Vote Notes on Legislation
H.R. 1314 – Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015: NO. M. Stanton Evans once observed that there are two parties in our country: the evil party and the stupid party, and when they adopt a bipartisan measure it is usually something evil and stupid.
7/29/15 H.R. 3236 – Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act: NO This bill pays for three months of highway and transit spending with savings promised ten years from now – and according to the CBO, still adds at least $1.2 billion to the nation’s debt.
7/23/15 H.R. 1599 – Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015: YES. This bill creates a uniform system across the U.S. to govern the labeling of so-called “genetically modified” foods. Mankind has genetically modified crops and livestock since the dawn of recorded history (it’s called cross-breeding, and it gives us seedless grapes and sweeter corn).
7/15/15 HR 3038 – Highway and Transportation Funding Act: NO. This bill is a five month extension of highway and transit spending, paid for over the next TEN YEARS. This is the J.
H.R. 2576 – The TSCA Modernization Act: NO. This is a well-intentioned bill that accomplishes the opposite of what it is designed to do. Its purpose is to expedite and standardize the evaluation of toxic chemicals.
H.R. 805 - Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act of 2015: NO.
HR 2577 - Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriation: No. Although this appropriation fits within the overall architecture of the budget, it is so stuffed with wasteful spending that I cannot vote for it.
HR 1806 – America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015: No. This is a $33 billion authorization for the next two years (paid out over the next four) for a grab-bag of grants administered mainly by the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. If you are an average family, that accounts for about $262 of your taxes.
5/14/15 - H.R. 1191 – Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act: NO. The Congress is correct to distrust the President in his negotiations with Iran, but this measure misses the point.
3/26/2015 - HR 2 – Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act: NO. In 1997, Congress passed legislation to control Medicare spending by establishing a “Sustainable Growth Rate” (SGR) that limits the annual increase for physician reimbursements, but Congress never had the stomach to actually implement it.