Stop The Hate

The Politics of Racism and Hatred

2008-10-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

Before I begin I have something that you need to watch, it is from a long time ago by a man that transcended race and bigotry. His name was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and this is his "I have a Dream Speech" delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/political/martin_luther_king_talks/i_have_a_dream/

In today's political world race is used as a weapon to batter people and opponents into submission by accusing them of racism or being a racist if they don't vote a certain way. This is not what Dr. King was about. There are no African-Americans, Mexican-Americans or any other hyphenated Americans in this country nor are there any "people of color" because those terms by themselves are tools used to create racial barriors between people. You are either an American or you are not.

In 1968 when I joined the military I swore an oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic. All of you military and ex-military folks out there swore the same oath. That oath did not end because you got your discharge, it is time that all of you honor that oath and come to the defense of that document for it is under the most horrendous attacks imaginable during this election.

To this date I ask the black community to look at history and be honest with yourself when you do. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican President granted you freedom from slavery, A Conservative Democrat John F. Kennedy in cooperation with Congress and under pressure from the growing Civil Rights movement in this country signed the Civil Rights Bill into law. However many democrat Congressmen and Senators as well as Governors actively faught against it's implementstion. Yet the black community continues to support the party that has for years worked to keep them poor and dependent on the federal government for survival. Every 4 years these Democrats promise you the world and deliver you nothing. Why do you think that welfare in many cities and towns is generational? I know, you have been told by these same politicians and your black leaders that your plight is due to the Republicans and you actually believe them simply because they are black. Some of the worst leaders in the world were blacks like Edie Amein in Africa. Just because someone is black does not automatically make them a good guy or even a great leader. Like Dr. King said it is about the content of your character and not the color of your skin that makes you good or bad, great or impotent.

During the primaries and now during the general election Barack Obama and his surrogates have continually played the race card and accused their opponents of racism when none of them had ever said anything about his race. Therefore, the black community fell into lock step with Obama for no other reason than he was black and they want to be part of history. Problem is that Obama does not have the interests of the United States at heart, instead he is more about continuing the policies of keeping not only the black community but also poor whites under the thumb of the government welfare system instead of providing them with the tools to become better than they are.

For those of you that are voting for Barack Obama I ask you to look into your heart and truly see if you are voting for him because you don't want to be called a racist or Uncle Tom or if you actually believe that he will be able to deliver the stuff he has promised you in the face of the economic disaster we as a country and society are facing. To this date Barack Obama has forbidden anyone to look at his school or medical records or to criticize him in any way. He has continually played the race card at every opportunity and has never shown at any time in his political career to be one that actually delivers on any campaign promise. It is my belief that he is just using the 95% tax refund idea as a tool to get people to vote for him because they need or want a check from the government even though they don't work or pay taxes and many of them never have. Nobody questions him because they are afraid of being labeled a racist. It is my observation that literally every person that has claimed racism since around 1990 have been the ones actually guilty of it. Is this what Dr. King has preached or are you people and Barack Obama destroying the very dream that he had. This type of rhetoric can only further divide this nation along both racial and ideologocal lines. There is not now nor has there ever been any evidence or history in Barack Obana's past political or other life that he has ever united anyone nor has he ever demonstrated the ability to lead anyone under any circumstances.

It is therefore my humble opinion that the black community and the Democrat party have decided to fully embrace a policy of racial and ideological hatred based on a desired political outcome (the end justifies the means regardless of how destructive it is). That means that they have seen the enemy and found that it was them (they have become what they have hated for years but instead of recognizing it and working to reverse it have decided to reap the benefits from it). A rose by any other name is still a rose. This means that you can call racism and bigotry anything you want that sounds pretty like fairness or equal rights but the fact remains that it is still racism. Dr. King would be horrified at what his people are perpetrating and becoming a part of today.

ACORN & America's Economic Meltdown

2008-10-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Planting Seeds of Disaster
ACORN, Barack Obama, and the Democratic party.

‘You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness.

Militant ACORN
At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN. And ACORN, far more than we’ve recognized up to now, had a major role in precipitating the subprime crisis.

I’ve already told the story of Obama’s close ties to ACORN leader Madeline Talbott, who personally led Chicago ACORN’s campaign to intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to low-credit customers. Using provisions of a 1977 law called the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Chicago ACORN was able to delay and halt the efforts of banks to merge or expand until they had agreed to lower their credit standards — and to fill ACORN’s coffers to finance “counseling” operations like the one touted in that Sun-Times article. This much we’ve known. Yet these local, CRA-based pressure-campaigns fit into a broader, more disturbing, and still under-appreciated national picture. Far more than we’ve recognized, ACORN’s local, CRA-enabled pressure tactics served to entangle the financial system as a whole in the subprime mess. ACORN was no side-show. On the contrary, using CRA and ties to sympathetic congressional Democrats, ACORN succeeded in drawing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the very policies that led to the current disaster.

In one of the first book-length scholarly studies of ACORN, Organizing Urban America, Rutgers University political scientist Heidi Swarts describes this group, so dear to Barack Obama, as “oppositional outlaws.” Swarts, a strong supporter of ACORN, has no qualms about stating that its members think of themselves as “militants unafraid to confront the powers that be.” “This identity as a uniquely militant organization,” says Swarts, “is reinforced by contentious action.” ACORN protesters will break into private offices, show up at a banker’s home to intimidate his family, or pour protesters into bank lobbies to scare away customers, all in an effort to force a lowering of credit standards for poor and minority customers. According to Swarts, long-term ACORN organizers “tend to see the organization as a solitary vanguard of principled leftists...the only truly radical community organization.”

ACORN’s Inside Strategy
Yet ACORN’s entirely deserved reputation for militance is balanced by its less-well-known “inside strategy.” ACORN has long employed Washington-based lobbyists who understand very well how the legislative game is played. ACORN’s national lobbyists may encourage and benefit from the militant tactics of their base, but in the halls of congress they play the game with smooth sophistication. The untold story of ACORN’s central role in the financial meltdown is about the one-two punch to the banking system administered by this outside/inside strategy.

Critics of the notion that CRA had a major impact on the subprime crisis ask how a law passed in 1977 could have caused a crisis in 2008? The answer has a lot to do with ACORN — and the critical years of 1990-1995. While the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act did call on banks to increase lending in poor and minority neighborhoods, its exact requirements were vague, and therefore open to a good deal of regulatory interpretation. Banks merger or expansion plans were rarely held up under CRA until the late 1980s, when ACORN perfected its technique of filing CRA complaints in tandem with the sort of intimidation tactics perfected by that original “community organizer” (and Obama idol), Saul Alinsky.

At first, ACORN’s anti-bank actions were relatively few in number. However, under a provision of the 1989 savings and loan bailout pushed by liberal Democratic legislators, like Massachusetts Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy, lenders were required to compile public records of mortgage applicants by race, gender, and income. Although the statistics produced by these studies were presented in highly misleading ways, groups like ACORN were able to use them to embarrass banks into lowering credit standards. At the same time, a wave of banking mergers in the early 1990's provided an opening for ACORN to use CRA to force lending changes. Any merger could be blocked under CRA, and once ACORN began systematically filing protests over minority lending, a formerly toothless set of regulations began to bite.

ACORN’s efforts to undermine credit standards in the late 1980s taught it a valuable lesson. However much pressure ACORN put on banks to lower credit standards, tough requirements in the “secondary market” run by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac served as a barrier to change. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy up mortgages en masse, bundle them, and sell them to investors on the world market. Back then, Fannie and Freddie refused to buy loans that failed to meet high credit standards. If, for example, a local bank buckled to ACORN pressure and agreed to offer poor or minority applicants a 5-percent down-payment rate, instead of the normal 10-20 percent, Fannie and Freddie would refuse to buy up those mortgages. That would leave all the risk of these shaky loans with the local bank. So again and again, local banks would tell ACORN that, because of standards imposed by Fannie and Freddie, they could lower their credit standards by only a little.

So the eighties taught ACORN that a high-pressure, Alinskyite outside strategy wouldn’t be enough. Their Washington lobbyists would have to bring inside pressure on the government to undercut credit standards at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Only then would local banks consider making loans available to customers with bad credit histories, low wages, virtually nothing in the bank, and even bankruptcies on record.

Democrats and ACORN
As early as 1987, ACORN began pressuring Fannie and Freddie to review their standards, with modest results. By 1989, ACORN had lured Fannie Mae into the first of many “pilot projects” designed to help local banks lower credit standards. But it was all small potatoes until the serious pressure began in early 1991. At that point, Democratic Senator Allan Dixon convened a Senate subcommittee hearing at which an ACORN representative gave key testimony. It’s probably not a coincidence that Dixon, like Obama, was an Illinois Democrat, since Chicago has long been a stronghold of ACORN influence.

Dixon gave credibility to ACORN’s accusations of loan bias, although these claims of racism were disputed by Missouri Republican, Christopher Bond. ACORN’s spokesman strenuously complained that his organization’s efforts to relax local credit standards were being blocked by requirements set by the secondary market. Dixon responded by pressing Fannie and Freddie to do more to relax those standards — and by promising to introduce legislation that would ensure it. At this early stage, Fannie and Freddie walked a fine line between promising to do more, while protesting any wholesale reduction of credit requirements.

By July of 1991, ACORN’s legislative campaign began to bear fruit. As the Chicago Tribune put it, “Housing activists have been pushing hard to improve housing for the poor by extracting greater financial support from the country’s two highly profitable secondary mortgage-market companies. Thanks to the help of sympathetic lawmakers, it appeared...that they may succeed.” The Tribune went on to explain that House Democrat Henry Gonzales had announced that Fannie and Freddie had agreed to commit $3.5 billion to low-income housing in 1992 and 1993, in addition to a just-announced $10 billion “affordable housing loan program” by Fannie Mae. The article emphasizes ACORN pressure and notes that Fannie and Freddie had been fighting against the plan as recently as a week before agreement was reached. Fannie and Freddie gave in only to stave off even more restrictive legislation floated by congressional Democrats.

A mere month later, ACORN Housing Corporation president, George Butts made news by complaining to a House Banking subcommittee that ACORN’s efforts to pressure banks using CRA were still being hamstrung by Fannie and Freddie. Butts also demanded still more data on the race, gender, and income of loan applicants. Many news reports over the ensuing months point to ACORN as the key source of pressure on congress for a further reduction of credit standards at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a result of this pressure, ACORN was eventually permitted to redraft many of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s loan guideline.

Clinton and ACORN
ACORN’s progress through 1992 depended on its Democratic allies. Whatever ACORN managed to squeeze out of the George H. W. Bush administration came under congressional pressure. With the advent of the Clinton administration, however, ACORN’s fortunes took a positive turn. Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisnersos pledged to meet monthly with ACORN representatives. For ACORN, those meetings bore fruit.

Another factor working in ACORN’s favor was that its increasing success with local banks turned those banks into allies in the battle with Fannie and Freddie. Precisely because ACORN’s local pressure tactics were working, banks themselves now wanted Fannie and Freddie to loosen their standards still further, so as to buy up still more of the high-risk loans they’d made at ACORN’s insistence. So by the 1993, a grand alliance of ACORN, national Democrats, and local bankers looking for someone to lessen the risks imposed on them by CRA and ACORN were uniting to pressure Fannie and Freddie to loosen credit standards still further.

At this point, both ACORN and the Clinton administration were working together to impose large numerical targets or “set asides” (really a sort of poor and minority loan quota system) on Fannie and Freddie. ACORN called for at least half of Fannie and Freddie loans to go to low-income customers. At first the Clinton administration offered a set-aside of 30 percent. But eventually ACORN got what it wanted. In early 1994, the Clinton administration floated plans for committing $1 trillion in loans to low- and moderate-income home-buyers, which would amount to about half of Fannie Mae’s business by the end of the decade. Wall Street Analysts attributed Fannie Mae’s willingness to go along with the change to the need to protect itself against still more severe “congressional attack.” News reports also highlighted praise for the change from ACORN’s head lobbyist, Deepak Bhargava.

This sweeping debasement of credit standards was touted by Fannie Mae’s chairman, chief executive officer, and now prominent Obama adviser James A. Johnson. This is also the period when Fannie Mae ramped up its pilot programs and local partnerships with ACORN, all of which became precedents and models for the pattern of risky subprime mortgages at the root of today’s crisis. During these years, Obama’s Chicago ACORN ally, Madeline Talbott, was at the forefront of participation in those pilot programs, and her activities were consistently supported by Obama through both foundation funding and personal leadership training for her top organizers.

Finally, in June of 1995, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Secretary Cisneros announced the administration’s comprehensive new strategy for raising home-ownership in America to an all-time high. Representatives from ACORN were guests of honor at the ceremony. In his remarks, Clinton emphasized that: “Out homeownership strategy will not cost the taxpayers one extra cent. It will not require legislation.” Clinton meant that informal partnerships between Fannie and Freddie and groups like ACORN would make mortgages available to customers “who have historically been excluded from homeownership.”

Disaster
In the end of course, Clinton’s plan cost taxpayers an almost unimaginable amount of money. And it was just around the time of his 1995 announcement that the Chicago papers started encouraging bad-credit customers with “dog-food” wages, little money in the bank, and even histories of bankruptcy to apply for home loans with the help of ACORN. At both the local and national levels, then, ACORN served as the critical catalyst, levering pressure created by the Community Reinvestment Act and pull with Democratic politicians to force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a pattern of high-risk loans.

Up to now, conventional wisdom on the financial meltdown has relegated ACORN and the CRA to bit parts. The real problem, we’ve been told, lay with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In fact, however, ACORN is at the base of the whole mess. ACORN used CRA and Democratic sympathizers to entangle Fannie and Freddie and the entire financial system in a disastrous disregard of the most basic financial standards. And Barack Obama cut his teeth as an organizer and politician backing up ACORN’s economic madness every step of the way.

Here are the links to a report on this issue, I hope it helps clear the air a bit. However, you will need to put your political bias aside in order to understand the report because the Democrats in Washington and Barack Obama are right in the middle of this.

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0g0mtZyZB4
Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ziPZyGf3g
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqw9UzUtxbg
Part Four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVuG7-
Part Five: http://www.youtube.com/watch
Part Six: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2nHqJZazucPart

SOURCE: — Stanley Kurtz

Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Institute.
On a wide range of issues, from marriage and family, to higher education reform, to the place of religion in public life, to the challenges of democratization abroad, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates.

Mr. Kurtz has written frequently on these and other issues for various journals, including National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor), the Weekly Standard, Policy Review, City Journal, and Commentary.

Mr. Kurtz has provided a critical public voice in defense of traditional marriage as well as insightful commentary on the tensions between religion and secularism in modern society. He also has led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act. Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University.

Mr. Kurtz later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

John McCain Voting Record

2008-10-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Vote Key
YNNVPYPN
YeaNayNot Voting, Excused, Absent, or PresentPair YeaPair Nay

Abortion:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
03/17/2005
Unintended Pregnancy AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 53)
10/21/2003
Prohibit Partial-Birth Abortion billS 3
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 33)
10/21/2003
Prohibit Partial-Birth Abortion billS 3
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(64 - 34)
06/21/2002
Military Abortion AmendmentS 2514
N
Amendment Passed - Senate(52 - 40)
06/20/2000
Military Abortions AmendmentS 2549
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 49)
02/02/2000
Violent Protestors AmendmentS 625
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(80 - 17)
10/21/1999
Roe v. Wade AmendmentS 1692
NV
Amendment passed - Senate(51 - 47)
10/21/1999
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1999S 1692
Y
Bill passed - Senate(63 - 34)
05/26/1999
Overseas Military Abortions AmendmentS 1059
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(51 - 49)
09/18/1998
Late-Term Abortion - Override President's VetoHR 1122
Y
Veto Override Failed - Senate(64 - 36)
06/25/1998
Overseas Military Hospital Abortions AmendmentS 2057
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 49)
09/04/1997
Fetal Tissue Research AmendmentS 1061
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(38 - 60)
07/22/1997
Abortion Funding AmendmentS 1023
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(54 - 45)
07/10/1997
Abortions at Overseas Military FacilitiesS 936
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
05/20/1997
Partial-Birth Abortion billHR 1122
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 36)
09/26/1996
Partial-Birth Abortion BanHR 1833
Y
Veto Override Failed - Senate(57 - 41)
06/19/1996
Overseas Abortion AmendmentS 1745
Y
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(45 - 51)
03/19/1996
Medical Professionals AmendmentHR 3019
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(63 - 37)
12/07/1995
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995HR 1833
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(54 - 44)

