You asked for it! The big-spender scorecard

Find out right now which 'bums' supported bailouts, cap and trade, health 'reform'

Posted: March 04, 2010
11:25 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Tea partiers now have a new, simple guide for when they have questions about how their lawmakers voted on controversial measures such as the TARP bill, auto bailout, cap and trade, food regulations and health-care reform bill.

A new congressional scorecard http://www.wnd.com/files/HouseVoteScoreCard.html details votes by House members on key measures, many of which have been cited by the tea-party movement as evidence of growing federal government control and excessive spending.

The scorecard, created by Army Reserve veteran Dave Kittley using information from Govtrack.us, also features a red label next to each member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, or CPC, the largest caucus within the Democratic caucus in Congress.

CPC was set up in 1991 by then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, in conjunction with Democratic Socialists of America and the far left Institute for Policy Studies. Its statement of purpose reads:

"The Progressive Caucus is organized around the principles of social and economic justice, a non-discriminatory society and national priorities which represent the interests of all people, not just the wealthy and the powerful.
Our purpose is to present thoughtful, practical solutions to the economic and social problems facing America. Our people-based agenda extends from job creation to job training, to economic conversion, to single payer healthcare reform, to adequate funding for the AIDS crisis, to environmental reform, and to women's rights. …"
Want to understand the tea-party movement and see what its adherents really believe? Check out their signs!

The CPC promotes a strong "progressive agenda," what it calls "The Progressive Promise – Fairness for All."

It advocates a strong public option in health-care reform, fair-trade agreements, abolishing provisions of the Patriot Act, guaranteeing Social Security benefits, minimum-wage increases, extending the Voting Rights Act, elimination of "all forms of discrimination" based on sexual orientation, complete pullout from the war in Iraq, reaffirming the nation's engagement in the United Nations, debt relief for poor countries, eliminating "environmental threat posed by global warming" and implementing strict campaign finance reform laws.

In 2009, the CPC proposed a 22 percent reduction in the Department of Defense budget, mostly by slashing funding for weapons systems it considers to be relics of the Cold War.

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Kittley's scorecard lists lawmakers' votes on the following bills:

Bailout bill, "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," or HR 1424: The bailout bull established the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions. The law was enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis and allowed the Treasury to spend $700 billion to buy trouble assets, especially mortgage-backed securities. The 500-plus page bill was loaded with fiscal additives, including more than $112 billion in pork-barrel projects. President Bush signed the bill into law in October 2008. The $700 billion bailout's estimated cost for every working American is $4,635, according to the Associated Press.

Kittley said he included the TARP bill on his scorecard because he felt it "revealed the true agenda of the globalist left."

"Some well-meaning congressmen on both sides of the political aisle were deceived by this bill, and it was before 'Obozo' had control," he said. "It was a crisis poorly managed."

He said many Republicans began recognizing the trap when the auto bailout came into play.




Auto bailout, "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act," or HR 7321: General Motors and Chrysler turned to Washington for emergency assistance in 2008, threatening bankruptcy and massive layoffs if they should fail. President George W. Bush signed an agreement securing $17.4 billion in loans for the two companies on Dec. 19, 2008. President Obama rejected General Motors and Chrysler's plans for reorganization and forced out G.M. Chairman Rick Wagoner.

General Motors and Chrysler both filed for bankruptcy after receiving billions in federal aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program originally set up to fix the nation's banking system. The Treasury Department poured $19.4 billion into GM and $4 billion into Chrysler Corp. before their bankruptcy filings and agreed to give another $30 billion to GM and $8 billion to Chrysler in loans to fund operations during the bankruptcy. The Government Accountability Office later concluded that taxpayers are unlikely to recover their full investment in General Motors and Chrysler. The federal government has a 61 percent stake in GM and 10 percent stake in Chrysler.

Cap and trade, "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009," or HR 2454: Legislation intended to address alleged manmade global warming and change the way the nation uses energy. It creates a cap-and-trade system that calls for strict limits on CO2 emissions and trading of carbon credits. The bill's critics equate it with a costly national energy tax that will push American jobs overseas, damage America's global economic competitiveness, increase consumer costs, lead to more regulation on small businesses and create more bureaucracy.

A Washington Post editorial explained that the bill "contains regulations on everything from light bulb standards to the specs on hot tubs, and it will reshape America's economy in dozens of ways that many don't realize." The bill passed the House on June 26, 2009, and has been received in the Senate.

Kittley explained, "Cap and trade was a clearly treasonous bill that was built on a known false premise of global warming. Environmentalism is the left's adopted method of selling its lie. Such 'watermelon environmentalism' is green on the outside but commie red to the core. All congressmen who voted for this must be removed. It is necessary for the survival of the nation."




"Food Safety Enhancement Act," or HR 2749: Amends the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to implement increased federal jurisdiction over the production of food. Food facilities would be required to pay annual fee for registration. Additionally, it requires operators of food facilities to create food safety plans and conduct hazard analyses, implement preventative controls and maintain records of monitoring. If food is not manufactured, processed, packed, transported or held under conditions that don't meet federal standards, food is considered adulterated. The act establishes food tracing and laboratory testing requirements. It also implements a national public education program on food safety. Movement of food within a state may be prohibited or restricted. This act passed the House on July 29, 2009, and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Kittley calls the act a federal food takeover aimed at controlling the nation's food supply.

"This bill, along with the plant variety protection legislation, is a very real threat to the food supply system of the nation," he said. "This is a stealth bill that has very real consequences should the Senate approve it."

Health "reform" bill, "Affordable Health Care for America Act," or HR 3962: The House plan includes an individual health-care mandate. If Americans don't get insurance, they may face a tax penalty (2.5 percent of income). Private insurance companies would be forced to operate under a national or state "exchange," setting minimum standards of health coverage. The House plan calls for subsidies to be provided to low and moderate-income families. Millions of people would be added to Medicaid.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that the House plan seeks to cover everyone under age 65 with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $33,075 per year for a family of four. The House plan allows illegal aliens to buy coverage under the exchange.

The bill passed the House on Nov. 7, 2009, and has been received in the Senate. The Senate passed its health-care bill on Dec. 24, but key differences must be resolved with the House before a final measure can be signed by Obama.

Kittley said he included health-care "reform" on his scorecard because "the Pelosi death-care bill is another obvious federal government power grab. The Democrats are bent on the destruction of the U.S. as we know it."

He noted that tea partiers may choose to use the chart to determine who has best represented them on these key issues and who should be voted out of office.

"This scorecard http://www.wnd.com/files/HouseVoteScoreCard.html is a good tool to help the tea-party movement identify who must go," he said. "I'm convinced that the ultimate solution is to downsize D.C. That's what has to happen."

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