9/11 Commission Bill Passed

Playing a little catch up here now, we also want to discuss the 9/11 Commission vote. This is the bill that would enforce all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. These recommendations are meant to keep our country safe in the future. But despite that, over the last several years, Republicans have refused to put the recommendations before a vote of Congress anyways. Now with Democrats in control, finally the recommendations of the bipartisan commission were put before a vote.

Not surprisingly it passed on a vote of 299 – 128, with not just 231 Democrats voting Yes, but also with the support of 68 Republicans.

Despite the Yes vote on the bill, some Republicans still voted No against the recommendations of the bipartisan commission. These Republicans voted with an extreme partisan view. Here are the Florida Republicans who voted No against securing the country:

Miller (1st), Crenshaw (4th), Stearns (6th), Mica (7th), Young (10th), Putnam (12th), Weldon (15th), Feeney (24th) 

Of note here is Dave Weldon, who seems determined to vote down almsot every bipartisan bill of the 100 Hours agenda.

 Again, here was his last election:

Dave Weldon: 56%     Bob Bowman: 44%

We need to keep on him and put up a funded challenge in 2008. His votes have been out of the mainstream and voters in the 15th District are not going to like that.

College Student Relief Act Passes

The bipartisan bill to reduce interest rates on student loans by half passed on a vote of 356 – 71. All 71 No votes were Republicans, whereas 124 Republicans joined with 232 Democrats to pass the legislation. Four of the 71 No votes were from Florida Republicans, making them champions of the extreme far-right wing of the party.

Mica (7th), Putnam (12th), Mack (14th), Feeney (24th)

Medicare Prescription Negotiation Bill Passed: Fourteen Florida Republicans Vote No

As we continue our coverage of the Florida Republicans who are voting against the 100 Hours Plan, we will now take a look at the vote on the recently passed Medicare Prescription Negotiation Act, which will allow the government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs with corporations and thus lower the prices for people.

The US House passed the bill 255 – 170, with many Republican votes included. However, once again the Florida Republicans voted against the interests of people and seniors, in particular. The Florida delegation voted 14 – 11 against helping to lower the price of prescripton drugs. They voted against the bipartisan bill and instead voted in the favor of corporations and the elite.

Crenshaw (4th), Brown-Waite (5th), Stearns (6th), Mica (7th), Keller (8th), Bilirakis (9th), Young (10th), Putnam (12th), Mack (14th), Weldon (15th), Ros-Lehtinen (18th), Diaz-Balart L. (21st), Feeney (24th), Diaz-Balart M. (25th)

Let’s take a look again at some of these representatives. Brown-Waite represents many seniors and she voted against their interests right here in this vote. She sold out to pharmaceutical companies and did not serve the desire of her constituents. Keller and Weldon again have voted against a bipartisan bill to help the middle class in America. These two Congressmen won narrow reelections in 2006 and votes like this will not impress in 2008. Bilirakis registered a vote for helping the corporate and elite in our country and against the middle class and seniors of his district.

These are the representatives of our state. I am sure many people in these districts do not know that their representatives are voting against their wishes right now. But the representatives should keep in mind that there will be elections again in 2008 and if they continue to vote in favor of corporations and the powerful and against the middle class, voters will not be happy. If they continue to vote a long the lines of the far right-wing of their party and against bipartisan bills, they are going face more tough elections.

Stem Cell Research Bill Passed: Thirteen Florida Republicans Vote No

We will continue to follow the Florida US House delegation and focus on which Republicans are voting against progress in our country and against helping the people of Florida.

Next Up Here: Stem Cell Research

On Stem Cell Research, the House vote was 253 – 174 for Stem Cell research. However, this did not stop the Florida delegation from voting 13 – 12 against Stem Cell research. Thirteen Republicans voted against Stem Cell Research, while only three sided with Democrats on an issue the majority of Americans and in many of these districts, Floridians support.

Here are the members, followed by district, who voted against progress in science, who voted against the wishes of the people.