Budget, Spending & Taxes:
Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
Economic Stabilization/Bail Out BillHR 1424
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
10/01/2008
Amtrak ReauthorizationHR 2095
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(74 - 24)
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/31/2008
Higher Education Act Amendments and ExtensionsHR 4137
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(83 - 8)
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
NV
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/13/2008
Earmark MoratoriumS Amdt 4347
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(29 - 71)
03/13/2008
Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration LawsS Amdt 4309 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(58 - 40)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/26/2008
Health Care for Indigenous PeoplesS 1200
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(83 - 10)
02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Iraq and Afghanistan Military Operations Funding with the Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(70 - 25)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/13/2007
Limit on Farm SubsidiesS Amdt 3695
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Income Limit for Subsidies to FarmersS Amdt 3810
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 47)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
12/06/2007
Temporary Tax Adjustments Act of 2007HR 3996
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(46 - 48)
12/06/2007
Temporary Alternative Minimum Tax Adjustment Act of 2007HR 3996
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 5)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
11/08/2007
Water Resources Development Act of 2007HR 1495
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/30/2007
Amtrak ReauthorizationS 294
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(70 - 22)
10/25/2007
Amtrak Federal Subsidy LimitsS Amdt 3453
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(28 - 66)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
N
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
09/10/2007
Bridge Repair FundingS Amdt 2792
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(60 - 33)
09/07/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(79 - 12)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
N
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/20/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
N
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 18)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/17/2007
2008 Budget ResolutionS Con Res 21
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(52 - 40)
04/26/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007 with Iraq Withdrawal TimelineHR 1591
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 46)
03/23/2007
Congressional Budget for 2008S Con Res 21
N
Passed - Senate(52 - 47)
08/03/2006
Death/EstateTax and Minimum Wage Bill of 2006HR 5970
Y
Cloture Motion Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
05/11/2006
Tax Reconciliation billHR 4297
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(54 - 44)
03/16/2006
Education Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)
03/16/2006
Debt Limit Increase ResolutionH J Res 47
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(52 - 48)
03/16/2006
2007 Budget ResolutionS Con Res 83
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 49)
03/16/2006
Natural Resources and Environment Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 49)
03/14/2006
Reinstate Pay-As-You-Go through 2011 AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 50)
02/02/2006
Tax Reconciliation billHR 4297
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(66 - 31)
12/21/2005
Budget Reconciliation billS 1932
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 50)
11/18/2005
Tax Reconciliation BillS 2020
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 33)
11/17/2005
Earned Income Tax Credit AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(55 - 43)
11/17/2005
Hurricane Victims Tax Benefit AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Failed - Senate(44 - 55)
11/17/2005
Pay As You Go AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 48)
11/17/2005
Temporary Tax on Crude Oil AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 48)
11/17/2005
Tax Rate AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Failed - Senate(40 - 59)
11/03/2005
Medicare Prescription Drug AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(51 - 48)
11/03/2005
Budget Reconciliation billS 1932
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(52 - 47)
11/03/2005
Pay As You Go AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 49)
04/28/2005
Budget FY2006 Appropriations ResolutionH CON RES 95
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(52 - 47)
03/17/2005
Budget FY2006 Appropriations ResolutionS Con Res 18
Y
Concurrent Resolution Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/17/2005
Education AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/17/2005
Perkins Vocational Education Program AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 56)
03/17/2005
Homeland Security Grant Program AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(63 - 37)
03/17/2005
Native American Funding AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(45 - 55)
03/17/2005
Tax Subsidy for Domestic Companies AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(40 - 59)
10/11/2004
JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Strength)HR 4520
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(69 - 17)
09/23/2004
Increased Child Tax Credit billHR 1308
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(92 - 3)
05/11/2004
Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) ActS 1637
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 5)
04/29/2004
Internet Access Tax billS 150
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(93 - 3)
05/23/2003
Jobs and Economic Growth billHR 2
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 50)
05/15/2003
Jobs and Economic Growth billHR 2
N
Bill Passed - Senate(51 - 49)
04/11/2003
Congressional Budget for fiscal year 2004H Con Res 95
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 50)
03/26/2003
Budget Resolution FY2004S Con Res 23
N
Resolution Adopted - Senate(56 - 44)
03/19/2003
ANWR Oil Drilling AmendmentS Con Res 23
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 48)
05/26/2001
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, 2001HR 1836
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(58 - 33)
05/23/2001
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, 2001HR 1836
Y
Bill passed - Senate(62 - 38)
05/10/2001
Fiscal Year 2002 Budget ResolutionH Con Res 83
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(53 - 47)
07/21/2000
Marriage Tax Relief BillHR 4810
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(60 - 34)
07/14/2000
Death/Estate Tax Elimination Act of 2000HR 8
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(59 - 39)
07/13/2000
Death/Estate Tax AmendmentHR 8
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
04/13/2000
Congressional Budget resolution FY 2001H Con Res 290
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(50 - 48)
04/07/2000
Congressional Budget resolution FY 2001H Con Res 290
NV
Resolution Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
08/05/1999
Financial Freedom Act of 1999HR 2488
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(50 - 49)
07/30/1999
Taxpayer Refund Act of 1999S 1429
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(57 - 43)
05/06/1999
Financial Services Modernization BillS 900
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(54 - 44)
04/15/1999
Congressional Budget Resolution, FY 2000H Con Res 68
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(54 - 44)
03/25/1999
Congressional Budget Resolution, FY 2000H Con Res 68
NV
Resolution Adopted - Senate(55 - 44)
06/04/1998
Underage Tobacco Usage amendmentS 1415
Y
Motion to Table Rejected - Senate(29 - 66)
04/30/1998
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations billHR 3579
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(88 - 11)
04/02/1998
Budget Resolution FY99S Con Res 86
Y
Resolution Adopted - Senate(57 - 41)
04/01/1998
Medicare Choices AmendmentS Con Res 86
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 47)
04/01/1998
Personal Retirement Accounts AmendmentS Con Res 86
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
04/01/1998
School Modernization AmendmentS Con Res 86
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(54 - 46)
03/31/1998
Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund AmendmentS Con Res 86
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
03/31/1998
Tobacco Immunity AmendmentS Con Res 86
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 19)
07/31/1997
Budget Reconciliation billHR 2015
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 15)
07/31/1997
Budget Reconciliation BillHR 2014
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(92 - 8)
06/27/1997
Budget Reconciliation BillHR 2014
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 18)
06/26/1997
Family Tax Relief AmendmentS 949
N
Amendment Rejected . - Senate(38 - 61)
06/25/1997
Budget Reconciliation billS 947
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(73 - 27)
06/05/1997
Budget Resolution FY1999-2000H Con Res 84
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
05/23/1997
Budget Resolution FY1999-2000H Con Res 84
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(78 - 22)
05/22/1997
Budget Deficit AmendmentS Con Res 27
N
Tabling Motion Adopted . - Senate(52 - 47)
03/04/1997
Balanced Budget amendmentS J Res 1
Y
Bill Failed - Senate(66 - 34)
08/02/1996
Minimum Wage Increase billHR 3448
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
07/09/1996
Minimum Wage Increase billHR 3448
N
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 24)
06/13/1996
FY1997 Appropriations Act Treasury, Postal ServiceH Con Res 178
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(53 - 46)
06/06/1996
Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional AmendmentH J Res 1
Y
Resolution Failed - Senate(64 - 35)
11/16/1995
Continuing Appropriation billH Joint Res 122
Y
Joint Resolution Passed - Senate(60 - 37)
10/27/1995
Budget Reconciliation billHR 2491
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(52 - 47)
06/29/1995
Budget FY2006 Appropriations ResolutionH Con Res 67
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(54 - 46)
05/25/1995
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and RescissionsHR 1158
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(61 - 38)
05/25/1995
Fiscal 1996 Budget Resolution - AdoptionH Con Res 67
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(57 - 42)
03/23/1995
Pay-As-You-Go AmendmentS 4
Y
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
03/02/1995
Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional AmendmentH J Res 1
Y
Joint Resolution Failed - Senate(65 - 35)

Business & Consumers:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
Economic Stabilization/Bail Out BillHR 1424
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
05/07/2008
Optional Wind Damage InsuranceS Amdt 4719
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(19 - 74)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions AmendmentS Amdt 4259
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 45)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
02/12/2008
Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for SurveillanceS Amdt 3907
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 67)
02/12/2008
FISA as Exclusive Means for Conducting Electronic SurveillanceS Amdt 3910
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(57 - 41)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/13/2007
Limit on Farm SubsidiesS Amdt 3695
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Income Limit for Subsidies to FarmersS Amdt 3810
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 47)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
10/30/2007
Amtrak ReauthorizationS 294
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(70 - 22)
09/07/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(79 - 12)
07/20/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
N
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 18)
06/26/2007
Union Organization BillHR 800
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 48)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
05/07/2007
FDA Drug Import Certification AmendmentS Amdt 1010
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 40)
11/17/2005
Price-Gouging During Emergencies AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Failed - Senate(57 - 42)
11/03/2005
Targeted Case Management AmendmentS 1932
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
07/26/2005
Corporate Financing of Terrorism AmendmentS 1042
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/10/2005
Bankruptcy Reform BillS 256
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
03/08/2005
Violent Protestor AmendmentS 256
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
03/07/2005
Minimum Wage AmendmentS 256
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(38 - 61)
03/07/2005
Minimum Wage AmendmentS 256
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 49)
04/08/2004
Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004HR 3108
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(78 - 19)
07/15/2002
Accounting Industry Reform billS 2673
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(97 - 0)
06/18/2002
Terrorism Insurance BillS 2600
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 14)
02/02/2000
Bankruptcy Reform billHR 833
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(83 - 14)

Campaign Finance & Election Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
08/02/2007
Lobbying and Donation RegulationsS 1
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(83 - 14)
10/16/2002
Help America Vote Act of 2002HR 3295
Y
Conference Reported Adopted - Senate(92 - 2)
04/11/2002
Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001HR 565
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(99 - 1)
03/20/2002
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001HR 2356
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 40)
02/27/2002
Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001S 565
Y
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
04/02/2001
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001S 27
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(59 - 41)
03/26/2001
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001S 27
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 46)
03/21/2001
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act - Union AmendmentS 27
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(69 - 31)
03/20/2001
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001S 27
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 30)
06/29/2000
'527' Political Groups-PassageHR 4762
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
07/30/1998
Federal Election Commission term lengthS 2312
N
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(45 - 54)
02/25/1998
Campaign Finance Reform AmendmentS 1663
N
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(48 - 50)
02/24/1998
Campaign Finance Reform AmendmentS 1663
N
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
06/25/1996
Campaign Finance Reform billS 1219
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(54 - 46)

Civil Liberties & Civil Rights:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
04/23/2008
Equal Pay BillHR 2831
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
N
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/20/2007
Expressing Support for General Petraeus and All Members of the Armed ForcesS Amdt 2934
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(72 - 25)
09/20/2007
Expressing Support for All Men and Women in the U.S. Armed ForcesS Amdt 2947
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 47)
09/19/2007
Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United StatesS Amdt 2022
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 43)
09/18/2007
District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007S 1257
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 42)
08/03/2007
Foreign Intelligence AcquisitionS 1927
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 28)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
06/06/2007
English as the Common LanguageS Amdt 1384
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
06/27/2006
Flag Desecration Constitutional AmendmentS J Res 12
Y
Joint Resolution Failed - Senate(66 - 34)
03/29/2000
Flag Desecration amendmentS J Res 14
Y
Joint Resolution Failed - Senate(63 - 37)
05/18/1999
Religious Memorials at Schools AmendmentS 254
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(85 - 13)
07/22/1998
Phone Recording AmendmentS 2260
N
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(50 - 50)
09/10/1996
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)HR 3396
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(85 - 14)
09/10/1996
Employment Nondiscrimination Act of 1996S 2056
N
Bill Failed - Senate(49 - 50)
12/12/1995
Flag Desecration billS J Res 31
Y
Joint Resolution Failed - Senate(63 - 36)

Employment & Affirmative Action:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
04/23/2008
Equal Pay BillHR 2831
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
05/11/2004
Unemployment Benefits AmendmentS 1637
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(59 - 40)
03/06/1998
Disadvantaged Business Enterprises AmendmentS 1173
Y
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(58 - 37)

Energy Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/19/2007
Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007)S Amdt 1519
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 23)
06/14/2007
Offshore Drilling in VirginiaS Amdt 1566
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 44)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
08/01/2006
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006S 3711
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(71 - 25)
03/16/2006
ANWR Revenues AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/16/2006
LIHEAP Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
11/03/2005
Alaska Judicial Review AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
10/26/2005
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program AmendmentHR 3010
N
Motion Failed - Senate(54 - 43)
07/29/2005
Energy Policy Act of 2005HR 6
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(74 - 26)
06/28/2005
Energy Policy Act of 2005HR 6
N
Bill Passed - Senate(85 - 12)
06/16/2005
Reduction in Dependence on Foreign OilHR 6
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 53)
06/16/2005
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) AmendmentHR 6
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 48)
06/14/2005
Environmental Effects Caused by Ethanol AmendmentHR 6
N
Motion to Table Agreed - Senate(59 - 38)
03/16/2005
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)
07/31/2003
Energy Omnibus billHR 6
N
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 14)
06/10/2003
Hydrogen Fuel Cell AmendmentS 14
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(67 - 32)
06/10/2003
Reduction of Foreign Oil Dependence AmendmentS 14
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(99 - 1)
04/25/2002
Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) Act of 2001HR 4
N
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 11)
04/15/1997
Nuclear Waste Disposal billS 104
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 34)
04/15/1997
Yucca Mountain Alternate Sites amendmentS 104
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(59 - 39)
07/31/1996
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996S 1936
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(63 - 37)

Environmental Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
11/08/2007
Water Resources Development Act of 2007HR 1495
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/14/2007
Offshore Drilling in VirginiaS Amdt 1566
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 44)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
12/21/2005
Removal of ANWR Provision from HR 2863S Con Res 74
NV
Concurrent Resolution Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
11/03/2005
ANWR AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
09/13/2005
EPA's Clean Air Mercury RuleS J Res 20
Y
Resolution Failed: - Senate(47 - 51)
10/30/2003
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003HR 1904
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
04/06/2000
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling amendmentS Con Res 101
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(51 - 49)
02/10/2000
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments ActS 1287
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 34)
09/17/1996
Federal Land Grazing Fee AmendmentHR 3662
Y
Tabling Motion Rejected - Senate(50 - 50)
08/02/1996
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1995S 1316
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(98 - 0)

Family & Children Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
N
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
07/25/2006
Child Custody Protection ActS 403
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 34)
07/25/2006
Teen Pregnancy Education AmendmentS 403
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
07/14/2004
Federal Marriage AmendmentS J Res 40
N
Bill Failed - Senate(48 - 50)
04/10/2003
Enhance AMBER Alert billS 151
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(98 - 0)
02/24/2003
Enhance AMBER Alert billS 151
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 0)

Foreign Aid & Policy Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Limiting Countries for HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria FundingS Amdt 5078
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(70 - 24)
07/10/2008
Nomination of General Petraeus as Military Leader of the Middle EastPN 1641
NV
Nomination Confirmed - Senate(95 - 2)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with Provisions Regarding Conduct and Congressional OversightS Amdt 4817
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(34 - 63)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
12/18/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentS Amdt 3875
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(24 - 71)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Iraq and Afghanistan Military Operations Funding with the Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(70 - 25)
12/04/2007
United States-Peru Trade AgreementHR 3688
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(77 - 18)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Federalism in IraqS Amdt 2997
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsS Amdt 3017
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
09/11/2007
Limiting Mexican Trucks to Commercial Zones Near the Border Between the U.S. and MexicoS Amdt 2797
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/19/2007
Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007)S Amdt 1519
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 23)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
09/07/2006
Media in the Middle East AmendmentHR 5631
Y
Motion to Table Adopted - Senate(51 - 44)
03/16/2006
National Defense Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 50)
11/15/2005
Reporting Matters in Iraq AmendmentS 1042
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(40 - 58)
11/15/2005
Iraq Progress Reports AmendmentS 1042
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 19)
12/07/2001
International Courts AmendmentHR 3338
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(78 - 21)
05/18/2000
Troop Withdrawal from Kosovo AmendmentS 2521
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 47)
03/23/1999
Kosovo ResolutionS Con Res 21
Y
Resolution Adopted - Senate(58 - 41)
10/09/1998
Religious Persecution Freedom billHR 2431
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(98 - 0)
09/01/1998
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty AmendmentS 2334
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 44)
06/24/1998
Bosnia and Herzegovina Withdrawal AmendmentS 2057
Y
Amendment Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(65 - 31)
05/22/1998
Iran Missile Sanctions billHR 2709
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(90 - 4)
04/28/1998
State Department FY98-99 Authorization billHR 1757
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/13/1998
Saddam Hussein War Crime Prosecution billS Con Res 78
NV
Resolution Adopted - Senate(93 - 0)
04/24/1997
Chemical Weapons Convention billS Res 75
Y
Treaty Ratified - Senate(74 - 26)
03/05/1996
Cuba Sanctions billHR 927
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(74 - 22)
01/26/1996
The START II Treaty103-1
Y
Treaty Ratified - Senate(87 - 4)
12/13/1995
Deployment of US Armed Forces in Bosnia-HerzegovinaS J Res 44
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(69 - 30)
10/19/1995
Cuba Sanctions billHR 927
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 24)
07/26/1995
Bosnia and Herzegovina Self-Defense Act of 1995S 21
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 29)

Government Reform:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
11/19/2002
Homeland Security Act of 2002HR 5005
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(90 - 9)

Gun Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
02/25/2008
Prohibiting Funds in the Bill S 1200 from Being Used to Decrease Gun OwnershipS Amdt 4070
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(78 - 11)
07/13/2006
Firearm Confiscation Prohibition AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(84 - 16)
07/29/2005
Firearms Manufacturers Protection billS 397
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 31)
07/28/2005
Child Safety Lock AmendmentS 397
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 30)
03/02/2004
Firearms Manufacturers Protection billS 1805
Y
Bill Failed - Senate(8 - 90)
05/20/1999
Gun Show Sale Regulation AmendmentS 254
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 50)
07/21/1998
Gun Lock Requirement AmendmentS 2260
Y
Amendment Tabling Motion Adopted . - Senate(61 - 39)

Health Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Limiting Countries for HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria FundingS Amdt 5078
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(70 - 24)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
NV
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
03/14/2008
Codifying the Definition of a Child Eligible for SCHIPS Amdt 4233
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/26/2008
Health Care for Indigenous PeoplesS 1200
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(83 - 10)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
N
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
05/07/2007
FDA Drug Import Certification AmendmentS Amdt 1010
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 40)
11/03/2005
Medicaid Generic Drug AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)
11/03/2005
Medical Assistance and Prescription Drug AmendmentS 1932
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(54 - 45)
11/03/2005
Hurricane Health Care for Survivors AmendmentS 1932
N
Motion Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
10/27/2005
AIDS Drug Assistance Program AmendmentHR 3010
N
Motion Failed - Senate(46 - 50)
03/17/2005
Medicaid AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)
06/27/2003
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit billS 1
N
Bill Passed - Senate(76 - 21)
07/31/2002
Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals ActS 812
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 21)
06/29/2001
Patients' Bill of Rights billS 1052
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(59 - 36)
06/29/2000
Off-budget Lockbox AmendmentHR 4577
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(60 - 37)
06/29/2000
Social Security and Medicare Surplus AmendmentHR 4577
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(54 - 43)
06/29/2000
Health Care AmendmentHR 4577
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 47)
06/22/2000
Outpatient Prescription Drugs AmendmentHR 4577
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 53)
07/15/1999
Patient Bill of Rights billS 1344
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(53 - 47)
07/15/1999
Patient Lawsuit AmendmentS 1344
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 47)
07/14/1999
Women's Health and Cancer Rights AmendmentS 1344
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(55 - 45)
06/22/1999
Patients' Bill of Rights AmendmentS 1233
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(53 - 47)
02/11/1998
Human Cloning Research billS 1601
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(42 - 54)
06/25/1997
Private Contracts AmendmentS 947
Y
Motion Agreed to - Senate(64 - 35)
04/16/1997
Assisted Suicide BillHR 1003
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(99 - 0)
08/02/1996
Health Insurance Portability billHR 3103
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(98 - 0)
04/18/1996
Deletion of Medical Savings Accounts AmendmentS 1028
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 46)
07/27/1995
Ryan White CARE reauthorization Act of 1995S 641
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(97 - 3)

Housing & Property Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
05/07/2008
Optional Wind Damage InsuranceS Amdt 4719
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(19 - 74)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)

