How Texans Voted

January 30, 2011

Summary of how Cornyn, Hutchison and Poe voted this past week:

Senate

Filibuster Dispute: Defeated, 46-49, a bid to require senators to be present and talking on the Senate floor while conducting filibusters aimed at killing bills and nominations. The defeat of this proposal (S Res 21) left in place rules that allow senators to keep filibusters in force even though they are away from the chamber. Cornyn No, Hutchison Abstain

Filibuster Thresholds: Defeated, 12-84, a proposed change in Senate rules (S Res 8) that sought to reduce the number of votes needed to shut down filibusters. The number is now 60 votes. Under this proposal, as debate moves forward the threshold would be gradually lowered from 60 votes to a simple majority of 51 votes. Cornyn No, Hutchison Abstain

Senators’ Secret Holds: Approved, 92-4, curbing the practice of individual senators placing interminable secret holds on pending bills or nominations. Under the change in Senate rules (S Res 28), holds can remain anonymous for two days. If the sponsor does not step forward at that time, procedures are put in effect to induce him or her to do so. Cornyn Yes, Hutchison Abstain

Readingof Amendments: Approved, 81-15, a rules change (S Res 29) ending the practice of opponents stalling votes on amendments by requiring them to be read aloud by Senate clerks. Cornyn No, Hutchison Abstain

RepublicanBudget Cuts: Approved, 256-165, a measure (H Res 38) setting the stage for votes on a Republican plan to cut federal spending in the closing months of fiscal 2011. The measure authorizes the Budget Committee to set the terms of a catchall appropriations bill the House will take up in mid-February. Effective from March 5 until Sept. 30, the catchall bill is expected to trim $60 billion or more from non-security discretionary programs. Poe, Yes

SendingU.S. JobsOverseas: Defeated, 184-242, a Democratic bid to use H Res 38 (above) to curb the practice of U.S. companies sending jobs overseas. The motion sought to deny federal contracts to any company determined by the Department of Labor to be outsourcing its workforce. Poe, No

Taxpayers’ Campaign Funding: Approved, 239-160, and sent to the Senate a bill (HR 359) to repeal the post-Watergate law under which taxpayers can use the checkoff box on federal tax returns to voluntarily contribute $3.00 or $6.00 of their tax liability to presidential-election campaigns and nominating conventions Poe Yes

Transparency for Attack Ads: Defeated, 173-228, a Democratic bid to add provisions on campaign-finance transparency to HR 359 (above). The motion sought to require TV attack ads and other campaign ads to identify the corporation, union or other entity paying for it. Such disclosures are not required under terms of the Supreme Court’s 2009 Citizens United ruling. Poe No

Active Legislation 112th Congress (2011-2012) Updated January 28, 2011

Reference: The Library of Congress Thomas Details of bills can be found at: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/acti ve_leg_page.htm Popular Titles and Subjects # — Active Legislation Key Return to top of page 1099, repeal expansion of reporting S.18, S.72 H.R.4 requirements A — Active Legislation Key Return to top of page Abortion, prohibit taxpayer funding of H.R.3 C — Active Legislation Key Return to top of page Congressional pay raise, eliminate automatic S.133, S.148 H.R.343 adjustment H — Active Legislation Key Return to top of page H.R.2, Health care overhaul, repeal and replace S.192 H.Res.9 House spending, reduce authorization H.Res.22 amounts for 2011-12 S — Active Legislation Key Return to top of page Senate rules, amend rules related to cloture S.Res.8, S.Res.10, and floor debate S.Res.21 Senate rules, amend rules related to notices of S.Res.28 intent to object Senate rules, amend rules related to waiving of S.Res.29 the reading of amendments Climate Change Claims Melt Away

Environment: In 2007, the U.N. said the Himalayan glaciers will be gone by 2035 due to man-made global warming. Yet four years later, some are advancing. What's retreating is the global warming narrative.

Global warming alarmists were ecstatic when the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report claiming "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of their disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the earth keeps warming at the current rate." In reality, the claim was nonsense. It was not based on scientific research but on one scientist's guesswork, which was lifted from a telephone interview. It was carelessly — or intentionally? — included in the report.

