The House of Representatives voted on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, (the Waxman-Markey bill, or H.R. 2454), commonly known as the Cap and Trade Bill.
The bill passed with a vote of 219, to 212.
The bill is now in the Senate. It will not become law unless a Senate majority votes in favor of the bill.
The House vote tally was as follows:
Democrats: 211 for, 44 against, and 1 non vote
Republicans: 8 for, 168 against, and 2 non votes
Obviously, this bill would not have passed without the eight Republican yes votes.
Politics, is politics; it doesn’t bother me that there are cross-over votes. We would all be in deeper-dung if all votes were decided on a strict party-line.
I don’t know the reasons for their vote; I hope they were thought-full, and reasoned. Maybe by knowing their reasoning, a similar outcome can be avoided in the Senate vote. The list of websites, below, may be helpful in mining some information. (From what I can tell, most of the justifications for voting for the bill seem to embrace the energy independence provisions of the bill.)
The fact that 44 (17%) Democrats voted against the bill, for whatever reason, is impressive; I hope the same stats hold true for the Senate.
As a side note, by most accounts, it appears that most legislators did not read the entire Bill, especially a 300 page amendment that was tacked-on at 3AM on the date of the vote.
Shame on any lawmaker who voted for this bill without having first read it, in total, including the 300 page amendment. If you, with your staff, can’t study, and digest this bill, or any bill, then you simply cannot vote in favor; you certainly have the option of abstaining, or not being present for the vote.
If you were negotiating a contract, and were ready to agree to the terms, would you still sign it if, at the last moment, it were modified ? It would make no sense.
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The list below is the online contact information for the Republicans who voted
in favor of the Cap and Trade bill.
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Mary Bono Mack, CA, http://bono.house.gov
Mike Castle, DE, http://castle.house.gov
Mark Kirk, IL, http://www.house.gov/kirk
John McHugh, NY, http://mchugh.house.gov
Leonard Lance, NJ, http://lance.house.gov
Dave Reichert, WA, http://reichert.house.gov
Chris Smith, NJ, http://chrissmith.house.gov
Frank LoBiondo, NJ, http://www.house.gov/lobiondo
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Click here for additional contact information for the Big 8.
Click here to read the official tally of the vote.
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And that is just my opinion !
0020C