Immigration:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Border Fence AmendmentS Amdt 4231
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(61 - 37)
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions AmendmentS Amdt 4259
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 45)
03/13/2008
Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration LawsS Amdt 4309 to S Con Res 70
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(58 - 40)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/24/2007
Permanent Residence for Certain Undocumented ImmigrantsS 2205
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
06/28/2007
Second Immigration Act of 2007S 1639
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(46 - 53)
06/07/2007
Immigration Act of 2007S 1348
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(34 - 61)
06/06/2007
Declaring English the National LanguageS Amdt 1151
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(64 - 33)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
06/06/2007
Barring Immigrants with Certain Criminal HistoriesS Amdt 1333
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(66 - 32)
06/06/2007
English as the Common LanguageS Amdt 1384
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
10/31/2006
Secure Fence Act of 2006HR 6061
Y
Bill Passed - House(283 - 138)
07/13/2006
Double-Layered Fencing AmendmentHR 5441
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(29 - 71)
06/20/2006
Triple-Layered Fencing AmendmentHR 5631
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
05/25/2006
Confidentiality Requirement AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 49)
05/25/2006
Immigration Reform BillS 2611
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(62 - 36)
05/24/2006
H-2C Visa Program AmmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Failed - Senate(48 - 49)
05/23/2006
Orange Card Program AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 61)
05/23/2006
Employer Verification AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 40)
05/18/2006
"State Criminal Alien Assistance Program" AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 52)
05/18/2006
English As National Language AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(62 - 35)
05/18/2006
English as Unifying Language AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
05/17/2006
Employment-based Immigrant Visa AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(50 - 48)
10/03/2000
American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, 2000S 2045
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(96 - 1)
07/23/1998
Temporary Farm Workers AmendmentS 2260
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(68 - 31)
05/18/1998
U.S. Citizen Recruitment AmendmentS 1723
Y
Tabling Motion Passed - Senate(59 - 39)
05/18/1998
Non-Immigrant Specialty Workers billS 1723
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 20)
05/02/1996
Public Assistance to Legal Immigrants AmendmentS 1664
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(40 - 60)
05/02/1996
Immigration Reform billHR 2202
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(97 - 3)
05/01/1996
Asylum Seeker AmendmentS 1664
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
05/01/1996
Citizen Verification Pilot Program AmendmentS 1664
N
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(54 - 46)
04/30/1996
Legal Immigrants Assistance Eligibility AmendmentS 1664
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
04/25/1996
Foreign Student Public Education AmendmentS 1664
Y
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(53 - 46)
04/25/1996
Foreign Student Program AmendmentS 1664
Y
Tabling Motion Adopted - Senate(53 - 47)

Labor:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
06/26/2007
Union Organization BillHR 800
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 48)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
06/21/2006
Minimum Wage Adjustment AmendmentS 2766
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(52 - 46)
06/21/2006
Increasing Minimum Wage AmendmentS 2766
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(45 - 53)
03/06/2001
Ergonomics Regulations resolutionS J Res 6
Y
Resolution Adopted - Senate(56 - 44)
11/09/1999
Two Year Minimum Wage Increase AmendmentS 625
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 48)
11/09/1999
Three Year Minimum Wage Increase AmendmentS 625
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(54 - 44)
07/10/1996
Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995S 295
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(61 - 38)
07/10/1996
Team ActHR 743
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(53 - 46)
07/09/1996
Minimum Wage Increase AmendmentHR 3448
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)

Military Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/10/2008
Nomination of General Petraeus as Military Leader of the Middle EastPN 1641
NV
Nomination Confirmed - Senate(95 - 2)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with Provisions Regarding Conduct and Congressional OversightS Amdt 4817
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(34 - 63)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
NV
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
12/18/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentS Amdt 3875
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(24 - 71)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/24/2007
Permanent Residence for Certain Undocumented ImmigrantsS 2205
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/21/2007
Iraq Troop Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 2898
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 47)
09/19/2007
Time Between Troop DeploymentsS Amdt 2909
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 44)
07/18/2007
Iraq Troop ReductionS Amdt 2087
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 47)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
03/27/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentHR 1591
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 50)
03/15/2007
United States Policy in Iraq Resolution of 2007S J Res 9
NV
Resolution Failed - Senate(48 - 50)
09/28/2006
Habeas Review AmendmentS 3930
N
Amemendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 51)
09/28/2006
Military Commissions AmendmentS 3930
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 52)
09/28/2006
Oversight of CIA Interrogation and Detention AmendmentS 3930
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
09/28/2006
Military Commissions Act of 2006S 3930
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 34)
09/06/2006
Cluster Munitions AmendmentHR 5631
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(30 - 70)
06/22/2006
Troop Redeployment AmendmentS 2766
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(13 - 86)
02/02/2006
Military Funding and Tax Cuts AmendmentHR 4297
N
Motion Failed - Senate(44 - 53)
05/21/2004
Condemning Iraq Abuse of Prisoners resolutionSRes 356
NV
Resolution Adopted - Senate(92 - 0)
10/11/2002
Use of Military Force Against IraqH J Res 114
Y
Joint Resolution Adopted - Senate(77 - 23)

National Security Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
02/12/2008
Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for SurveillanceS Amdt 3907
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 67)
02/12/2008
FISA as Exclusive Means for Conducting Electronic SurveillanceS Amdt 3910
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(57 - 41)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
N
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Federalism in IraqS Amdt 2997
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsS Amdt 3017
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
09/19/2007
Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United StatesS Amdt 2022
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 43)
09/11/2007
Limiting Mexican Trucks to Commercial Zones Near the Border Between the U.S. and MexicoS Amdt 2797
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
08/03/2007
Foreign Intelligence AcquisitionS 1927
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 28)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
03/13/2007
Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActS 4
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 38)
09/13/2006
Security of Cargo Containers AmendmentHR 4954
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 55)
09/12/2006
National Security AmendmentHR 4954
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 57)
07/12/2006
Rail and Transit Security AmendmentHR 5441
N
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 50)
07/11/2006
USEMA AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(87 - 11)
07/11/2006
FEMA AmendmentHR 5441
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
03/02/2006
USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention ReauthorizationHR 3199
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 10)
12/16/2005
USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention ReauthorizationHR 3199
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 47)
07/14/2005
Disclosure of Classified Information AmendmentHR 2360
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 53)
10/06/2004
National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004S 2845
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(96 - 2)
10/25/2001
USA Patriot Act of 2001HR 3162
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(98 - 1)
09/14/2001
Military Force Authorization resolutionS J Res 23
Y
Joint Resolution Passed - Senate(98 - 0)
04/17/1996
Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention ActS 735
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(91 - 8)
06/07/1995
Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention ActS 735
Y
Bill passed - Senate(91 - 8)
06/06/1995
Anti-terrorism Wiretaps AmendmentS 735
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(77 - 19)

Reproductive Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
03/14/2008
Codifying the Definition of a Child Eligible for SCHIPS Amdt 4233
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)

Senior & Social Security Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
NV
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
02/02/2006
Medicare Part D AmendmentHR 4297
N
Motion Rejected - Senate(52 - 45)
11/17/2005
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Failed - Senate(51 - 47)
11/03/2005
Medicare Premiums AmendmentS 1932
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)
11/03/2005
Prescription Drug Plan AmendmentS 1932
N
Motion Failed - Senate(43 - 56)
03/17/2005
Prescription Drugs AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)
03/22/2000
Social Security Earnings CapHR 5
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(100 - 0)
12/06/1995
Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995HR 660
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(94 - 3)

Social Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
06/07/2006
Same Sex Marriage ResolutionSJ Res. 1
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(49 - 48)
06/11/2002
Hate Crimes BillS 625
N
Motion Rejected - Senate(54 - 43)
09/14/1999
Puerto Rican Nationals resolutionS J Res 33
NV
Joint Resolution Adopted - Senate(95 - 2)

Veterans Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
02/02/2006
Tax Rate Extension AmendmentHR 4297
N
Motion Rejected - Senate(44 - 53)
11/17/2005
Additional Funding For Veterans AmendmentS 2020
N
Motion Rejected - Senate(43 - 55)
10/05/2005
Health Care for Veterans AmendmentHR 2863
N
Motion Failed - Senate(48 - 51)

Welfare & Poverty:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
NV
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
N
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
08/01/1996
Welfare Reform Act of 1996HR 3734
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(78 - 21)
07/23/1996
Welfare Reform Act of 1996HR 3734
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 24)
12/22/1995
Welfare Reform BillHR 4
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(52 - 47)
09/19/1995
Welfare Reform BillHR 4
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(87 - 12)
09/14/1995
Naturalized Citizen AmendmentHR 4
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 61)

Women’s Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
04/23/2008
Equal Pay BillHR 2831
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)

Barack Obama's Voting Record

2008-10-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

Vote Key
YNNVPYPN
YeaNayNot Voting, Excused, Absent, or PresentPair YeaPair Nay

Budget, Spending & Taxes:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
Economic Stabilization/Bail Out BillHR 1424
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
10/01/2008
Amtrak ReauthorizationHR 2095
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(74 - 24)
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/31/2008
Higher Education Act Amendments and ExtensionsHR 4137
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(83 - 8)
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
Y
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/13/2008
Earmark MoratoriumS Amdt 4347
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(29 - 71)
03/13/2008
Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration LawsS Amdt 4309 to S Con Res 70
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(58 - 40)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/26/2008
Health Care for Indigenous PeoplesS 1200
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(83 - 10)
02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Iraq and Afghanistan Military Operations Funding with the Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(70 - 25)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/13/2007
Limit on Farm SubsidiesS Amdt 3695
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Income Limit for Subsidies to FarmersS Amdt 3810
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 47)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
12/06/2007
Temporary Tax Adjustments Act of 2007HR 3996
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(46 - 48)
12/06/2007
Temporary Alternative Minimum Tax Adjustment Act of 2007HR 3996
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 5)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
11/08/2007
Water Resources Development Act of 2007HR 1495
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/30/2007
Amtrak ReauthorizationS 294
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(70 - 22)
10/25/2007
Amtrak Federal Subsidy LimitsS Amdt 3453
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(28 - 66)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
09/10/2007
Bridge Repair FundingS Amdt 2792
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(60 - 33)
09/07/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(79 - 12)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/20/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 18)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/17/2007
2008 Budget ResolutionS Con Res 21
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(52 - 40)
04/26/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007 with Iraq Withdrawal TimelineHR 1591
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 46)
03/23/2007
Congressional Budget for 2008S Con Res 21
Y
Passed - Senate(52 - 47)
08/03/2006
Death/EstateTax and Minimum Wage Bill of 2006HR 5970
N
Cloture Motion Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
05/11/2006
Tax Reconciliation billHR 4297
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(54 - 44)
03/16/2006
Education Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)
03/16/2006
Debt Limit Increase ResolutionH J Res 47
N
Resolution Passed - Senate(52 - 48)
03/16/2006
2007 Budget ResolutionS Con Res 83
N
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 49)
03/16/2006
Natural Resources and Environment Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 49)
03/14/2006
Reinstate Pay-As-You-Go through 2011 AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 50)
02/02/2006
Tax Reconciliation billHR 4297
N
Bill Passed - Senate(66 - 31)
12/21/2005
Budget Reconciliation billS 1932
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 50)
11/18/2005
Tax Reconciliation BillS 2020
N
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 33)
11/17/2005
Earned Income Tax Credit AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(55 - 43)
11/17/2005
Hurricane Victims Tax Benefit AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(44 - 55)
11/17/2005
Pay As You Go AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 48)
11/17/2005
Temporary Tax on Crude Oil AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 48)
11/17/2005
Tax Rate AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(40 - 59)
11/03/2005
Medicare Prescription Drug AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(51 - 48)
11/03/2005
Budget Reconciliation billS 1932
N
Bill Passed - Senate(52 - 47)
11/03/2005
Pay As You Go AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 49)
04/28/2005
Budget FY2006 Appropriations ResolutionH CON RES 95
N
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(52 - 47)
03/17/2005
Budget FY2006 Appropriations ResolutionS Con Res 18
N
Concurrent Resolution Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/17/2005
Education AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/17/2005
Perkins Vocational Education Program AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 56)
03/17/2005
Homeland Security Grant Program AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(63 - 37)
03/17/2005
Native American Funding AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(45 - 55)
03/17/2005
Tax Subsidy for Domestic Companies AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(40 - 59)

Abortion:

02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
03/17/2005
Unintended Pregnancy AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 53)

Business & Consumers:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
Economic Stabilization/Bail Out BillHR 1424
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
Y
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
05/07/2008
Optional Wind Damage InsuranceS Amdt 4719
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(19 - 74)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions AmendmentS Amdt 4259
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 45)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
02/12/2008
Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for SurveillanceS Amdt 3907
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 67)
02/12/2008
FISA as Exclusive Means for Conducting Electronic SurveillanceS Amdt 3910
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(57 - 41)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/13/2007
Limit on Farm SubsidiesS Amdt 3695
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Income Limit for Subsidies to FarmersS Amdt 3810
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 47)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
10/30/2007
Amtrak ReauthorizationS 294
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(70 - 22)
09/07/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(79 - 12)
07/20/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 18)
06/26/2007
Union Organization BillHR 800
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 48)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
05/07/2007
FDA Drug Import Certification AmendmentS Amdt 1010
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 40)
11/17/2005
Price-Gouging During Emergencies AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(57 - 42)
11/03/2005
Targeted Case Management AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
07/26/2005
Corporate Financing of Terrorism AmendmentS 1042
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/10/2005
Bankruptcy Reform BillS 256
N
Bill Passed - Senate(74 - 25)
03/08/2005
Violent Protestor AmendmentS 256
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
03/07/2005
Minimum Wage AmendmentS 256
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(38 - 61)
03/07/2005
Minimum Wage AmendmentS 256
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 49)

Campaign Finance & Election Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
08/02/2007
Lobbying and Donation RegulationsS 1
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(83 - 14)

Civil Liberties & Civil Rights:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
04/23/2008
Equal Pay BillHR 2831
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/20/2007
Expressing Support for General Petraeus and All Members of the Armed ForcesS Amdt 2934
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(72 - 25)
09/20/2007
Expressing Support for All Men and Women in the U.S. Armed ForcesS Amdt 2947
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 47)
09/19/2007
Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United StatesS Amdt 2022
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 43)
09/18/2007
District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007S 1257
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 42)
08/03/2007
Foreign Intelligence AcquisitionS 1927
N
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 28)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
06/06/2007
English as the Common LanguageS Amdt 1384
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
06/27/2006
Flag Desecration Constitutional AmendmentS J Res 12
N
Joint Resolution Failed - Senate(66 - 34)

Energy:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/19/2007
Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007)S Amdt 1519
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 23)
06/14/2007
Offshore Drilling in VirginiaS Amdt 1566
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 44)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
08/01/2006
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006S 3711
N
Bill Passed - Senate(71 - 25)
03/16/2006
ANWR Revenues AmendmentS Con Res 83
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
03/16/2006
LIHEAP Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(51 - 49)
11/03/2005
Alaska Judicial Review AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
10/26/2005
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program AmendmentHR 3010
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(54 - 43)
07/29/2005
Energy Policy Act of 2005HR 6
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(74 - 26)
06/28/2005
Energy Policy Act of 2005HR 6
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(85 - 12)
06/16/2005
Reduction in Dependence on Foreign OilHR 6
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 53)
06/16/2005
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) AmendmentHR 6
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 48)
06/14/2005
Environmental Effects Caused by Ethanol AmendmentHR 6
N
Motion to Table Agreed - Senate(59 - 38)
03/16/2005
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)

Education:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/31/2008
Higher Education Act Amendments and ExtensionsHR 4137
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(83 - 8)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
10/24/2007
Permanent Residence for Certain Undocumented ImmigrantsS 2205
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/07/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(79 - 12)
07/20/2007
Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student GrantsHR 2669
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(78 - 18)
10/26/2005
Elementary and Secondary Education Act AmendmentHR 3010
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(44 - 51)
10/26/2005
Individuals with Disabilities Education AmendmentHR 3010
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(46 - 53)
10/25/2005
To Increase The Maximum Federal Pell Grant AmendmentHR 3010
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(48 - 51)

Environmental Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
09/27/2008
Consolidated Continuing AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(78 - 12)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
06/17/2008
Alternative Energy Tax IncentivesHR 6049
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
06/10/2008
Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil CompaniesS 3044
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 43)
06/06/2008
Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade PlanS Amdt 4825
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(48 - 36)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural GasS Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 51)
03/13/2008
Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a MoratoriumS Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(56 - 43)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/13/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(86 - 8)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
11/08/2007
Water Resources Development Act of 2007HR 1495
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
06/21/2007
Energy Act of 2007HR 6
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 27)
06/21/2007
Alternative Energy Subsidies S Amdt 1704
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(57 - 36)
06/14/2007
Offshore Drilling in VirginiaS Amdt 1566
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 44)
06/14/2007
Clean Energy Achievement CriteriaS Amdt 1538
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(56 - 39)
12/21/2005
Removal of ANWR Provision from HR 2863S Con Res 74
Y
Concurrent Resolution Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
11/03/2005
ANWR AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
09/13/2005
EPA's Clean Air Mercury RuleS J Res 20
Y
Resolution Failed: - Senate(47 - 51)

Family & Children Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
07/25/2006
Child Custody Protection ActS 403
N
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 34)
07/25/2006
Teen Pregnancy Education AmendmentS 403
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)

Foreign Aid & Policy Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Limiting Countries for HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria FundingS Amdt 5078
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(70 - 24)
07/10/2008
Nomination of General Petraeus as Military Leader of the Middle EastPN 1641
NV
Nomination Confirmed - Senate(95 - 2)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with Provisions Regarding Conduct and Congressional OversightS Amdt 4817
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(34 - 63)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
12/18/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentS Amdt 3875
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(24 - 71)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Iraq and Afghanistan Military Operations Funding with the Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(70 - 25)
12/04/2007
United States-Peru Trade AgreementHR 3688
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(77 - 18)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Federalism in IraqS Amdt 2997
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsS Amdt 3017
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
09/11/2007
Limiting Mexican Trucks to Commercial Zones Near the Border Between the U.S. and MexicoS Amdt 2797
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/19/2007
Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007)S Amdt 1519
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 23)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
09/07/2006
Media in the Middle East AmendmentHR 5631
N
Motion to Table Adopted - Senate(51 - 44)
03/16/2006
National Defense Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(50 - 50)
11/15/2005
Reporting Matters in Iraq AmendmentS 1042
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(40 - 58)
11/15/2005
Iraq Progress Reports AmendmentS 1042
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 19)

Government Reform:

No Record

Gun Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
02/25/2008
Prohibiting Funds in the Bill S 1200 from Being Used to Decrease Gun OwnershipS Amdt 4070
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(78 - 11)
07/13/2006
Firearm Confiscation Prohibition AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(84 - 16)
07/29/2005
Firearms Manufacturers Protection billS 397
N
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 31)
07/28/2005
Child Safety Lock AmendmentS 397
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 30)

Health Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/31/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 3)
07/16/2008
Funding Amendment to AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria BillS Amdt 5077
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 64)
07/16/2008
Funding to Combat AIDS, Malaria, and TuberculosisHR 5501
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(80 - 16)
07/15/2008
Limiting Countries for HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria FundingS Amdt 5078
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(70 - 24)
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
Y
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
06/18/2008
Second Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 6124
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/22/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(82 - 13)
05/15/2008
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(81 - 15)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
03/14/2008
Codifying the Definition of a Child Eligible for SCHIPS Amdt 4233
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
03/06/2008
Consumer Product Safety Commission BillHR 4040
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 13)
02/26/2008
Health Care for Indigenous PeoplesS 1200
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(83 - 10)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
12/14/2007
Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (Farm Bill)HR 2419
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(79 - 14)
12/11/2007
Government Sponsored Farm Insurance PoliciesS Amdt 3711
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 58)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)
05/07/2007
FDA Drug Import Certification AmendmentS Amdt 1010
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 40)
11/03/2005
Medicaid Generic Drug AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)
11/03/2005
Medical Assistance and Prescription Drug AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(54 - 45)
11/03/2005
Hurricane Health Care for Survivors AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(48 - 51)
10/27/2005
AIDS Drug Assistance Program AmendmentHR 3010
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(46 - 50)
03/17/2005
Medicaid AmendmentS Con Res 18
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 51)

Housing & Property Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
05/07/2008
Optional Wind Damage InsuranceS Amdt 4719
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(19 - 74)
04/10/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(84 - 12)
04/10/2008
Energy Tax Credits AmendmentS Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(88 - 8)
02/07/2008
Economic Stimulus PlanHR 5140
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(81 - 16)

