Rothman (NJ) Roybal-Allard Runyan Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schiff Schilling Schock Schrader Schwartz Scott (VA) Scott, David Sensenbrenner Serrano Sewell Sherman Shuler Shuster Simpson Sires Slaughter Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Speier Stark Stivers Sullivan Sutton Terry Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thompson (PA) Tierney Tipton Tonko Towns Tsongas Upton Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walden Walz (MN) Wasserman Schultz Waters Watt Waxman Weiner Welch West Westmoreland Wilson (FL) Wolf Womack Woolsey Wu Yarmuth Young (AK) Young (FL)

---- NOT VOTING    5 ---

Giffords Hinojosa

McCollum Owens

Quayle

---