Tag: House Republicans

I often wonder what value I provide the world by giving it  lists of  vulnerable Republicans. This is my best an attempt at answer. The Stem Cell Research Bill was Thirty Seven votes short of being veto-proof in the house. There are actually 37  Republicans who voted against it  .  So if Stem Cell Research is your big issue , these are I believe the  members  you want to hit the most for it.  I might be wrong or right. It is merely my best guess.  The point is this is how you move issues, as well just partisanship.[I am a partisan so if you want to beat the 16 Democratic opponents of Stem Cell ask someone else. ]  It is useful to know when someone votes against their district if you are trying to mount an issue campaign against them.  So without further ado, the Republicans who voted against their district on Stem Cell Research.

Bachmann
Bilirakis
Buchanan
Camp
Chabot
L Diaz-Balart
M. Diaz-Balart
Drake
English
Feeney
Ferguson
Gallegly
Garrett
Hayes
Keller
King [NY]
Kline
Knollenberg
Kuhl
Lahood
Latham
LoBiondo
McCotter
McHugh
Tim Murphy
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ryan
Saxton
Smith[NJ]
Tiberi
Walberg
Walsh
Weller
Wolf

So the Minimum Wage increase got 82 Republican House votes, which on face is encouraging but in my mind it begs an important question. Why did it take nine years and Democratic Control of the House to actually get a Minimum Wage increase passed?

Excluding the two Freshman. 80 Republican Members of Congress voted for the Minimum Wage Increase. Now clearly on  some issues small minorities within a party often don’t break with their parties leadership on issues because of the danger . But this was by no means a small minority.  80 Republicans represented more than a third of the entire Caucus at the time.  This group could have easily forced the House Leadership to pass a Minimum wage increase that the Senate could have passed without linking  it to the Estate tax. I know there are many not in these parts but some in the party who would  think that now we are in the Majority we should be less aggressive in defeating Republicans who could be useful to us, better to focus on defending the seats we have.  Just remember that it is these 80 Republicans who kept the poorest workers in this country from getting a raise, not because they don’t believe in the Minimum Wage but because they didn’t have the courage to stand up to Tom Delay and Company.  It will take a lot more acts of actual political courage for me to believe any of these Members of Congress has truly changed.  So to the Shays’, Wilsons’ and Gelachs’ of the world, speaking for no one but myself, I am still coming to send you into the private sector.

The “80”  Should haves.
Aderholt
Alexander
Bachus
Biggert
Bonner
Bono
Bozeman
Brown Waite
Capito
Castle
Crenshaw
Davis  KY
Jo Ann Davis
L Diaz-Balart
M Diaz-Balart
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English
Everett
Ferguson
Forbes
Fossella
Frelinghuysen
Gerlach
Gilchrest
Gillmor
  Goode
Goodlatte
Hayes
Hulshof
Jindal
Johnson IL
Jones  NC
Keller
King NY
Kirk
Kuhl
LaHood
Latham
LaTourette
LoBiondo
Marchant
McCotter
McHugh
Miller MI
Moran KS
Tim Murphy
Peterson PA
Petri
Platts
Poe
Pryce OH
Ramstad
Regula
Reichert
Renzi
Rogers AL
Rogers KY
Ros-Lehtinen
Saxton
Schmidt
Shays
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith NJ
Smith TX
Stearns
Turner 
Upton
Walden OR
Walsh NY
Wamp
Weller
Whitfield
Wilson
Wolf
Young AK
Young FL