Immigration:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Border Fence AmendmentS Amdt 4231
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(61 - 37)
03/13/2008
Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions AmendmentS Amdt 4259
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(53 - 45)
03/13/2008
Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration LawsS Amdt 4309 to S Con Res 70
Y
Amendment Tabled - Senate(58 - 40)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/24/2007
Permanent Residence for Certain Undocumented ImmigrantsS 2205
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
06/28/2007
Second Immigration Act of 2007S 1639
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(46 - 53)
06/07/2007
Immigration Act of 2007S 1348
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(34 - 61)
06/06/2007
Declaring English the National LanguageS Amdt 1151
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(64 - 33)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
06/06/2007
Barring Immigrants with Certain Criminal HistoriesS Amdt 1333
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(66 - 32)
06/06/2007
English as the Common LanguageS Amdt 1384
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
10/31/2006
Secure Fence Act of 2006HR 6061
Y
Bill Passed - House(283 - 138)
07/13/2006
Double-Layered Fencing AmendmentHR 5441
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(29 - 71)
06/20/2006
Triple-Layered Fencing AmendmentHR 5631
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
05/25/2006
Confidentiality Requirement AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 49)
05/25/2006
Immigration Reform BillS 2611
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(62 - 36)
05/24/2006
H-2C Visa Program AmmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Failed - Senate(48 - 49)
05/23/2006
Orange Card Program AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(37 - 61)
05/23/2006
Employer Verification AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 40)
05/18/2006
"State Criminal Alien Assistance Program" AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 52)
05/18/2006
English As National Language AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(62 - 35)
05/18/2006
English as Unifying Language AmendmentS 2611
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(58 - 39)
05/17/2006
Employment-based Immigrant Visa AmendmentS 2611
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(50 - 48)

Labor:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
06/26/2007
Union Organization BillHR 800
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(51 - 48)
06/06/2007
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 51)
06/06/2007
Point Based Immigration Expiration DateS Amdt 1202
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(42 - 55)
06/06/2007
Five Year Expiration for Guest Worker ProgramS Amdt 1316
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(49 - 48)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
05/23/2007
Guest Worker Number Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 1169
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(74 - 24)
06/21/2006
Minimum Wage Adjustment AmendmentS 2766
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(52 - 46)
06/21/2006
Increasing Minimum Wage AmendmentS 2766
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(45 - 53)

Military Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
09/17/2008
Defense Authorizations BillS 3001
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(88 - 8)
07/10/2008
Nomination of General Petraeus as Military Leader of the Middle EastPN 1641
NV
Nomination Confirmed - Senate(95 - 2)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and AfghanistanS Amdt 4818
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(70 - 26)
05/22/2008
Funding for Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with Provisions Regarding Conduct and Congressional OversightS Amdt 4817
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(34 - 63)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
12/18/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentS Amdt 3875
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(24 - 71)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/24/2007
Permanent Residence for Certain Undocumented ImmigrantsS 2205
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 44)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
09/21/2007
Iraq Troop Reduction AmendmentS Amdt 2898
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 47)
09/19/2007
Time Between Troop DeploymentsS Amdt 2909
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(56 - 44)
07/18/2007
Iraq Troop ReductionS Amdt 2087
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 47)
05/24/2007
Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007HR 2206
N
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(80 - 14)
03/27/2007
Iraq Withdrawal AmendmentHR 1591
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(48 - 50)
03/15/2007
United States Policy in Iraq Resolution of 2007S J Res 9
Y
Resolution Failed - Senate(48 - 50)
09/28/2006
Habeas Review AmendmentS 3930
Y
Amemendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 51)
09/28/2006
Military Commissions AmendmentS 3930
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(47 - 52)
09/28/2006
Oversight of CIA Interrogation and Detention AmendmentS 3930
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 53)
09/28/2006
Military Commissions Act of 2006S 3930
N
Bill Passed - Senate(65 - 34)
09/06/2006
Cluster Munitions AmendmentHR 5631
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(30 - 70)
06/22/2006
Troop Redeployment AmendmentS 2766
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(13 - 86)
02/02/2006
Military Funding and Tax Cuts AmendmentHR 4297
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(44 - 53)

National Security:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
10/01/2008
United States - India Nuclear AgreementHR 7081
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(86 - 13)
07/09/2008
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008HR 6304
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(69 - 28)
07/09/2008
Striking Telecom Immunity from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance BillS Amdt 5064
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
02/13/2008
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 2082
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(51 - 45)
02/12/2008
FISA Amendments Act of 2007S 2248
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 29)
02/12/2008
Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for SurveillanceS Amdt 3907
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(31 - 67)
02/12/2008
FISA as Exclusive Means for Conducting Electronic SurveillanceS Amdt 3910
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(57 - 41)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
11/16/2007
Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from IraqHR 4156
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(53 - 45)
11/16/2007
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of DefenseS 2340
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(45 - 53)
10/16/2007
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008HR 3093
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
10/03/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 3117
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(95 - 1)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Federalism in IraqS Amdt 2997
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
09/26/2007
Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsS Amdt 3017
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(76 - 22)
09/19/2007
Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United StatesS Amdt 2022
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 43)
09/11/2007
Limiting Mexican Trucks to Commercial Zones Near the Border Between the U.S. and MexicoS Amdt 2797
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 23)
08/03/2007
Foreign Intelligence AcquisitionS 1927
N
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 28)
07/26/2007
Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActHR 1
NV
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(85 - 8)
07/26/2007
Department of Homeland Security AppropriationsHR 2638
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(89 - 4)
07/26/2007
Border Fence and Customs AppropriationsS Amdt 2480
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(89 - 1)
07/26/2007
REAL ID FundingS Amdt 2405
NV
Amendment Tabled - Senate(50 - 44)
07/19/2007
Sense of the Senate on Guantanamo Bay DetaineesS Amdt 2351
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(94 - 3)
06/06/2007
Law Enforcement Review of Z Visa ApplicationsS Amdt 1250
N
Amendment Adopted - Senate(57 - 39)
03/13/2007
Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendations ActS 4
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(60 - 38)
09/13/2006
Security of Cargo Containers AmendmentHR 4954
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(43 - 55)
09/12/2006
National Security AmendmentHR 4954
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 57)
07/12/2006
Rail and Transit Security AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(50 - 50)
07/11/2006
USEMA AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(87 - 11)
07/11/2006
FEMA AmendmentHR 5441
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(32 - 66)
03/02/2006
USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention ReauthorizationHR 3199
Y
Conference Report Adopted - Senate(89 - 10)
12/16/2005
USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention ReauthorizationHR 3199
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(52 - 47)
07/14/2005
Disclosure of Classified Information AmendmentHR 2360
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(44 - 53)

Reproductive Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
03/14/2008
Codifying the Definition of a Child Eligible for SCHIPS Amdt 4233
N
Amendment Rejected - Senate(46 - 52)
02/26/2008
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for AbortionsS Amdt 3896
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(52 - 42)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)
09/06/2007
Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive AbortionS Amdt 2707
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(48 - 45)

Senior & Social Security Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/15/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
NV
Veto Override Passed - Senate(70 - 26)
07/09/2008
Medicare BillHR 6331
Y
Cloture Invoked - Senate(69 - 30)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
03/14/2008
Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the Legalization of Importing Certain Prescription DrugsS Amdt 4299
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(73 - 23)
02/02/2006
Medicare Part D AmendmentHR 4297
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(52 - 45)
11/17/2005
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(51 - 47)
11/03/2005
Medicare Premiums AmendmentS 1932
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)
11/03/2005
Prescription Drug Plan AmendmentS 1932
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(43 - 56)
03/17/2005
Prescription Drugs AmendmentS Con Res 18
Y
Amendment Rejected - Senate(49 - 50)

Social Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
06/07/2006
Same Sex Marriage ResolutionSJ Res. 1
N
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(49 - 48)

Veterans Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
01/22/2008
Defense Authorizations BillHR 4986
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(91 - 3)
10/01/2007
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008HR 1585
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(92 - 3)
02/02/2006
Tax Rate Extension AmendmentHR 4297
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(44 - 53)
11/17/2005
Additional Funding For Veterans AmendmentS 2020
Y
Motion Rejected - Senate(43 - 55)
10/05/2005
Health Care for Veterans AmendmentHR 2863
Y
Motion Failed - Senate(48 - 51)

Welfare & Poverty:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
07/26/2008
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance FundingS 3186
NV
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(50 - 35)
07/26/2008
Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit ExtensionsHR 3221
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(72 - 13)
06/26/2008
Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill HR 2642
Y
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(92 - 6)
06/25/2008
Housing Foreclosure Assistance ProgramsS Amdt 4983
NV
Amendment Adopted - Senate(79 - 16)
05/22/2008
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803
Y
Amendment Adopted - Senate(75 - 22)
03/14/2008
Concurrent Budget ResolutionS Con Res 70
Y
Resolution Passed - Senate(51 - 44)
11/07/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(56 - 37)
11/01/2007
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIP)HR 3963
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(64 - 30)
10/23/2007
Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesHR 3043
NV
Bill Passed - Senate(75 - 19)
09/27/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(67 - 29)
08/02/2007
State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization HR 976
Y
Bill Passed - Senate(68 - 31)

Women’s Issues:

Date
Bill Title
Vote
Outcome
04/23/2008
Equal Pay BillHR 2831
Y
Cloture Not Invoked - Senate(56 - 42)
12/18/2007
Inclusion of Consolidated AppropriationsHR 2764
NV
Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate(76 - 17)
10/18/2007
Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform AbortionsS Amdt 3330
NV
Amendment Rejected - Senate(41 - 52)

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

2008-09-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Now we can take a peek at Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), as before I will provide you with the information but you will have to decide for yourself who you believe because there is a lot of misinformation, political maneuvering, and outright fabrication of material information going on.

Basic info on Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Pub.L. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, enacted 2002-07-30), also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox; is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom. These scandals, which cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of the affected companies collapsed, shook public confidence in the nation's securities markets. Named after sponsors Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-OH), the Act was approved by the House by a vote of 334-90 and by the Senate 99-0. President George W. Bush signed it into law, stating it included "the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt."[1]

The legislation establishes new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. It does not apply to privately held companies. The Act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional Corporate Board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law.

Debate continues over the perceived benefits and costs of SOX. Supporters contend that the legislation was necessary and has played a useful role in restoring public confidence in the nation's capital markets by, among other things, strengthening corporate accounting controls. Opponents of the bill claim that it has reduced America's international competitive edge against foreign financial service providers, claiming that SOX has introduced an overly complex and regulatory environment into U.S. financial markets.[2]

The Act establishes a new quasi-public agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, which is charged with overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The Act also covers issues such as auditor independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment, and enhanced financial disclosure.

Overview
Sarbanes-Oxley contains 11 titles that describe specific mandates and requirements for financial reporting. Each title consists of several sections, summarized below.

1) Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
Title I consists of nine sections and establishes the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to provide independent oversight of public accounting firms providing audit services ("auditors"). It also creates a central oversight board tasked with registering auditors, defining the specific processes and procedures for compliance audits, inspecting and policing conduct and quality control, and enforcing compliance with the specific mandates of SOX.

2) Auditor Independence
Title II consists of nine sections and establishes standards for external auditor independence, to limit conflicts of interest. It also addresses new auditor approval requirements, audit partner rotation, and auditor reporting requirements. It restricts auditing companies from providing non-audit services (e.g., consulting) for the same clients.

3) Corporate Responsibility
Title III consists of eight sections and mandates that senior executives take individual responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of corporate financial reports. It defines the interaction of external auditors and corporate audit committees, and specifies the responsibility of corporate officers for the accuracy and validity of corporate financial reports. It enumerates specific limits on the behaviors of corporate officers and describes specific forfeitures of benefits and civil penalties for non-compliance. For example, Section 302 requires that the company's "principal officers" (typically the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer) certify and approve the integrity of their company financial reports quarterly.

4) Enhanced Financial Disclosures
Title IV consists of nine sections. It describes enhanced reporting requirements for financial transactions, including off-balance-sheet transactions, pro-forma figures and stock transactions of corporate officers. It requires internal controls for assuring the accuracy of financial reports and disclosures, and mandates both audits and reports on those controls. It also requires timely reporting of material changes in financial condition and specific enhanced reviews by the SEC or its agents of corporate reports.
5) Analyst Conflicts of Interest
Title V consists of only one section, which includes measures designed to help restore investor confidence in the reporting of securities analysts. It defines the codes of conduct for securities analysts and requires disclosure of knowable conflicts of interest.

6) Commission Resources and Authority
Title VI consists of four sections and defines practices to restore investor confidence in securities analysts. It also defines the SEC’s authority to censure or bar securities professionals from practice and defines conditions under which a person can be barred from practicing as a broker, adviser or dealer.

7) Studies and Reports
Title VII consists of five sections and are concerned with conducting research for enforcing actions against violations by the SEC registrants (companies) and auditors. Studies and reports include the effects of consolidation of public accounting firms, the role of credit rating agencies in the operation of securities markets, securities violations and enforcement actions, and whether investment banks assisted Enron, Global Crossing and others to manipulate earnings and obfuscate true financial conditions.

8) Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability
Title VIII consists of seven sections and it also referred to as the “Corporate and Criminal Fraud Act of 2002”. It describes specific criminal penalties for fraud by manipulation, destruction or alteration of financial records or other interference with investigations, while providing certain protections for whistle-blowers.

9) White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement
Title IX consists of two sections. This section is also called the “White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement Act of 2002.” This section increases the criminal penalties associated with white-collar crimes and conspiracies. It recommends stronger sentencing guidelines and specifically adds failure to certify corporate financial reports as a criminal offense.

10) Corporate Tax Returns
Title X consists of one section. Section 1001 states that the Chief Executive Officer should sign the company tax return.

11) Corporate Fraud Accountability
Title XI consists of seven sections. Section 1101 recommends a name for this title as “Corporate Fraud Accountability Act of 2002”. It identifies corporate fraud and records tampering as criminal offenses and joins those offenses to specific penalties. It also revises sentencing guidelines and strengthens their penalties. This enables the SEC to temporarily freeze large or unusual payments.

History & context: events contributing to the adoption of SOX

A variety of complex factors created the conditions and culture in which a series of large corporate frauds occurred between 2000-2002. The spectacular, highly-publicized frauds at Enron (see Enron scandal), WorldCom, and Tyco exposed significant problems with conflicts of interest and incentive compensation practices. The analysis of their complex and contentious root causes contributed to the passage of SOX in 2002.[3] In a 2004 interview, Senator Paul Sarbanes stated:

“The Senate Banking Committee undertook a series of hearings on the problems in the markets that had led to a loss of hundreds and hundreds of billions, indeed trillions of dollars in market value. The hearings set out to lay the foundation for legislation. We scheduled 10 hearings over a six-week period, during which we brought in some of the best people in the country to testify...The hearings produced remarkable consensus on the nature of the problems: inadequate oversight of accountants, lack of auditor independence, weak corporate governance procedures, stock analysts' conflict of interests, inadequate disclosure provisions, and grossly inadequate funding of the Securities and Exchange Commission.[4]”

Auditor conflicts of interest:
Prior to SOX, auditing firms, the primary financial "watchdogs" for investors, were self-regulated. They also performed significant non-audit or consulting work for the companies they audited. Many of these consulting agreements were far more lucrative than the auditing engagement. This presented at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. For example, challenging the company's accounting approach might damage a client relationship, conceivably placing a significant consulting arrangement at risk, damaging the auditing firm's bottom line.

Boardroom failures:
Boards of Directors, specifically Audit Committees, are charged with establishing oversight mechanisms for financial reporting in U.S. corporations on the behalf of investors. These scandals identified Board members who either did not exercise their responsibilities or did not have the expertise to understand the complexities of the businesses. In many cases, Audit Committee members were not truly independent of management.

Securities analysts' conflicts of interest:
The roles of securities analysts, who make buy and sell recommendations on company stocks and bonds, and investment bankers, who help provide companies loans or handle mergers and acquisitions, provide opportunities for conflicts. Similar to the auditor conflict, issuing a buy or sell recommendation on a stock while providing lucrative investment banking services creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Inadequate funding of the SEC:
The SEC budget has steadily increased to nearly double the pre-SOX level.[5]In the interview cited above, Sarbanes indicated that enforcement and rule-making are more effective post-SOX.

Banking practices:
Lending to a firm sends signals to investors regarding the firm's risk. In the case of Enron, several major banks provided large loans to the company without understanding, or while ignoring, the risks of the company. Investors of these banks and their clients were hurt by such bad loans, resulting in large settlement payments by the banks. Others interpreted the willingness of banks to lend money to the company as an indication of its health and integrity, and were led to invest in Enron as a result. These investors were hurt as well.

Internet bubble:
Investors had been stung in 2000 by the sharp declines in technology stocks and to a lesser extent, by declines in the overall market. Certain mutual fund managers were alleged to have advocated the purchasing of particular technology stocks, while quietly selling them. The losses sustained also helped create a general anger among investors.

Executive compensation:
Stock option and bonus practices, combined with volatility in stock prices for even small earnings "misses," resulted in pressures to manage earnings.[6] Stock options were not treated as compensation expense by companies, encouraging this form of compensation. With a large stock-based bonus at risk, managers were pressured to meet their targets.

Analyzing the cost-benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley
A significant body of academic research and opinion exists regarding the costs and benefits of SOX, with significant differences in conclusions. This is due in part to the difficulty of isolating the impact of SOX from other variables affecting the stock market and corporate earnings.[8][9] Conclusions from several of these studies and related criticism are summarized below:

FEI Survey (Annual):
Finance Executives International (FEI) provides an annual survey on SOX Section 404 costs. These costs have continued to decline relative to revenues since 2004. The 2007 study indicated that, for 168 companies with average revenues of $4.7 billion, the average compliance costs were $1.7 million (.036% of revenue).[10] The 2006 study indicated that, for 200 companies with average revenues of $6.8 billion, the average compliance costs were $2.9 million (.043% of revenue), down 23% from 2005. Cost for decentralized companies (i.e., those with multiple segments or divisions) were considerably more than centralized companies. Survey scores related to the positive effect of SOX on investor confidence, reliability of financial statements, and fraud prevention continue to rise. However, when asked in 2006 whether the benefits of compliance with Section 404 have exceeded costs in 2006, only 22 percent agreed.[11]

Foley & Lardner Survey (2007):
This annual study focused on changes in the total costs of being a U.S. public company, which were significantly affected by SOX. Such costs include external auditor fees, directors and officers (D&O) insurance, board compensation, lost productivity, and legal costs. Each of these cost categories increased significantly between FY2001-FY2006. Nearly 70% of survey respondents indicated public companies with revenues under $250 million should be exempt from SOX Section 404.[12]

Butler/Ribstein (2006):
Their book proposed a comprehensive overhaul or repeal of SOX and a variety of other reforms. For example, they indicate that investors could diversify their stock investments, efficiently managing the risk of a few catastrophic corporate failures, whether due to fraud or competition. However, if each company is required to spend a significant amount of money and resources on SOX compliance, this cost is borne across all publicly traded companies and therefore cannot be diversified away by the investor.[13]

Institute of Internal Auditors (2005):
The research paper indicates that corporations have improved their internal controls and that financial statements are perceived to be more reliable.[14]

Skaife/Collins/Kinney/Lefond (2006):
This research paper indicates that borrowing costs are lower for companies that improved their internal control, by between 50 and 150 basis points (.5 to 1.5 percentage points).[15]

Zhang (2005):
This research paper estimated SOX compliance costs as high as $1.4 trillion, by measuring changes in market value around key SOX legislative "events." This number is based on the assumption that SOX was the cause of related short-duration market value changes, which the author acknowledges as a drawback of the study.[16]

Iliev (2007):
This research paper indicated that SOX 404 indeed led to conservative reported earnings, but also reduced -- rightly or wrongly -- stock valuations of small firms.[17] Lower earnings often cause the share price to decrease.