Despite its mistakes and clear political bias, the IPCC survives. But its credibility is, at best, shaky. New research indicates that half of the glaciers in the Himalaya's Karakoram range are advancing. Scientists from the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Potsdam, who cited "erroneous reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," strongly suggest that the "settled" science is not so clear. "Our study shows that there is no uniform response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change and highlights the importance of debris cover for understanding glacier retreat, an effect that has so far been neglected in predictions of future water availability or global sea level," write researchers Bodo Bookhagen, Dirk Scherler and Manfred Strecker. Health Care Reform 2010 Waivers

ObamaCare: The granting of 500 more exemptions to unions, companies and even states begs the question — why is "affordable health care for all Americans" neither affordable nor for everybody?

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once told us we'd have to pass ObamaCare to see what was in it. Now it turns out we have to wait for its implementation to see who is in it. The issuance of more than 500 additional waivers to its draconian mandates by Health and Human Services makes the case for repeal even stronger.

It is a system where everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. We were told everyone had to be in it, everyone had to be forced to buy government-approved insurance for ObamaCare to work.

Unions, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are particularly favored. Unions represent 6.9% of the private work force, yet 40% of the workers covered by these waivers are union members. In the latest round of waivers, the SEIU, which lobbied mightily to force everyone else into ObamaCare, added four more locals to the waiver list, which stands at 729. There are now seven SEIU locals that have waivers, covering a total of 45,000 workers.

One of the largest waivers, for 351,000 people, went to the United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund, a New York union that covers teachers. The United Agricultural Benefit Trust, a California-based cooperative that provides such low-cost minimal coverage to farmworkers, was allowed to exempt 17,347 workers.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which said that with ObamaCare "finally, affordable and comprehensive health care coverage will be available for millions of working Americans," saw eight of its affiliates get waivers.

The exemption list even includes 4 states — Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee — that collectively cover 2.1 million workers. As we've noted, corporations such as McDonald's are also on the waiver list, saying ObamaCare makes their plans unworkable and unaffordable. Whitewashing The Financial Crisis

Subprime scandal: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report blames regulators for falling asleep on the job and missing all the shoddy mortgage lending. They didn't miss it. They encouraged it.

But they were only following orders from Washington politicians, who over two decades carried out a relentless and ultimately reckless crusade to ease credit for first-time homebuyers. These buyers traditionally could not qualify for a mortgage. It proved a recipe for disaster.

The sham probe was led by longtime Democrat Phil Angelides, who was hand-picked by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. His biased report, hitting bookstores now, cites nine causes of the crisis, none of which is federal housing policy — the chief culprit.

Instead, it indicts Wall Street, and even refers "evidence" of alleged banking violations to the Justice Department for prosecution. Meanwhile, it lets off scot-free the Treasury and HUD officials who pushed risky political loans onto the private sector, while pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to securitize them.

Overregulation of lending — through the CRA and HUD — created the mortgage bubble, which actually started in 1997 and ballooned thanks to the draconian Affordable Housing Goals that HUD slapped on Fannie and Freddie. Starting in 2000, the HUD-regulated mortgage giants had to devote fully half their business to risky lending to poor and minority borrowers. They met those goals (which remained in effect through the Bush administration) wholesale by buying and guaranteeing subprime securities. Wall Street may have helped inflate the subprime bubble, but the historical record is clear: Washington created it. Obama Seems Tone-Deaf On Budget Deficit

The November election sent a clear message to Washington: less government, less debt, less spending. President Obama certainly heard it, but judging from his State of the Union address, he doesn't believe a word of it. The people say they want cuts? Sure they do — in the abstract. But any party that actually dares carry them out will be punished severely. On that, Obama stakes his re-election.

No other conclusion can be drawn from a speech that didn't even address the debt issue until 35 minutes in. And then what did he offer? A freeze on domestic discretionary spending that he himself admitted would affect a mere one-eighth of the budget. Obama seemed impressed, however, that it would produce $400 billion in savings over 10 years. That's an average of $40 billion a year. The deficit for last year alone was more than 30 times as much. And total federal spending was more than 85 times that amount.

Sources: Library of Congress, Investors Business Daily, Houston Chronicle