Miller (1st), Crenshaw (4th), Stearns (6th), Mica (7th), Keller (8th), Bilirakis (9th), Putnam (12th), Buchanan (13th), Weldon (15th), Ros-Lehtinen (18th), Diaz-Balart L. (21st), Feeney (24th), Diaz-Balart M. (25th)

Particularly of note here are Ric Keller, Michael Bilirakis, Vernon Buchanan, and Dave Weldon. They all just squeaked through elections in 2006 and voters in these districts will certainly not be pleased that their Congressmen voted against progress on medical research, on an issue that many other Republicans around the country sided with the Democrats in voting Aye. But not these Republicans. Vernon Buchanan, who has just won (Stolen) a contested election, voted against moving forward on Stem Cell Research. Dave Weldon again has gone a long with the far-right wing of his party. Ric Keller has voted against the interests of the people of central Florida and he is certainly going to have a big 2008 challenge, so he might want to think about it when he votes against the wishes of his constituents again.

Here are their 2006 unimpressive results:

8th District    Keller: 53%   Stuart: 46%

9th District    Bilirakis: 56%   Busansky: 44%

13th District    Buchanan: 50%   Jennings: 50%

15th District   Weldon: 56%   Bowman: 44%

These Republicans should be thinking about their not-so-impressive elections, three of them who were incumbents, in 2006, when they vote against Stem Cell Research, a bipartisan issue that many other Republicans voted for. Luckily for them they will probably have another chance, after George Bush vetoes the bill, to vote again. They will have the choice to either side with the President against progress and the wishes of the people or they can vote Aye.

Minimum Wage Bill Passed: Six Florida Republicans Vote No

Today, the US House passed legislation to raise the minimum wage on a 315-116 vote, as 80 Republicans joined with 100% of the Democrats to pass the bill to help workers in America. In fact, 10 out of 16 Florida Republicans voted Yes, only six of them did not.

Six Florida Republicans appealed to the far-right wing of the party on this vote and made their vote against progress for American workers, against steps to end the class-divide in America. They voted in favor of special business interests, while they cut and ran from workers.

Jeff Miller (R) District 1, John Mica (R) District 7, Adam Putnam (R) District 12, Connie Mack (R) District 14, Dave Weldon (R) District 15, and Tom Feeney (R) District 24

All of these Republicans voted No on doing what Florida voters have already passed in a statewide referendum, raising the minimum wage.

Dave Weldon, who just had a not-so-impressive election victory against an underfunded opponent was one of the Republicans who voted No. Here were the results of his last election.

District 15:     Weldon 56%     Bowman 44%

The reason: Dave Weldon does not vote the way his constituents expect him to. More and more voters in district 15 are catching on and if Dave Weldon continues to cut and run from the people of his district and on progress for the country, people will not respond positively to that.

 Today the US Congress took a step to move forward again in our country and to help out workers. Many workers will now benefit with a decent standard of living. At the same time, six Republicans in Florida voted for the corporate and powerful and against workers.

Turning Florida Blue

Over the next two years, we will be working to Turn Florida Blue. Together we can turn the Florida House, the Florida Senate, and our US Congress representation Democratic. In 2006, Democrats picked up two US House seats and seats in the Florida House and Senate, as well as the CFO position with Alex Sink. In 2008 we want to continue that trend and do even better. To do that, we must build a state-wide movement to Turn Florida Blue.

This is where we stand now:

• The Florida House has 78 Republicans and 41 Democrats.
• The Florida Senate has 26 Republicans and 14 Democrats.
• Our US House of Representatives Delegation – 16 Republicans and 9 Democrats

We all know this representation does not accurately reflect Florida. We must work to change that. Together we can put Democrats in office and take back the House and Senate and send more Democrats to Washington. This will take effort but in the end we all know it will be well worth it to have Democrats representing us.

We must take several actions to build this campaign.

1. First we must find Democrats to challenge every single Republican in the US House and in our Florida delegations.

2. Next we must choose which districts we should target and build a strategy to take those seats.

3. Finally, we will carry out that strategy.

Personally I already have an opinion of some districts in the US House we should target. Districts 08 and 13 (Stolen this time) stick out right away. But with work, we could also win Districts 15, 21, and 25, as well as many others. We must find the right candidates and build grassroots campaigns that will win on election night.

If you would like to be a blogger here, please email me at pointblankpolitics@yahoo.com

We will need many contributors to help make this work!

Thanks,

Shane