Lord & Benoit Report (2006):
This study included a population of nearly 2,500 companies and indicated that companies with no material weaknesses in their internal controls, or companies that corrected them in a timely manner, experienced much greater increases in share prices than companies that did not.[18][19] The report indicated that the benefits to a compliant company in share price (10% above Russell 3000 index) were greater than their SOX Section 404 costs.

The effect of SOX on non-US companies
Some have asserted that Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has helped displace business from New York to London, where the Financial Services Authority regulates the financial sector with a lighter touch. In the UK, the non-statutory Combined Code of Corporate Governance plays a somewhat similar role to SOX. However, a greater amount of resources are dedicated to enforcement of securities laws in the UK than in the US.

Howell E. Jackson & Mark J. Roe, “Public Enforcement of Securities Laws:
Preliminary Evidence,” (Working Paper January 16, 2007). The Alternative Investment Market claims that its spectacular growth in listings almost entirely coincided with the Sarbanes Oxley legislation. In December 2006 Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, and Charles Schumer, a U.S. senator, expressed their concern.[20]

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act's effect on Non-US companies cross-listed in the US is different on firms from developed and well regulated countries than on firms from less developed countries according to Kate Litvak.[21] Companies from badly regulated countries benefit from better credit ratings by complying to regulations in a highly regulated country (USA) that is higher than the cost, but companies from developed countries only incur the cost, since transparency is adequate in their home countries as well. On the other hand, the benefit of better credit rating also comes with listing on other stock exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange.

Here is a link to the source data:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act

Here is a link to the original legislation as it was in the Senate: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:7:./temp/~mdbs3coNp2::

As we can plainly see by the economic meltdown of the American Economy this act did nothing to prevent it and from where I sit it is a useless piece of legislation. Looks like another bureaucratic government program that costs a ton of money and doesn't do anything to benefit the country or prevent corporations whether they be banks or stock manipulators from cooking the books and fleecing the American people.

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

2008-09-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well folks it was apparent to me that with all the finger pointing it would be appropriate to actually get you up to speed on what this piece of legislation was really about by allowing you to see it and read what the industry had to say about it. Forget the politicians because they have an agenda and only give you what they want you to know and hide the rest. Here you can check out what I was able to find and then make your own evaluations on who is telling you the truth and who is trying to sandbag you.

Basic information on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRC):

The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law that requires banks and savings and loan associations to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as "redlining." The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities, to under-served populations, and commercial loans to small businesses. The Act was passed in 1977 and has been subjected to important regulatory revisions since then.

Original Act
The CRA was passed by the 95th United States Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 as a result of national grassroots pressure for affordable housing, and despite considerable opposition from the mainstream banking community.[1] Only one banker, Ron Grzywinski from ShoreBank in Chicago, testified in favor of the act.[2] The CRA mandates that each banking institution be evaluated to determine if it has met the credit needs of its entire community. That record is taken into account when the federal government considers an institution's application for deposit facilities, including mergers and acquisitions after the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 repealed restrictions on interstate banking.[3] However, until 1995 the Act was laxly enforced and banks only were required to advertise in local minority newspapers or sit on the boards of local community groups.[4] The CRA is enforced by the financial regulators (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), Office of Thrift Supervision ("OTS"), and the Federal Reserve System).[citation needed]
The bill encouraged mortgage lending through two government sponsored enterprises ("GSEs"). One, the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, enables mortgage companies, savings and loans, commercial banks, credit unions, and state and local housing finance agencies to lend to home buyers. The other, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, buys mortgages on the secondary market and sells them as mortgage-backed securities on the open market.[5] It also charged the Federal Reserve System to implement the CRA through ensuring banks and savings and loans met their CRA obligations.[3]

Congressional Changes of 1989
The Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) was enacted by the 101st Congress and signed into law by President G. H. W. Bush in the wake of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. It increased public oversight of the process. It required the agencies to issue CRA ratings publicly and written performance evaluations using facts and data to support the agencies' conclusions. It also required a four-tiered CRA examination rating system with performance levels of "Outstanding," "Satisfactory," "Needs to Improve," or "Substantial Noncompliance."[6]

Clinton Administration Changes of 1995
In early 1993 President Bill Clinton ordered new regulations for the CRA which would increase access to mortgage credit for inner city and distressed rural communities.[7] The new rules went into effect on January 31, 1995 and featured: requiring strictly numerical assessments to get a satisfactory CRA rating; using federal home-loan data broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race; encouraging community groups to complain when banks were not loaning enough to specified neighborhood, income group, and race; allowing community groups that marketed loans to targeted groups to collect a fee from the banks.[4][6]
The new rules, during a time when many banks were merging and needed to pass the CRA review process to do so, substantially increased the number and aggregate amount of loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans, some of which were "risky mortgages."[citation needed] Banks set up CRA departments, a CRA consultant industry was created and new financial-services firms helped banks invest in packaged portfolios of CRA loans to ensure compliance.[citation needed] Established and new community groups began marketing such mortgages. The Senate Banking Committee estimated that as of 2000, as a result of CRA, such groups had received $9.5 billion in services and salaries. As of that time such groups also had received tens of billions of dollars in multi-year commitments from banks, including ACORN Housing $760 million; Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America $3 billion; a New Jersey Citizen Action-led coalition $13 billion; the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance $220 million.[4] The number of CRA mortgage loans increased by 39 percent between 1993 and 1998, while other loans increased by only 17 percent.[8][9]

GW Bush Administration Changes of 2005
In 2002 there was an inter-agency review of the effectiveness of the 1995 regulatory changes to the Community Reinvestment Act and new proposals were considered.[6]

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency put new regulations into effect September of 2005. [10] The regulations were opposed by a contingent of Democrats [11]
The regulations included less restrictive new definitions of "small" and "intermediate small" banks.[3] "Intermediate small banks" were defined as banks with assets of less than $1 billion, but allows banks to opt for examination as a large bank.[10] Currently banks with assets greater than $1.061 billion have their CRA performance evaluated according to lending, investment and service tests. The agencies use the Consumer Price Index to adjust the asset size thresholds for small and large institutions annually.[6]

Controversy
The effects of the Community Reinvestment Act on the housing markets are controversial. Some economists and financial experts have wondered if the CRA was - or at least had become - essentially irrelevant, because it was not needed to force banks to make profitable loans to a variety of lenders.[12][13]

Economist Howard Husock writes that a CRA-connected community group The Woodstock Institute found in a survey in the Chicago-area that even banks not subject to CRA tended to loan in a variety of neighborhoods. He also criticized as an "amateur delivery system" community groups' involvement in marketing loans.[4]

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has stated that an underlying assumption of the CRA – that more lending is always better for local communities – is questionable.[3]

Economist Stan Liebowitz has claimed that banks were forced to loan to consumers who were not credit worthy with "no verification of income or assets; little consideration of the applicant's ability to make payments; no down payment." The chief executive of Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, is said to have "bragged" that in order to approve minority applications, "lenders have had to stretch the rules a bit."[14]

On the other hand, Professor of Law Michael S. Barr in congressional testimony stated that a Federal Reserve survey showed that affected institutions considered CRA loans profitable and not overly risky.[15]

Congressman and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has partially attributed the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis to legislation such as the Community Reinvestment Act.[16]

A Wall Street Journal editorial argued that the law compelled banks to make loans to poor borrowers who often could not repay them and that this contributed in part to the subprime crisis.[17]

A Bank for International Settlements ("BIS") working paper by economist Luci Ellis concluded that "Contrary to some media commentary, there is no evidence that the Community Reinvestment Act was responsible for encouraging the subprime lending boom and subsequent housing bust."[18]

Referring to CRA and abuses in the subprime market, in congressional testimony Michael Barr stated that in his judgment "the worst and most widespread abuses occurred in the institutions with the least federal oversight".[15]

Center for American Progress fellow Robert Gordon[19] noted that approximately half of the subprime loans were made by independent mortgage companies that were not regulated by the CRA and thus had no government obligation to offer credit to minorities. In the later part of the crisis, these mortgage companies made subprime loans at twice the rate of CRA banks. Another third of the major subprime lenders were regulated but had very little CRA involvement.[20] Gordon also makes the argument that the weakening of the CRA in 2004 was followed by intensified subprime lending.[20]

Austrian economist Thomas DiLorenzo counters Gordon's statistic by arguing that even if half of the subprime loans were made by non-CRA companies, the CRA had still caused tens of billions in defaults on mortgages by unqualified borrowers. He further states that Gordon's statistic ignores that independent mortgage companies are middlemen who sell subprime loans to banks that are in turn regulated by the CRA.[21]

Ellen Seidman, former director of the US Office of Thrift Supervision during the Clinton administration, who also works at the New America Foundation,[22] has stated her belief that the CRA did not have an effect on the United States housing bubble.[23] She observes that CRA banks were particularly warned to make responsible investments, citing one of her own speeches as an example.[24]

Here is a link to the data source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

What the FDIC says.

The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. It was enacted by the Congress in 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2901) and is implemented by Regulation BB (12 CFR 228). The regulation was substantially revised in May 1995, and was most recently amended in August 2005.

Evaluation of CRA Performance
The CRA requires that each depository institution's record in helping meet the credit needs of its entire community be evaluated periodically. That record is taken into account in considering an institution's application for deposit facilities.

Neither the CRA nor its implementing regulation gives specific criteria for rating the performance of depository institutions. Rather, the law indicates that the evaluation process should accommodate an institution's individual circumstances. Nor does the law require institutions to make high-risk loans that jeopardize their safety. To the contrary, the law makes it clear that an institution's CRA activities should be undertaken in a safe and sound manner.

CRA examinations are conducted by the federal agencies that are responsible for supervising depository institutions. Information on this page is related to depository institutions that are examined by the Federal Reserve, mainly state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve. CRA information on other depository institutions is available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Interagency information about the CRA is available from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).

Link to Federal Reserve Board. http://www.federalreserve.gov/dcca/cra/default.htm

What the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFEIC) said.

Background & Purpose
The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound banking operations. It was enacted by the Congress in 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2901) and is implemented by Regulations 12 CFR parts 25, 228, 345, and 563e. (See Regulation).

The CRA requires that each insured depository institution's record in helping meet the credit needs of its entire community be evaluated periodically. That record is taken into account in considering an institution's application for deposit facilities, including mergers and acquisitions. (See CRA Ratings)

CRA examinations (see Exam Schedules) are conducted by the federal agencies that are responsible for supervising depository institutions: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

Additional information in the form of Interagency Questions and Answers, Interagency Interpretive Letters, CRA data reporting is available.

Here is a link to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFEIC) site. http://www.ffiec.gov/cra/default.htm

NOTE:
Because this legislation was put forth in 1977 by the 95th Congress I was unable to locate the original legislation through the Library of Congress or the Congressional Record as they only go back to the 101st Congress which was in session from 1989 to 1990.

The problem has and always will be until we get legitimate and independent oversight that these guys are political and operate like politicians and bureaucrats insted af watchdogs. We need to have the guys watching over the operation also making sure these entities they are watching aren't cooking the books and that is something that has never been incorporated into the oversight boards.

Currently the level of partisan politics in Washington is so intense that I feel that the only way to get beyond it is to run them all out of town on a rail and elect a completely new set of representatives and senators.

The Bailout & Why it Failed

2008-09-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well folks once again we see what the poison of the political hatred in Washington and our bogus media have wrought us.

When John McCain announced he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to help with a rescue bill. Immediately the Democrats announced a deal that was never made in order to make it look like Mccain was grandstanding. Enter the spectre of partisan politics Democrat style. Once again Senator Barack Obama put himself before the country as he always has preferring to call in his support rather than actually trying to help find a solution. For someone who has been sold to the American people as an economic guru one begins to wonder why he is not applying his talents to solve this problem. Before John McCain arrived in Washington the fantasy bill was exposed as no deal by the Republican leadership. During the initial negotiations Nancy Pelosi had frozen the Rebublicans out of it. Not until John McCain arrived was he able to force the Democrats to admit the Republicans into the negotiations. Also it was John McCain and the Minority Leader who were able to get the Democrats to remove the Earmarks that the Democrats had embedded into the bill that gave PACs like ACORN $20 billion which they were hoping would be then funnelled into their campaigns. Immediatly Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership inserted their vile and poisonous partisan politics into the negotiations which went a long way to poison the negotiations. The Democrats are the majority party so they were supposed to bring leadership and civility into the negotiations instead they brought derision and poisonous rhetoric. Both Democrats and Republicans as well as the American people had major problems with this turkey. Thankfully both parties had major portions of their membership as well as members of the Banking Committee and leadership listen to their constituents and voted this bill down. Now they have a chance to craft a bill that will indeed resolve this issue IF they can put partisan politics aside and work together. I doubt that Nancy Pelosi will allow this to happen because she is so full of hate that she will never ever give a Republican credit for anything.

The only way that the hate and partisan politics will ever end in Washington is that if we the people vote these partisan politicians OUT of office and put in people that actually will be willing to work for the good of the country regardless of party. In 36 days we will have a chance to begin this process by unloading these poisonous snakes from our Congress and replacing them with true citizen statesmen/stateswomen. Also, we have seen by his significant absense from the scene that Barack Obama actually has no clue how to deal with this issue and is therefore not the guy we need in Washington as President of the United States in the coming term.

The Debate - Separating Fact From Fiction

2008-09-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

At this point in time I am not interested in winners or losers of debates because we are talking about the future of this country and not a ball game. What I am concerned about is what was said and was it fact or fantasy, and beyond that what does it really mean to us as a country. I am only going to sort out the important stuff because the back and forth he said she said means exactly nothing.

The Iraq War was Bush's fault - This was pure fiction because every intelligence agency in the world came to the same conclusion as Bush did. I know because I had been on the list to receive intelligence reports from the Intelligence Oversight Committee so I was able to review the reports that were delivered to Congress (most of the info was not classified). Beyond this Bush was incredibly stupid in waiting almost a full year to build up forces on the Iraq border which gave Saddam Houssein more than enough time to move or bury any weapons he had. Yet we are supposed to believe that Senator Obama had some 6th sense that directed him to vote against the war. I am not that stupid but he thinks that you are. Is he right?
$18 billion in earmarks is not as bad as $300 billion in tax breaks for business - Fantasy of the highest magnitude because earmarks are a net loss for the economy but when you give business tax breaks they are then able to take the money they saved from the tax breaks and expand their business and hire additional employees which in turn increases the tax base and therefore adds revenue to the economy via the wages paid by the company. Increasing the tax base also reduces the unemployment numbers which is also good for the economy.
I promise to give tax rebates to 95% of Americans - This is a fact but it is nothing more than redistribution of wealth. Let's take a deeper look into this statement in order to see what he is really talking about. If you make less than $40K a year then you pay little or no taxes and if you are unemployed then you pay NO taxes at all. Around 50% of the people in that 95% number pay no taxes at all and there are also a number of these people who are illegals and are using stolen Social Security Numbers so what is really going on here is that Senator Obama wants to take money out of the pockets of working people and give it in the form of a treasury check to those that don't work or pay taxes. This is socialism ... do you really want to live in a socialist society where you have no control over your own life?
Due to the current financial crisis what part of your budget to you plan to cut from your administration if you become president? Obama made no commitments to cut anything but insisted on having additional spending. McCain cited several programs that could be cut or eliminated because they were pure pork anyway.
How did the country get to this point? Neither candidate was really willing to identify the real cause but only repeated the symptoms. The problem stems from legislation passed by the Democrat Congress way back during the Carter administration that actually set the table for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then the subsequent Congresses and Presidents compounded the problem by allowing the lobbyists from those entities to buy them off via campaign contributions and perks. There actually were a few Presidents that tried to reign in spending but the Congresses in power were always able to circumvent them. That was the root cause, so if we were to repeal that initial legislation then the conditions that allowed this to happen would be effectively eliminated.

The most curious thing here is that when you cut through all of the rhetoric you find that the people who are saying they are going to vote for Barack Obama have no clue what his programs are or what he has done in the past, what they do know is that he has promised them free money and that is why they like him. The reality is that the President does not have the power to give away money, only the Congress has that authority. With the state of the economy there is ZERO chance that the great federal money giveaway that Obama has promised will ever happen. In fact, in his whole career Barack Obama does not have a record of helping anyone in the middle class. Onced again we see what the me first generation has brought us.

http://votesmart.org/

Retooling Industry - What the Candidates have said

2008-09-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

This one is a very tough topic to get a handle on because each of the candidates has a different perspective on what they mean by RETOOLING. Below you will find what each candidate has said about this and in some cases how they plan to pay for it, in other cases it is not much more than a promise of what they intend to do but not anything on how they plan to do it. You will have to decide where you fall in this tangled web. I will also offer some questions you might want to ask or some observations on what is missing or potential pitfalls because of what they have left out of the statements.

What Senator Obama has said:

Obama and Biden will increase fuel economy standards 4 percent per year while providing $4 billion for domestic automakers to retool their manufacturing facilities in America to produce these vehicles.

Where is the $4 billion dollars coming from?
Retool to what?
He is also talking about being oil independent which could mean some different type of fuel or vehicle but what kind?

We can't afford more of the same timid politics when the future of our planet is at stake. We are already breaking records with the intensity of our storms, the number of forest fires, and the periods of drought.By 2050, famine could force more than 250 million from their homes. And if we do nothing, sea levels will rise high enough to swallow large portions of every coastal city and town.This bipartisan legislation establishes an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions. It helps states, cities, and towns invest in technologies to reduce energy bills for homeowners, increase energy efficiency, construct green buildings, and expand public transit. It invests in green technology to help our automakers to retool and our fossil-fuel industries to become clean. The bill provides real financial relief to working families. Importantly, the bill restores our great nation's international leadership role, while including provisions to ensure that all major emitting nations also take serious action to solve this global problem.

