Sunday, September 29, 2013

Who Broke Party Line in the Budget Votes Last Night?

Last night, the House took several budget-related votes, putting us on the path toward a government shutdown.

The first vote was to amend the Senate continuing resolution, or CR, with the repeal of the medical device tax.

That passed by a vote of 248 to 174.

17 Democrats defected from the party line:

Ron Barber (AZ-02)
John Barrow (GA-12)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Bill Enyart (IL-12)
Dan Maffei (NY-24)
Sean Maloney (NY-18)
Jim Matheson (UT-04)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Jerry McNerney (CA-09)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Bill Owens (NY-21)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Brad Schneider (IL-10)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)

In the next vote, the House voted to amend the Senate's CR with a one-year delay in implementation of provisions of the Affordable Care Act like the health care marketplaces and the individual mandate.

That passed by a vote of 231 to 192.

Two Republicans defected from party line: Chris Gibson (NY-19) and Richard Hanna (NY-22).

Two Democrats defected from party line: Jim Matheson (UT-04) and Mike McIntyre (NC-07).

Keep in mind that both Matheson and McIntyre are on the DCCC's Front Line, so the $$$s they collect by fundraising off this vote will go to the two Democrats who voted with GOP to shut down the government.

Many members of the DCCC Front Line, all of whom face tight races, voted against both of these measures. John Tierney (MA-06) and Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) come to mind as examples of some of the better names on the Front Line. So those who voted for them have no excuses.

And honestly, the Democratic Party would be better off by cutting funds from party deadwood and making actual efforts to win blue seats held by Republicans like those of Pete King and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. However, Steve Israel's friendship with King and DWS's friendship with Ileana are perpetual roadblocks.

In addition, the House also unanimously voted to continue appropriations for military pay in the event of a government shutdown.

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