The global warming folks have been saying this for over 30 years and it has yet to manifest anything substantial to support their claims. When a hurricane hits an unpopulated area nothing is said even if it is a category 5 or several category 3, 4, etc. It is only a disaster when it hits a populated area but that doesn't mean the storms are any worse than before only that this time they hit a populated area.
In 1980 these same claims were made that said the ice caps would melt and New York would be washed away but here is is 2008 and New York still stands and not a sign of the oceans raising even an inch.
The last time I checked the stores were filled with food and the farms were producing plenty of food to feed us even with the periodic floods and freezes that ruin a portion of some crops. I do see that at some point in time due to the growing population of the world that we will need to expand into unoccupied areas of the planet in order to create additional farms in order to supply more food to accomodate the new population numbers. So far the only folks that are starving are the folks living in areas that are torn by war and have an ongoing genocide but that has nothing to do with global warming it has to do with greed and lust for power.
Again there are lots of promises here but no indication of where the money is coming from in order to pay for these wide ranging programs.
Note that this is a typical political ploy to first instill fear of something bad happening if you don't do this thing right away so the politician can sway your vote without ever telling you how he came to this conclusion or how he plans to accomplish this thing and pay for it.
Again there is no indication here of just how this bill is going to provide aid to families, how it will be paid for or how it will improve our international standing. Someone should remind Senator Obama that he is running for President of the United States and not President of the World as this bill seems to indicate.

And so today, I'm announcing a manufacturing agenda that will lift up hardworking families, strengthen innovative companies, and foster our common prosperity. The first part of this agenda is investing in clean energy - because that isn't just how we'll get gas prices under control, combat climate change, and free ourselves from the tyranny of oil; it's also how we'll expand American manufacturing, create quality jobs, and grow our economy.That's why I'll invest $150 billion over the next ten years in the green energy sector. This will create up to five million new green jobs - and those are jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. And I'll be a President who finally keeps the promise that's made year after year after year by providing domestic automakers with the funding they need to retool their factories and make fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars. My own state of Illinois is home to the oldest, continually operating Ford assembly plant outside Michigan, so I understand why it's so important to bring our auto industry into the 21st Century. And that's what we'll do when I'm President.

Again promising to invest another $150 billion dollars but no indication of where this money is coming from.
Hmm, tyranny of oil companies ... the last time I checked the oil companies that are American owned only control about 2% to 6 % of the world's oil supply. Also, these companies are owned by the shareholders which are you and me. Your 401k is investing in these companies so you get part of those profits anytime you get a check from your 401K.
Someone needs to remind Senator Obama that the President does not control the purse strings of the federal government, that is the province of the U.S. Congress so stating that he will fulfill all of his promises is massive misrepresentation of the facts and ment to give you a false sense of what his power actually is. I suspect that Obama does not know just what the limits of the President's powers are.
It is not the job of the federal government to bring any industry into the 21st or any other century that is the decision for each individual company to decide for themselves.
I am beginning to wonder if Senator Obama has ever read the Constitution or knows anything about the country he wishes to be the president of? He is beginning to sound like someone who wishes to rule and not govern at all.

There are few more important unions in this country than the UAW. You created the auto industry. You secured good-paying jobs for generations of workers. And you built the American middle class - the backbone of our economy. So I know someone once said what's good for GM is good for America. But it's time we also recognized that what's good for the UAW is good for America.We need to help you compete with workers around the world by helping the auto industry compete with car companies all over the world. Yes, that means raising our fuel standards so we can make the fuel-efficient cars that are the future of your industry. But it also means giving you the help you need to retool your plants so we can build these cars right here in America. And if we can do that, we'll create thousands and thousands of jobs in the process.

The UAW did NOT create the auto industry, Henry Ford did when he first came up with the assembly line concept to manufacture his first car. Other intrepeneur's that came after him followed his lead and the industry was born. I think that Senator Obama needs to go back to school because he obviously knows nothing about the industrial revolution.
The UAW also did not build the American Middle Class because they were well established long before that organization ever came into being. The only thing the UAW did was to organize the workers into a group that finally was able to pressure employers into paying them a decent wage instead of sweatshop wages and for that we all owe them a debt of grattitude but let's not go overboard here. What Obama is doing here is smoozing the UAW workers so he can get their votes and the support of the union.
Why does the federal government need to get involved with the building and retooling of privately owned manufacturing plants?
What you are looking at here is an attempt to subsidize another industry, we all have seen what it did to the farming industry and how much it increased the national debt. It is looking more and more like an Obama administration is looking to absorb every industry into the federal government so they will have complete control over the population so we will no longer be free to choose when and where we work, who our doctor is and when we can see them, maybe even where we are to live and what if any car we can own. This is a very dangerous path to be going down.
Exactly what jobs is he talking about because if there is a union then you can't get hired unless you are a union member and you can't get into the union unless you have a job. The classic catch 22.

The first step in doing this is to phase out a carbon-based economy that's causing our changing climate. As President, I will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming - an 80% reduction by 2050. To ensure this isn't just talk, I will also commit to interim targets toward this goal in 2020, 2030, and 2040. These reductions will start immediately, and we'll continue to follow the recommendations of top scientists to ensure that our targets are strong enough to meet the challenge we face. In addition to this cap, all polluters will have to pay based on the amount of pollution they release into the sky. The market will set the price, but unlike the other cap-and-trade proposals that have been offered in this race, no business will be allowed to emit any greenhouses gases for free. Businesses don't own the sky, the public does, and if we want them to stop polluting it, we have to put a price on all pollution. It's time to make the cleaner way of doing business the more profitable way of doing business.There is no doubt that this transition will be costly in the short-term. To make it easier, we will provide assistance to Americans who need help with their energy bills. We'll help families make their homes more energy efficient, and we'll help workers and factories retool their facilities so they can compete and thrive in a clean energy economy. And once we make America more energy efficient and start producing more renewable energy, we will save money and bring energy costs down in the long-run. But we must act now.Once we make dirty energy expensive, the second step in my plan is to invest $150 billion over the next decade to ensure the development and deployment of clean, affordable energy.

One wonders what data the Senator is using to determine that any carbon based economy is creating any climate change at all. There are an equal or greater number of scientists and studies that profoundly disagree with this whole concept.
The President does not have the authority to set caps on anything only the Congress has that power. Once again this guy is displaying his complete lack of knowledge on what the President can and cannot do.
Again he cannot implement anything immediately because it has to go through the legislative process in the Congress.
Just what scientists is this guy talking about because most of the scientists in this field don't buy this global warming theory. This arguement looks to be based on the fact that he wants to spend trillions of dollars on more government programs that don't work. He would be on better ground if he just based this on health concerns instead of this global warming theory.
The most destructive pollution does not go into the sky but seeps into our groundwater. California tried this same ploy with the Clean Air Initiative and what happened is that they beaurocracy built a multi million dollar office in Orange County with fines levied against small and medium sized businesses. The large defense plants moved out of state and left 500,000 workers unemployed and the big polluters remained untouched. Also the air in the sky is free and no one owns it. The government controls the airspace but nothing else, you cannot own the air nor the clouds in the sky.
Once again Senator Obama is giving away money to poor folks and promising to spend billions in what appears to be an attempt to initiate some kind of control of a private industry but never attempts to tell us where the money is coming from nor does he even address the issue.

When I arrived in the U.S. Senate, I wanted to do whatever I could to make real progress toward energy independence. I reached across the aisle to pass a law that will give more Americans the chance to fill up their cars with clean biofuels. I passed a law that will fuel the research needed to develop a car that will get 500 miles to the gallon. I even voted for an energy bill that was far from perfect because I was able to ensure that it contained some real investments in renewable sources of energy. And I've fought to eliminate the tax giveaways to oil companies that were slipped into that bill - oil companies that have spent half a billion dollars lobbying Congress in the last ten years while their profits have risen to record highs.And I did something else. I knew that America hadn't raised the fuel standards for our cars in twenty years. Even though we had the technology on the shelf. Even though Japanese car companies that make more fuel-efficient cars are running circles around our own car companies. Even though we send hundreds of millions of dollars a day to some of the world's most dangerous regimes for their oil.So I decided to try something new. I reached across the aisle to come up with a plan to raise our fuel standards that won support of lawmakers who had never supported raising fuel standards before. And I didn't just give a speech about it in front of some environmental audience in California. I went to Detroit, I stood in front of a group of automakers, and I told them that when I am President, there will be no more excuses - we will help them retool their factories, but they will have to make cars that use less oil.

I could find no bill that Obama created that passed nor did any of them indicate that the bill would finance research for a vehicle that would get 500 miles to the gallon of anything. The only bills he sponsored that deal with this are linked here. All of these bills are still stuck in committee. H.R.1506, S.768, S.875
Actually oil company profits are in the 6% range which is far below what the rest of the oil industry and other industry profit margins are. In fact most of that profit is used to fight legal battles with environmental groups that are determined to prevent any drilling of any kind anywhere. Another large portion of the profit is spent in research and exploration. What is left is around 1 to 2%. The actual profit the oil companies make at the pump is around 6 cents per gallon while the government takes down around 18 cents per gallon. I would think that Senator Obama would be more angry at the high tax at the pump than he was at the profit the oil company makes which is 1/3rd what the government makes.
Japanese cars are better at gas mileage than American cars because they are lighter and when you get in a wreck on the highway your rate of serious injury is 5 times that of an American car. Gas mileage without safety is not worth it.
The federal government has no business paying for a private industry to retool their manufacturing plants. Is Obama also going to pay for the retooling of every other industry in this country as well?
Where is the money coming from?
Once the government gets their foot into the door of a private company it is only a matter of time before they start telling that company how to build their product and then what product they can build and who they can hire and then what they can pay them. This is a really BAD idea.

Provisions from S. 767, the bipartisan Fuel Economy Reform Act introduced by Senators Obama, Lugar, Biden, Specter, Bingaman, and Smith, were included in the bill approved by the Commerce Committee today. The legislation requires automakers to achieve significant annual improvements in fuel economy. The legislation also authorizes the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to establish different standards for different types of cars, providing increased flexibility to automakers and leveling the playing field for the US companies that sell a broader mix of vehicles than their foreign competitors. Senator Obama has proposed increasing fuel economy standards by 4% annually as the long-term goal. Obama has also committed to improving the health of the domestic auto industry, by providing assistance for legacy health care costs, as it produces more efficient automobiles.“I am committed to working with my colleagues to ensure that NHTSA discretion is carefully defined to ensure that we achieve the maximum fuel economy possible,” added Obama. “We must also address the key transition concerns of autoworkers by sustaining existing protections and establishing retooling incentives.”

Note: This bill is still in committee and has been since 2007 – official status as follows: 3/6/2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2701-2703) Therefore, it means nothing unless it is signed into law. Many Senators submit thousands of bills for all manner of things but most die in committee.

We also know that, absent some assistance, the significant costs associated with retooling parts and assembly plants could be prohibitive for companies that are already struggling and shedding workers. Our goal is not to destroy the industry, but to help bring it into the 21st century. So if the auto industry is prepared to step up to its responsibilities, we should be prepared to help.That's why my proposal would provide generous tax incentives to help automakers upgrade their existing plants in order to accommodate the demands of producing more fuel-efficient vehicles.

This is in direct contradiction to his stated goal of taxing the rich which means the folks that are responsible for upgrading their companies, hiring new employees, and expanding their markets. You can't have it both ways, you are either going to tax the people that create the jobs and bring additional revenue to the country or you aren't. So which is it Senator Obama?

The Big 3 automakers rightly argue that their retiree health care costs, expected to be $6.2 billion in 2006, hurt their ability to invest and compete.The Health Care for Hybrids Act would address the unique challenges of the U.S. auto industry and reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil at the same time. This bill would set up a voluntary program in which domestic automakers could choose to receive federal financial assistance to cover 10% of their annual legacy health care costs through 2017. The companies that participate in the program would be required to invest at least 50% of their health care savings into manufacturing fuel efficient cars, such as hybrids and advanced diesel vehicles in the United States, or helping domestic parts suppliers retool their manufacturing plants to produce advanced parts.These investments would help domestic auto manufacturers and parts suppliers meet the growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles. More American hybrid cars also ensure that there is competition in this growing market and would also help keep car prices low.

The federal governmant has no business subsidizing the health care for an industry that has been negotiating insane deals with unions for over 20 years and for that reason they have the retirement situation they have.
Senator, where is the culpability of the unions in this? After all they are the ones that have forced the companies to make these types of retirement plans. The union workers for these companies are paid insane wages and everyone knows it but you have already smoozed the unions to get their support so now you want to use taxpayer's money to pay for a private industry's bad contract on retirement.
Senator Obama seems to be very generous with our money maybe someone should tell him that it's NOT HIS MONEY.
Does this guy know anything about the manufacturing industry at all? Every company operates on JIT (Just In Time) that way they don't have to keep large inventories of spare parts on hand that could become damaged, lost, or stolen. This has saved them millions of dollars every year. These companies only keep enough spare parts on hand for emergencies and to complete existing orders.

Note: This bill like it’s predecessor is stuck in committee so it means nothing as I have stated previously. 3/6/2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (consideration: CR S2703-2706)
Wher's the money coming from Senator Obama?
More standards = bigger beaurocracy and greater waste, mismanagement, corruption, etc.

This legislation flips the current debate about increasing fuel economy standards on its head, from a debate about whether standards will be raised to presumption that they will be raised.In order to enable domestic manufacturers to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles, the legislation also provides generous tax incentives for companies to retool parts and assembly plants. This would strengthen the U.S. auto industry by allowing them to compete with foreign hybrid, E-85 and other fuel-efficient vehicles. The bill would also allow more Americans to benefit from a tax credit for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles by lifting the current cap that only makes eligible the first 60,000 buyers per manufacturer each year.If this 4 percent per year improvement is maintained for 20 years, this bill would reduce gasoline consumption by 549 billion gallons. If gasoline were just $2.50 per gallon, that means consumers would save $1.372 trillion at the pump by 2028.The Fuel Economy Reform Act would also provide fairness and flexibility to domestic automakers by establishing different standards for different types of cars. Currently, manufacturers have to meet broad standards over their whole fleet of cars. This disadvantages companies like Ford and General Motors that produce full lines of small and large cars and trucks rather than manufacturers that only sell small cars.

Note: This was a resubmitted version of the previous 2 bills and suffered the same fate.
First Obama wants to take away all the tax breaks and incentives for business then when it suits him to gain votes from another sector of the populace he says he wants to give them. Senator, you can't have it both ways so you have to make a decision, which is it going to be?
Anytime a politician starts talking about being fair WATCH OUT because he is about to snooker someone.

Under this system, if the 4 percent annualized improvement occurs for 10 years, we would save 1.3 million barrels of oil per day--an astounding 20 billion gallons of gasoline per year. If gasoline is just $2.50 per gallon, consumers would save $50 billion at the pump in 2018. By 2018, we would be cutting global warming pollution by 220 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent gases.And yet, auto executives are right when they say that transitioning to more fuel-efficient automobiles would be costly at a time of sagging profits and stiff competition, and that's precisely why the Federal Government shouldn't let the industry face these challenges on their own.The Fuel Economy Act provides tax incentives to retool parts and assembly plants. But we should do more than that. We need to help the Big Three automakers with one of their largest expenses, namely, retiree health care costs, which ran almost $6.7 billion just last year. For GM, these health care costs represent $1,500 of the price of every GM car that is made, which is more than what they pay for the steel.To that end, I also have filed an amendment to this bill based on the Health Care for Hybrids Act that I introduced last year. That proposal would set up a voluntary program in which automakers could choose to receive Federal financial assistance towards their retiree health care costs. In return, the automakers would be required to reinvest these savings into developing fuel-efficient vehicles.

Again this guy is talking about subsidizing an industry that pays it's janitors $50K a year. The federal government has no business mucking about in private industry. If a company makes bad decisions then it is NOT up to the taxpayers to foot the bill.

The Fuel Economy Reform Act also would provide fairness and flexibility to domestic automakers by establishing different standards for different types of cars. Currently, manufacturers have to meet broad standards over their whole fleet of cars. This disadvantages companies like Ford and General Motors that produce full lines of small and large cars and trucks rather than manufacturers that only sell small cars.In order to enable domestic manufacturers to develop advanced-technology vehicles, this legislation provides tax incentives to retool parts and assembly plants. This will strengthen the U.S. auto industry by allowing it to compete with foreign hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles. It is our expectation that NHTSA will use its enhanced authority to bring greater market-based flexibility into CAFE compliance by allowing the banking and trading of credits among all vehicle types and between manufacturers.Finally, the bill also would expand the tax incentives that encourage consumers to buy advanced technology vehicles. The bill would lift the current 60,000-per-manufacturer cap on buyer tax credits to allow more Americans to buy ultra-efficient vehicles like hybrids.

This legislation flips the current debate about increasing fuel economy standards on its head, from a debate about whether standards will be raised to presumption that they will be raised.In order to enable domestic manufacturers to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles, the legislation also provides generous tax incentives for companies to retool parts and assembly plants. This would strengthen the U.S. auto industry by allowing them to compete with foreign hybrid, E-85 and other fuel-efficient vehicles. The bill would also allow more Americans to benefit from a tax credit for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles by lifting the current cap that only makes eligible the first 60,000 buyers per manufacturer each year.If this 4 percent per year improvement is maintained for 20 years, this bill would reduce gasoline consumption by 549 billion gallons. If gasoline were just $2.50 per gallon, that means consumers would save $1.372 trillion at the pump by 2028.The Fuel Economy Reform Act would also provide fairness and flexibility to domestic automakers by establishing different standards for different types of cars. Currently, manufacturers have to meet broad standards over their whole fleet of cars. This disadvantages companies like Ford and General Motors that produce full lines of small and large cars and trucks rather than manufacturers that only sell small cars.

3/6/2007:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2701-2703 ). 768, S.875
Until this becomes law it is nothing more than rhetoric and this thing is not likely to be that anytime soon because it has been stuck in committee for over 2 years now.

My Thoughts:

OK, what this all boils down to is that Senator Obama has totally bought into the Global Warming theory put forth by a few radical scientists but has not been bought into by the mainstream scientific community. What the scientific community really says is that you can't take some readings and studies over a 20 year period and apply those to a planet that is 4.5 billion years old and get anything back but garbage. Also so far none of the predictions that these so called top scientists have predicted over the past 20 or 30 years have ever come true or even been close to reality. Personally I am in the camp that says if you make a prediction and it turns out you are wrong then your credibility just went down the tubes.

On the retooling thing I find it amazing that a United States Senator would actually be pushing for spending trillions of taxpayers dollars to subsidize not 1 but many private industries simply because these companies made bad deals with unions and because of the way they have been taxed and constrained by government regulations. Make sure to don't overlook the fact that all of these subsidies are based on the Global Warming theory that he has been sold on. He makes a lot of assumptions but tells us nothing about what evidence he has to support that position other than sowing fear of a calamity to the voters.

Finally, and this is the most telling part of this whole issue. Senator Obama has never specified in any of the legislation proposed, speeces, or other public statements as to what the total pricetag is or how he intends to pay for it other than just to say that the government will give, invest, etc. all this money to whichever entity or indistry. Also he has never even addressed the problem of who is going to pay to convert existing vehicles over to the new technology, what the new technology is, and how he plans to set up fueling points or how many will be available for these "hybrid" vehicles.

No matter how you cut it as it exists in his current rhetoric this plan is a train wreck waiting to happen and will end up costing us multiple trillions of dollars in the long run and make the existing national debt look like chump change.

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What I could find in the speeches and statements from John McCain and others regarding retooling industry. He doesn’t much like the idea instead favors giving tax credits to consumers to help them purchase these vehicles, training, etc.

The auto industry and Wall Street took center stage in the presidential race Wednesday when Republican John McCain, after touring a suburban Detroit auto plant, declared in his strongest language so far that he will fight for government loans to help the U.S. auto industry retool.

McCain's support of the auto industry on Wednesday contrasts with his position last month when he visited the GM Tech Center in Warren and said he wasn't inclined to support loans for the auto industry.McCain, who also did not vote on the energy bill creating the loan program in December 2007, said then through his campaign that his proposals -- a $5,000 tax credit for consumers to buy more efficient models and a $300-million prize for battery technology -- would accomplish the same goals as the loan program. Auto industry officials said they believed that without McCain's support, the funding would get labeled a Democratic ploy. Michigan's Republican lawmakers, especially U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, are credited with convincing McCain to back the loans.

Offering to loan a company money to help them get some upgrades or other technology developed that they normally would not be able to aquire on their own is a whole different kettle of fish then just forking over billions of dollars in taxpayer's money to do it.
Tax credits for consumers is a nifty way to get them into a hybrid vehicle without spending billions of tax dollars to develop it then not having anyone be able to afford to buy it. This is also a good way to increase the sales of these vehicles and thus allow the industry to repay the loans they got from the government to develop it in the first place.
Senator McCain, are you planning to offer the energy companies the same kind of a deal to develop new energy sources and to be able to convert existing gas stations to the new technology?
I noticed that so far Senator McCain has NOT included anything to subsidize the retirement pensions the auto makers have to pay due to bad contracts negotiated with the unions.

John McCain on Tuesday proposed updating the unemployment system and retooling training programs to help people who have lost their jobs -- particularly older workers -- adapt to a changing economy."Change is hard, and while most of us gain, some industries, companies and workers are forced to struggle with very difficult choices," the Republican presidential candidate said as he espoused free-market principles in a state that leads the nation in unemployment."But it is government's job to help workers get the education and training they need for the new jobs that will be created by new businesses in this new century," McCain added. In a broad speech to Detroit Economic Club, the Arizona senator promised to rein in runaway federal spending, simplify the tax code, help U.S. industries become more competitive, and control spiraling health care costs. He also called for increasing fuel economy standards while maintaining auto safety.

I was hoping that someone would address the retraining issue facing many displaced workers that are getting up in age and were in jobs that no longer exist. I am happy to see that mcCain is not as far out of touch as some would have us believe. It is also nice to hear thet he isn't proposing a NEW government program but instead has opted to simply upgrade the one currently in place.
I am still waiting to hear how he plans to reign in government runaway spending, and simplify the tax code.
I also want to hear how he plans to make companies more competitive and control spiraling health care costs without using subsidies, breaking the bank, or socializing the system.
I am also pleased to see that he has included safety with his plan to increase the CAFE standards. I am still waiting to see how he plans to do this without subsidies.

Most of the nation's environmental laws are over 30 years old. It's time to comprehensively review them to assure they are relevant to today's needs and capabilities. That's not code for weakening our standards, it's a call for strengthening our methods for addressing the threats to human health and the environment, and for seeking ways to make them less costly. We must make regulations more flexible, emphasizing measurable results rather than means favored by bureaucrats. Flexibility will foster innovation. Our nation's clean air and water laws have improved the environment dramatically. But as far as we have come, we have serious environmental problems left to tackle. In doing so, we must resist the temptation to throw money at every problem. Rather we should build on what works, free enterprise and open markets. Rather than pork barrel programs, let's establish the necessary standards to achieve responsible goals, and then allow the private sector can harness the power of free markets to assure they are achieved as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible. As President I will give to the EPA administrator one simple battle plan: in concert with state, tribal and local officials, and the public, vigorously but flexibly enforce our vital environmental protection laws and the rules that contribute directly to the protection of human health and the environment, and retool or retire outdated regulations that serve no useful purpose toward those ends. As President, I will order a complete top to bottom review with these criteria in mind. And I will make it a priority to ensure that federal agencies abide by the laws that the government imposes on everyone else. Several years ago, mercury was discovered leaching into the ground water from, of all places, a lab operated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal government is the biggest polluter in the land. That's not right and it must stop.

I am actually impressed, the Senator made no promises that are outside his power as President and knew exactly what government agencies to tap in order to initiate change without going through Congress. This is the hallmark of a leader. He also is employing the people who are experts in this field in order to get the best possible answers to the existing problems so that when he does present a bill to Congress he will have already addressed the issues they will be concerned with.
For the first time we have a government official who is calling out a government agency as a polluter and condemning them for it. If this guy gets in he is going to shake the foundations of the status quo to their very roots and that is going to be good for the American people.

Mr. President I am please to introduce a bill intended to preserve the United States' world leadership position in technology into the coming century. This legislation is intended to assure that our scientific, mathematics, engineering and technology resources are surpassed by no one. It is intended to ensure that our most precious national resources, our people, receive the best education and training through our best national product, innovation. We must allow our most creative forces to interact to achieve improved math and science education in our schools. We must assure more highly trained college graduates in science, math, engineering and technology. And we must encourage the retooling of our country's experienced minds to address the problems and the solutions of tomorrow.Specifically, this legislation uses a portion of each H-1B visa fee to provide grants for innovative programs which will improve the math, science, engineering and technology skills of Americans so that they can fill the estimated average of 137,800 new positions expected to be created in these fields each year from now through 2006. During the interim, while the American pipeline of talent is filling, the bill lifts the caps on H-1B visas to allow our American companies to continue to grow and prosper.This legislation is necessary and beneficial to our nation. Let me explain in some detail why.First, although this country can be proud of having some of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the world, our elementary and secondary education system is not sufficiently emphasizing science and math in the curriculum. Our students are falling behind in these areas. The results of the 1998 Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) are instructive. In math, our 4th graders ranked 12th out of 26 countries. Not a stellar performance. But even more discouraging, by 12th grade, the U.S. math rank was 19th out of 21 countries. As a result, not enough American college students are majoring in the sciences, including computer science, mathematics and engineering to fill the escalating need for highly trained professionals.

Full Speech: http://votesmart.org/speech_detail.php?sc_id=74417&keyword=tooling&phrase=&contain=

Again Senator McCain has identified one of the main problems we have in this country, our educational institutions and he has also identified the problem areas that are causing us to fall behind technologically.
I am very impressed that this time he has also given an indication of how he plans to pay for this program. This idea has a lot of potential but I want to see the actual bill first before I give a firm thumbs up on it.

My Thoughts:

When John McCain first appeared on the scene for the presidency I was very unimpressed with him. As the election cycle has progressed I wanted to look closer to see if I had missed anything. Because I am also a Vietnam Vet disabled in the War I have been in the process of giving him a personal vetting that is far more critical than I have given any other candidate. Maybe I have set much higher expectations and goals from him because of this. Just before he announced his VP selection I took the time to view his video on "Faith of my Fathers" I was very impressed and for the firsat time I began to see just how deeply her cares for this country. I don't believe I could have gone through what he did. He is a leader of the first order and that is something I thought I would never have said about him. When he picked Sarah Palin I began to question his judgement until I researched her and found that in her he has found probably the perfect political match for what he intends to do from the White House. Now that I have seen and read what he has proposed and outside of a few issues I still have with him I am convinced that he is the man at the right time in our nations history. John McCain says more in a single paragraph than most politicians say in 2 or 3 pages of political speak.

I highly recommend that you check out Project Vote Smart on the web because they are the most recognized non partisan source of information on the candidates you will ever find. LINK: http://votesmart.org/index.htm

The Financial Crisis & Who Caused It

2008-09-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well folks it took me a long time to find out about this because the real cause of this started years ago but in 2005 there were 4 Senators in Washington who saw it coming and tried to get legislation in place to prevent it but the legislation never saw the light of day because it was apparently killed in the Banking Committee. I pulled up the legislation to see what it said and I also pulled out some testimony from a Senator who literally outlined exactly what has happened today but said it in 2005. Coincidentally he is also one of the people running for President this year and his name is John McCain. This bill was actually sponsored by Chuck Hagel (R) and cosponsored by Elizabeth Dole (R), John McCain (R), and John Sununu (R). The name of this bill was the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S . 190. Now to be fair there was also a bill the Senator Barack Obama did cosponsor and it was named the Development Bank Reform and Authorization Act of 2005 S.1129. Here is a short description of that bill and a link to the actual bill in case you want to take a closer look at it. This bill had nothing to do with the Federal Housing issue but instead dealt with the World Bank which tells us a lot about where the priorities of Senator Obama and his colleagues were.

S . 1129
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Development Bank Reform and Authorization Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States has strong national security and humanitarian interests in alleviating poverty and promoting development around the world.
(2) The World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank leverage the resources that the United States and other donors can devote to such goals.
(3) Contributions from the United States and other donors to the multilateral development banks must be well managed so that the mission of such banks is fully realized and not undermined by corruption. Bribes can influence important bank decisions on projects and contractors and misuse of funds can inflate project costs, cause projects to fail, and undermine development effectiveness. (4) Officials of the World Bank have identified corruption as the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development. Corruption undermines development by distorting the rule of law and weakening the institutional foundation on which economic growth depends.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109gjuwHR:b74417:

Here is the bill and statement in which Senator McCain supported, apparently it was killed in committee because there are no recorded votes on it.

FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005 -- (Senate - May 25, 2006)[Page: S5217] GPO's PDF
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Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were ``illusions deliberately and systematically created'' by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.
The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.
For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.
I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S . 190 , to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

The two top reciepients of money from Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac are Christopher Dodd the chairman of the Banking Committee and Barack Obama. John McCain also recieved a token amount from them but not near the amount the others took.

Also note that the then CEO of Fannie Mae is now the chief economic advisor for the Obama campaign. You will have to decide for yourself whether this is relevant or not.

It looks like the hatred the Dems have for the Repubs has just cost you a ton of money and probably a lot of you your homes and jobs. This is just one more illustration of how important it is for us to take our right to vote seriously and get our heads out of our collective posterior anal cavities and PAY ATTENTION! You wanna know who is at fault? Well then go look in the mirror because we are the ones who didn’t pay attention and elected these guys to high office so they could steal our money and our lives. If you look at the 4 folks who have their names on this bill you will see John McCain and a bunch of Republicans but I don’t think you will find a Democrat within 50 miles of this bill because they need you to be dependent on them for survival. Below you will find links to the actual bill, the Banking Committee that was in place during that Congress and a link to the responsibilities of that committee. I have also provided a link to the actual votes taken during that congress and there is no mention of this bill ever coming up for any kind of a vote. Yo will have to decide whether John McCain or Barack Obama are really looking out for you or are just saying what they think you want to hear so you will vote for them.

Here is a link to the actual bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.190:

This link is to the Congressional votes for that period: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_109_2.htm

Here is a link to the Banking Committee: These were the guys on the banking committee: http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Information.Membership Note that Chuck Hagel was on that committee and saw the impending disaster and subsequently saught assistance in drafting a bill to try and prevent it.

Here is a link to what the Banking Committee is responsible for: http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Information.Jurisdiction

You Democrats out there that vote straight party line have no one to blame but yourself because you are to busy to do your own thinking so you let these political hacks do it for you. You Republicans that let your anger at the Republican party so you sat the election out have no one but yourself to blame because you let the Democrats take over the House and Senate, you cut off your nose to spite your face. You Independents don't get off either because you either did the same as the Republicans or you cast your vote for a third party csandidate and called it a protest vote. Well now we all have to pay a sever price because we and no one else set up the scenario where this could happen. You folks that are losing your homes, you don't get off either because you knew when you signed that cantract that there was no way you could pay for a 200K dollar home when you were only making 25K or 30K a year and the payments were like 1500 or 2K dollars a month and your car payment was like $500.00 a month and that was before you figured in food, gas, insurance, etc. but you had a government guarantee so you figured they would step in and pay off your house and you would still have it. Well, welcome to the real world because that isn't how it works. If you don't make the payments then you lose it.

The greedy folks in those government agencies were at fault, the politicians in Congress were at fault for not doing their jobs because most of them were on the take, we the voters were at fault for putting these crooks in office, and those of us who signed contracts for houses we knew we couldn't afford were at fault so there is more than enough blame to go around. Maybe next time we will try to live in the real world instead of the fantasy one the politicians want us to live in.

If we weren't so caught up in the political hatred of this country we might have been able to avoid this. Maybe it is time to think for ourselves instead of letting others do it for us. When you become homeless because you were to bored to pay attention you won't be bored any longer.

Here are the links to a report on this issue, I hope it helps clear the air a bit. However, you will need to put your political bias aside in order to understand the report because the Democrats in Washington and Barack Obama are right in the middle of this. For those of you who prefer to justify anything the Democrats do and demonize anything the Republicans do you will simply ignore the report as if it was done by a political organization instead of some of the most trusted economic minds in our country. However, you will really have to be a dedicated Democrat and be drinking a lot of the Obama cool aide to refute the verifiable historical evidence contained in this report.

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0g0mtZyZB4
Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqw9UzUtxbg
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVuG7-fsWM
Part Four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Part Five: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Part Six: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2nHqJZazucPart

Taxing The Rich and What It Means

2008-09-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

When you listen to a politician say he is only going to tax the rich and give you a tax break or cut your taxes just what does this all mean? Basically it is a scam when you look deeper into the nuts and bolts of how taxes are paid. According to Barack Obama (he is the only one promising to do this), he places the threshold of determining if you are rich at $250,000.00. Well that covers just about every small business and medium sized business in the country. Now you ask but just who are these "Small Businesses"? Well just about every video store, mom and pop grocery store, fast food outlet and all of the folks that have a store front in your local mall, and yes even the truckers that deliver our goods because a lot of them are independents. These folks gross around $250,000.00 per year but that is before they pay for rent, utilities, advertising, insurance, wages, fuel, restocking the shelves, bookeepers, etc. When all of these have been paid (this is called overhead which is the cost of doing business) the small business owner makes around $40,000.00 or so a year in net earnings. This is much like your paycheck before and after deductions.

When the taxes on these folks hit they are forced to make a choice of either cutting back the workforce and reducing hours of operation, and maybe even raising the prices of their goods/services, or in the case of an independent trucker he may actually have to park his truck and reduce the loads he takes and the distance which he takes them. A lot of you folks out there work for these people and many of you work for more than one because the wages are low and it is generally part time work so you don't put in that many hours at each place and you don't get any benefits as a part timer. What do you think happens to you when this "tax only the rich" goes into place? More than likely you will be laid off to help the owner cover the extra taxes he now has to pay and in turn this puts you right back where the folks that put this in place want you which is to be on Welfare where you are dependent on the government for survival.

When the large companies like Exxon, Ford, GM, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, etc., get hit with these new taxes they don't worry about it because the CEOs and big money folks here just move their money into tax shelters, and their manufacturing plants out of the U.S. so they don't get hit with the taxes. You see both sales and income taxes can only be charged for operations conducted within the borders of the U.S. they also begin raising the cost to the consumers to offset any taxes that they actually do have to pay. So you see, anytime a politician says he is going to tax the rich what he is really saying is that he is going to raise your cost of living. This is not a policy that is going to be very helpful to you and your family.

Whenever a politician says he is going to give a tax refund to 95% of the people what does he really mean. Well, let's take a look at your paycheck and see just what he is talking about. The first thing we need to figure out is whether or not this politician is saying he is going to send you a check in the mail or if he is cutting your payroll taxes, or if he is just giving you some sort of change in the way your taxes are calculated at the end of the year. Most of us that make less than $50,000.00 a year pay little or no taxes to begin with so giving us a tax refund is impossible because we don't pay any taxes to begin with. Whatever is deducted in taxes from our paycheck during the year we get back at the end of the year unless we owe back taxes. Now, if you set up your deductions smartly then you can get most of your money during the year and still get a refund at the end which generally helps us to survive (NEVER FILE EXEMPT). Now, if he is just going to give you a check and you don't pay any taxes to begin with then the question we need to be asking is just where is he getting the money to send to us and how is this going to impact our daily lives down the road in the form of buying food, paying rent, etc.?

Now let's take a look at what Senator Obama is really going to do. If he is going to reduce your weekly deductions on federal taxes (he has no control over what you pay in state taxes) then you will never notice it because his tax plan increases the taxes on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security which will more than make up for anything he gives you via a reduced weekly deduction in federal taxes. You see how the shell game works now? Promise a tax break with one hand and take it back plus more via another type of tax with the other hand. Even if the tax break comes through via your 1040 at the end of the year it amounts to the same thing.

Oh, and did I mention that all of those big companies that are being taxed at a higher rate are more than likely companies that your 401K have invested in so the profits they make which make up the value of your 401K will be reduced so you and not the actual company are being hurt. The big companies really are owned by the stockholders and not the chairman or CEO of the company. Just remember that a poor guy doesn't hire anyone and creates no new jobs but the rich guys/gals do, your paycheck isn't signed by some homeless guy on the street, it is signed by that rich guy that Obama wants to tax and he is simply going to pass the increase on to you in the form of higher prices for goods, lower wages (pay cuts), or layoffs.

I hope this helps you and provides enough information for you to avoid being suckered into this political shell game.

Waking The Sleeping Dragon

2008-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Most of you have been gradually becoming disenchanted with your political parties mostly because they have gone in a direction that you do not agree with. Therefore, you have registered as any one of a number of third party political organizations from the Green Party, to Reform, Libertarian, Constitution, Independent, or maybe even unaffiliated because you hate the others.

My friends, you are the Sleeping Dragon I am referring to because together you make up a voting block far larger than both the Democrat and Republican parties combined. The problem is that to many of the third party organizations out there are so far out of the mainstream that they will never be elected to anything and are simply flushing good money down a sinkhole. Most of the electorate out there is neither liberal nor conservative but a mix of the two. The rank and file voter in this country is basically lightly socially liberal but staunchly a fiscal conservative. I will explain.

You see most folks have a view of abortion that is a mix of pro life and pro choice. A woman should have the right to make a choice between aborting the pregnancy or having the baby. However, she does not have 9 months to make that decision, she should decide within the first few weeks or the choice is no longer an option. Everyone on both sides of the issue feel that partial birth abortion is unacceptable and infanticide is equally unacceptable.

Most of the people also believe that welfare is a necessary program but should never be used in lieu of a real job and was only meant as a lifeline to help folks over the bumps in the road that life throws at us from time to time. People believe in the Second Amendment that everyone has the right to keep and bear arms especially in the violent society we find ourselves in today. Most of the electorate believes in a strong military and that we need to support the troops whatever the mission. Everyone believes in the right to free speech as long as that does not endanger the lives of others. Yelling fire in a crowded theater is not free speech and neither is publishing classified information that enables the enemies of America to better attack our soldiers and undermine our government. Loose Lips Sink Ships was a saying coined in WWII and still applies today.

So, how do we awaken this Sleeping Dragon and still remain true to our beliefs? Well, a good start would be to step back from our radical, off the wall ideas and beliefs that the American people will never embrace. All of the third parties need to unite under a single banner with a platform that the American Electorate can both agree with and rally to. Dump your little power bases that never have and never will allow you to be considered a viable candidate. Most of the folks running these various 3rd party organizations are only there for the power it gives them over their immediate peers and mostly that is a core group of like minded people who have no chance of ever being elected to anything. You see their whole goal is not to get elected but just to get 5% of the vote so they can access the federal funds available and maybe get invited to a legitimate debate with the big dogs. None of these groups have fielded a serious candidate since Ross Perot and never will. But they are the ones that have to make the move to consolidate their power and resources into a single voting block and when they do then we can say that we are waking the Sleeping Dragon.

Eventually someone, somewhere will craft a platform that strikes a chord with the American Electorate and the idea will catch fire. However, without the resources to feed that fire it will only die a whimpering death crushed by the arrogance and unwillingness of political parties to join together for the good of the country. You call yourself patriots but in reality you are just greedy little men and women looking for your 15 minutes of fame and hoping that you can turn that into a personal fortune or become a national power broker. There is no difference between you and Washington, it's just that the politics in Washington are more visible and larger in scope than yours.

I beseach you oh Lord, help us wake the Sleeping Dragon!

Locating and Deporting 50 million Illegals is NOT Impossible

2008-09-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

If you listen to the politicians they will say that catching and deporting 50 million illegals is not only impossible but logistically not feasible. Well folks I have a bit of news for them, it is not only feasible but also very doable. I guess they think that we are going to create a whole department just for that purpose and then line up hundreds of Boing 757's and do some sort of mass deportation ... NOT! This shows us just how inept and locked into the desire to turn all of these illegals into votes these politicians are. Now, if they were serious about locating the illegals this is what they would be doing.

Establish a fingerprint database that can be accessed by any agency or business in the country. This database would have in it every fingerprint of every illegal ever caught and identified as being undocumented.
Make it mandatory under penalty of law that every business, organization, bank, loan company, welfare agency, or government organization place thumb scanners at every location and that every person that is hired, opens an account, cashes a check, applies for a service etc. be scanned. This scan will then be compared against the Illegal Alien database to verify that this person has never been detained or deported as an illegal alien. Then the Social Security Number provided will be checked against the Social Security database to verify that the information matches. This will also help in identifying those guilty of Identity Theft. Note: Medical care will not be denied to anyone based on citizenship status. But that person identified as being an illegal alien will be arrested and processed after treatment. Hospitals do have jail wards so no person will ever go untreated.
The INS and ICE will be performing unannounced periodic sweeps of businesses, housing complexes, hospitals, doctors offices, welfare agencies, etc. to identify additional illegals via portable thumb scanners.
All law enforcement agencies will also be performing these same scans wheneaver a stop is made at the discretion of the officer making the stop. Chances are they won't be scanning a 70 year old black woman or white man who speak fluent English but may elect to scan someone who speaks broken English or claims not to speak English at all.
All illegals identified will be arrested and processed per Immigration Statutes.
After the Immigration hearing those that are to be deported will have their posessions seized and sold at auction with the funds to be returned to the state coffers to repay the sate for some of the revenue lost due to the illegal alien unlawfully gaining access to these resources.
At such time as to be determined jointly by the Immigration Department and a third party watchdog group that the immigration problem is under control then some of these steps can be either curtailed or eliminated as needed.

Remember folks that the Constitution only applies to U.S. Citizens and not to those from other countries. The U.S. Statutes apply to all people but not the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights, those are reserved for U.S. Citizens only. This is something that the politicians do not want you to be aware of.

This link might be helpful.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html

Would a Community Organizer Be Qualified for President of the United States

2008-09-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well folks it seems that the politicians want us to believe that being a Community Organizer qualifies you to be President of the United States (POTUS). So let us take a look at what a Community Organizer really does and then look at what the POTUS is expected to do and see for ourselves if what they are telling us is true.

Community organizing is a process by which people living in close proximity to each other, are brought together to act in their common self-interest. Community organizers act as area-wide coordinators of programs for different agencies in an attempt to meet community needs for various services. Community organizers work actively, as do other types of social workers, in community councils of social agencies and in community-action groups. At times the role of community organizers overlaps that of the social planners.[1]

I guess this means that what a Community Organizer is a type of Social Worker at the local level.

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by influence and recognition. The President is at the head of the executive branch of the federal government; his role is to enforce national law as given in the Constitution and written by Congress. Article Two of the Constitution establishes the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and enumerates powers specifically granted to the President, including the power to sign into law or veto bills passed by both houses of Congress. The President also has the power to create a cabinet of advisers and to grant pardons or reprieves. Finally, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, the President is empowered to make treaties and appoint federal officers, ambassadors, and federal judges, including Justices of the Supreme Court. As with officials in the other branches of the United States government, the Constitution restrains the President with a set of checks and balances designed to prevent any individual or group from taking absolute power.
The President is elected indirectly through the United States Electoral College to a four year term, with a limit of two terms imposed by the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1951. Under this system, each state is allocated a number of electoral votes equal to the size of the state's delegation in both houses of Congress combined. The District of Columbia is also granted electoral votes, per the Twenty-third Amendment to the Constitution. Voters in nearly all states choose, through a plurality voting system, a presidential candidate who receives all of that state's electoral votes. A simple majority of electoral votes is needed to become President; if no candidate receives that many votes, the election is thrown to the House of Representatives, which votes by state delegation.
Since the adoption of the Constitution, forty-two individuals have been elected or succeeded into the presidency, serving fifty-five four-year terms altogether. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted as both the 22nd and the 24th president. Because of this, all presidents after the 23rd have their official listing increased by one. Current President George W. Bush, the forty-third President, was inaugurated on January 20, 2001 to a first term and on January 20, 2005 to a second. His second term expires at noon on January 20, 2009, after which he will be succeeded by the president-elect from the 2008 presidential election.
The White House in Washington, D.C. serves as the official place of residence for the President; he is entitled to use its staff and facilities, including medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. One of two Boeing VC-25 aircraft, which are extensively modified versions of Boeing 747-200B airliners, serve as long distance travel for the President, and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board.[1] A salary of $400,000, along with other benefits, is paid to the President annually.[2]
From the middle of the twentieth century, the United States' status as a superpower has led the American President to be dubbed "the most powerful person on earth" and he has become one of the world's most well-known and influential public figures. The official presidential anthem is "Hail to the Chief"; preceded by "ruffles and flourishes", it is primarily played to announce the President at state functions.[3]

Well folks I don't know about you but looking at the duties of the two job descriptions I don't see anything in the Community Organizer that could possibly prepare anyone to hold the office of POTUS. What do you think? Maybe that is the reason we elect so many people to the office of POTUS that have held executive positions like Governors or who have had executive experience like high ranking military officers and business people. Looks to me like someone is trying to con us into believing one thing when just the opposite is true.

It is not my position to tell you how to vote or whom to vote for but I think that a deeper look into the background and accomplishments of Barack Obama is indicated if for no other reason then to see just what else he has done in his life that could have prepared him to be POTUS. It is strange that a guy would write his autobiography and memoirs at age 25 when usually that is something you write at the end of your career, not at the beginning. Unfortunately the Illinois Political System has managed to lose or destroy all records regarding Barack Obama's service in the Illinois State Senate. The only thing that was able to be located was that the housing project he worked on as a community organizer went bankrupt and now the buildings are a part of the Southside slums again.

McCain is much easier to check because he has a history of votes and positions on issues that can be located through the U.S. Senate votes and in the Library of Congress archives.

Obama is also listed there but has never sponsored a bill himself, he has only signed on to bills sponsored by others ... not a good sign for one that claims to be a leader. Also there are no indications that Obama has ever voted against his party on any issue nor has he ever written a bill and crossed party lines to gain bipartisan support for it. On the surface it looks like the only bipartisan things he was in were when Republicans crossed the isle to join him on a bill in committee but it is unclear if he had any influence on their crossing the aisle. The most likely scenario is that the Republicans needed one of their bills passed so they agreed to help the Dems if the Dems in turn did not block the Repub bill. This sort of deal goes on all the time in Congress.

Here is a link that might help you determine some things about all of the candidates.

http://2008election.procon.org/

I hope this helps you out a bit.

Eliminating Illegal Immigration

2008-09-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

We hear a lot of folks fussing with each other over whether we need a fence or not to secure our borders and protect our country and economy from the sucking up of precious resources by the illegals flooding over our borders. Some say that the illegals are necessary in order for some businesses to survive ... however this is pure bunk and those that say this know it. If you want to see just how bad the problem is then go to any welfare office or emergency room and see just who is sitting there. What you will find is that 90% of the folks there are not from this country and most cannot even speak our language. Many Trauma Centers have closed because they cannot meet their own costs because the illegals are sucking up all of the resources and putting nothing back in. Most of you who are in desperate need of food stamps and other resources generally get denied because the illegals have already sucked up all the money available. The problem here is that the Welfare agencies only check the Social Security Number provided them for unemployment benefits and paycheck deductions that companies are required to provide to the IRS. However, most of the companies that employ illegals are simply paying them under the table and in cash so there are no records. The illegals then send the money back to their home countries because the American dollar is worth 10 times what the currency in their home country is worth. We all know these things but I needed to address it in order to set up the urgency of the solution.

If our government and our politicians were really serious about dealing with this issue then a fence would not even be in the conversation other than as a secondary obstacle to those flooding into our country. If you want to really solve a problem then you address it at the root cause and that is the American companies that are hiring these illegals. If there were no jobs here then these people would not be coming here in the first place. Here are the steps that we need to take in order to solve this problem.

Any company caught with illegals in their workforce is immediately shut down and everyone in the company involved in the hiring and training process is arrested and prosecuted by the Federal Government. When the cost of hiring illegals becomes prohibitive the companies doing it will stop, it's still all about money.
The U.S. Department of Immigration should be sweeping companies, apartment complexes, etc. for the presence of illegals. Any homeowner found to be renting to them will have their property seized by the Federal Government and sold at auction just like they do in cases of druglords. Apartment complexes will have the owners and managers as well as the property management company arrested and prosecuted by the Federal Government. Companies hiring them will be closed down as in #1. All illegals caught will have their DNA and fingerprints taken and uploaded into a federal database that can be accessed by any and all law enforcement agencies throughout the country and every person arrested will have their DNA and fingerprints checked against that database and prosecuted as appropriate.
Install radar, seizmic, infrared, thermal, and other technology as it is developed along all of our borders between the United States and foriegn countries. The military has some very effective battlefield sensors they use for urban warfare scenarios.
Equip each sensor with a GPS tracking chip and transmitter capable of sending encrypted data streams. We already have satellites in geosynchronous orbits around the U.S. capable of receiving and transmitting encrypted data streams. These satellites would then retransmit the received data streams to the appropriate receivers on the ground.
Build and maintain basecamps along our borders. The camps would be manned by National Guard (firepower), Local, State, and Federal law enforcement, INS, Border Patrol, etc. as needed to handle any and all jurisdiction issues. The mission of these bases will be to monitor the borders via the data streams sent to them by the orbiting satellites who receive these data streams from sensors on the ground (see #4). This system would turn our borders into an electronic frontier where any and all intrusions into this country can be tracked without having thousands of boots on the ground and putting our Border Patrol Agents at risk. When you make better use of your resources you get better results. The camps would also have the ability to call in helicopters or drones in order to verify the type of intrusion before dispatching the manpower to apprehend and detain the intruders. (This is necessary to determine if the intruders are in fact illegals/coyotes or simply somebody out there riding his ATV or other offroad vehicle. However, this should be determined by the agencies involved and not us).

The sensors I have checked out can be tuned to eliminate anything not human by either size, thermal signature, or body heat so they would not be picking up critters of the area. Also most of these sensors can scan in a 360 degree area out to approximately 2 miles distant and they can be set in such a way that they can overlap coverage areas and comoflaged to look like something other than a sensor. The initial cost of this is VERY expensive but once in place can be maintained by pennies on the dollar. These sensors can also be set to detect chemical, biological, and nuclear/radioactive sources as well.

Well folks this is my solution, if you have a better one then I am all ears.

Political Radicals

2008-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Let's face it folks, every one of our parties has these nutboxes out there making all sorts of allegations about both the government and opposition political parties. The problem we the uninformed masses have is that we have no way of knowing when these loons actually have something important imbedded within their poisonous rhetoric. It is not my intention to either slam nor praise any of them but to give you the casual visitor to their sites and/or talk shows a way of sorting out the excrement from the useful information. Places like Daily KOS, Salon, MoveOn.org generally have little info of use because they are so heavily tied to the funding of George Sauros and his ilk. Talk shows like Air America, Imos, and Michael Savage are generally hosted by folks that are so full of hate for one party or other that you usually cannot depend on anything they say to be based in fact. Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, etc. are more content oriented and actually provide enough information for you to double-check their claims. All have an agenda though so you are cautioned to listen to them with a grain of salt and be sure to check their data sources to get the full story before accepting or rejecting their claims.

You should follow these rules when deciding whether any information you are getting is legitimate, only half true, or completely bogus.

Does the person, site, or other reporting source have something to gain by making these claims?
Are the sources of the information legitimate or from other nutboxes. You can generally determine this by checking to see if the source is a disinterested third party with no axe to grind or other agenda at stake. Legitimate sources are generally places like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for info on hurricane preparedness (Katrina), U.S. Intelligence Reports from the various intelligence agencies within the federal government, official government documents, etc. Reports from the mainstream media are generally not reliable any longer because they all have a stake in the outcome, they have a need to be a part of the news now instead of just reporting it.
Are there other legitimate sources that take an opposing view and if so what evidence do they present to make their case?
Is the evidence being presented for whatever allegation or claim being presented in full form or just out of context (bits and pieces of statements that can be strung together to make it seem like the person/entity is saying one thing when they are actually taking an entirely different position). This is a classic journalist trick to create a story where otherwise there is none.
If it isn't documented then it doesn't exist.
Disregard any statement, claim, or allegation that is not supported by legitimate documented evidence.
Just because something is on a website on the Internet does not make it true or factual.
Check the credentials of the person claiming to be an expert on the issue and supporting the claim. Michael Moore would not be a legitimate expert on the events on 9/11 nor would Al Gore be one for Global Warming because both have an axe to grind and an agenda on these subjects. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Dept. of Homeland Security would be legitimate sources of expert info on the 9/11 issue. The U.S. Meteriological Dept., NASA Reports (not individual statements by single scientists within NASA), U.S. Geological Survey Dept. would be legitimate sources of expert info on global warming. Daily KOS, Salon.com, and MoveOn.org would never be considered legitimate sources of information for most any topic as they have little or no credibility outside of their own kook base.

There you have it, if you follow these simple rules you should be able to sort out the real deal from the wild eyed fanatics when they make their claims.

Global Warming - Fact or SCAM

2008-09-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today we have both politicians and a small number of scientists screaming about this issue and here we are John and Jane Q. Public sitting here with no clue if this stuff is real or the greatest SCAM/HOAX of the 21st Century. So what are we to do? Well, taking a common sense approach might be a good start and then look at a few things that may lead us to an answer. Let us ask ourselves a few basic questions first. Note: I won't give you a difinitive answer here but I will provide you with ammunition to conduct your own research and make your own decision on this.

Do those that are screaming the loudest have something to gain?

Well, recently Al Gore has purchased a 9% share of a company that wants the Federal Government to sponsor something called a Carbon Credit Card. If the government approves this bill which he as a sitting Senator is going to vote on and is a sponsor of stands to gain hundreds of millions of dollars on it in Royalties and dividends.
How many, that is what portion of the legitimate scientific community are also on board with this theory?

Conservative estimates are that approximately 60% or higher of the legitimate scientific community has seen no conclusive evidence to support the theory of Global Warming or Global Cooling.
Do the politicians that support this have something to gain politically by supporting it? IE Political donations, etc.
Have the politicians that support this theory actually researched it or do they simply support it for political expediency?
Currently man with all of his technology is unable to travel to other planets, nor is he able to explore his own oceans or areas beneath his own planet. He is unable to predict Earthquakes, control tornadoes, or alter the course of a Hurricane. So, how is he able to change the temperature of an entire planet?
If man is truly altering the temperature of the planet then why have the Polar Icecaps and ice flows gotten bigger, colder, and deeper over the last several years?
Why are the people that are sounding the alarm generally meteorologists instead of geologists? Geologists after all are the ones that have studied this planet and it's growth over the past 4+ billion years. Seems logical that they would be the ones that would actually know about temperature changes this planet has gone through.
What is a greenhouse gas and is it even possible to generate one outside of a controlled environment? After all a greenhouse is a closed area where the climate can be manually controlled. The last time I checked this planet was a wide open area and the only thing close to a greenhouse effect might be a thermal inversion we would experience in a higly industrialized area like Los Angeles or Detroit.
What entity or heavenly body is the only thing that can actually affect the temperature of this planet?

Well, the last time I looked that was the Sun and we have ZERO control over that thing.
And last but not least exactly how long have these guys been screaming about global warming and how many of their predictions have actually come true?

The first answer is easy, they have been shouting alarms for over 30 years. First it was a new Ice Age was coming, then when that didn't happen they shifted to Global Warming. Supposedly the Ice Caps were supposed to have melted by the year 2000 and the oceans would raise by some 30 feet which would have turned New Orleans into an underwater graveyard. Neither have happened nor does it seem likely that they will happen anytime soon.

If you really want to know about global warming or the temperature changes that this planet has gone through take a trip to your local community college or university and have a talk with a Geology Professor.

Ideological Civil War

2008-09-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today we are a country filled with hatred for our fellow citizens. Not because they are from a different race, gender, or even because their skin is a different color or they have chosen a different lifestyle. We hate them because of their political affiliation. Just look at what the American News Media, the Democratic Party and the blogs are putting up about Sarah Palin whom they don't even know. Check out what our own Congress did while we are in the midst of an energy crisis .... they went on vacation so they wouldn't have to vote on an issue before the election! Listen to the hatred being spewed by those in our own Congress which has in turn spawned a hatred among our own people for those on the other side of the political spectrum. Listen to your own words and see if you aren't being drawn into the GOTCHA POLITICS of today. It is no longer about what is good for the country or even about making sure our representatives are representing us as a people to the best of their ability. Virtually every vote in Congress is along party lines which means that the Democrats only vote favorably for Democratic sponsored bills and Republicans only vote favorably for Republican sponsored bills. The only people that can stop this is you and me for we are the ones that can vote these folks out of office and vote new Citizen Statesmen into office. It should be painfully obvious to all of us by now that the people in office now are woefully corrupted by their own hate and no longer have the best interest of the country at heart. Now it is Party First and Country only when it is election time.

At least John McCain and Sarah Palin have stumbled on the problem and have done a reasonable job of outlining what needs to be done to fix it. However, by themselves they will not be able to do much more than stave off disaster. We as a people also need to send a message to those in Washington that unless the hate stops they will no longer be in power to spread that hate and subvert the great country that is the United States of America. But before we can do that we will have to address our own personal hatred of the opposition and begin to look at the proposals and see them for what they are. If a proposal is good it will be able to stand on it's own merits. If it calls for massive government expansion then we MUST require the proponents of this measure to explain how they intend to pay for it without giving us a trip through Fantasyland.

Remember that when a politician says that he is going to only tax the rich then you can expect the cost of the stuff you need to survive will go up. After all isn't the company you work for part of the rich and don't the products they sell generate your salary? If their taxes go up then what happens to the price of the products we buy everyday? Companies will always pass the higher taxes they receive on to the consumer ... that's you and me.