What do you think.

I recently found this list of congressional votes.
I'm not sure how accurate it really is. I checked a few and they were correct but I haven't checked them all.
Sorry I'm not including who cast each vote.

What does everyone think of these votes?
Any surprises?
Are any of these votes the opposite of what you were told?

Which of them do you agree with and which of them are you looking at thinking, " why would my party vote that way? "

House Vote for Net Neutrality
For Against
Rep 2 234
Dem 177 6

Senate Vote for Net Neutrality
For Against
Rep 0 46
Dem 52 0

Money in Elections and Voting

Campaign Finance Disclosure Requirements
For Against
Rep 0 39
Dem 59 0

DISCLOSE Act
For Against
Rep 0 45
Dem 53 0

Backup Paper Ballots - Voting Record
For Against
Rep 20 170
Dem 228 0

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
For Against
Rep 8 38
Dem 51 3

Sets reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by electoral candidates to influence elections (Reverse Citizens United)
For Against
Rep 0 42
Dem 54 0

The Economy/Jobs

Limits Interest Rates for Certain Federal Student Loans
For Against
Rep 0 46
Dem 46 6

Student Loan Affordability Act
For Against
Rep 0 51
Dem 45 1

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Funding Amendment
For Against
Rep 1 41
Dem 54 0

End the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
For Against
Rep 39 1
Dem 1 54

Kill Credit Default Swap Regulations
For Against
Rep 38 2
Dem 18 36

Revokes tax credits for businesses that move jobs overseas
For Against
Rep 10 32
Dem 53 1

Disapproval of President's Authority to Raise the Debt Limit
For Against
Rep 233 1
Dem 6 175

Disapproval of President's Authority to Raise the Debt Limit
For Against
Rep 42 1
Dem 2 51

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
For Against
Rep 3 173
Dem 247 4

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
For Against
Rep 4 36
Dem 57 0

Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Bureau Act
For Against
Rep 4 39
Dem 55 2

American Jobs Act of 2011 - $50 billion for infrastructure projects
For Against
Rep 0 48
Dem 50 2

Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension
For Against
Rep 1 44
Dem 54 1

Reduces Funding for Food Stamps
For Against
Rep 33 13
Dem 0 52

Minimum Wage Fairness Act
For Against
Rep 1 41
Dem 53 1

Paycheck Fairness Act
For Against
Rep 0 40
Dem 58 1

War on Terror

Time Between Troop Deployments
For Against
Rep 6 43
Dem 50 1

Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United States
For Against
Rep 5 42
Dem 50 0

Habeas Review Amendment
For Against
Rep 3 50
Dem 45 1

Prohibits Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Trial
For Against
Rep 5 42
Dem 39 12

Authorizes Further Detention After Trial During Wartime
For Against
Rep 38 2
Dem 9 49

Prohibits Prosecution of Enemy Combatants in Civilian Courts
For Against
Rep 46 2
Dem 1 49

Repeal Indefinite Military Detention
For Against
Rep 15 214
Dem 176 16

Oversight of CIA Interrogation and Detention Amendment
For Against
Rep 1 52
Dem 45 1

Patriot Act Re-authorization
For Against
Rep 196 31
Dem 54 122

FISA Act Re-authorization of 2008
For Against
Rep 188 1
Dem 105 128

FISA Re-authorization of 2012
For Against
Rep 227 7
Dem 74 111

House Vote to Close the Guantanamo Prison
For Against
Rep 2 228
Dem 172 21

Senate Vote to Close the Guantanamo Prison
For Against
Rep 3 32
Dem 52 3

Prohibits the Use of Funds for the Transfer or Release of Individuals Detained at Guantanamo
For Against
Rep 44 0
Dem 9 41

Oversight of CIA Interrogation and Detention
For Against
Rep 1 52
Dem 45 1

Civil Rights Same Sex Marriage Resolution 2006
For Against
Rep 6 47
Dem 42 2

Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013
For Against
Rep 1 41
Dem 54 0

Exempts Religiously Affiliated Employers from the Prohibition on Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
For Against
Rep 41 3
Dem 2 52

Family Planning

Teen Pregnancy Education Amendment
For Against
Rep 4 50
Dem 44 1

Family Planning and Teen Pregnancy Prevention
For Against
Rep 3 51
Dem 44 1

Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act The 'anti-Hobby Lobby' bill.
For Against
Rep 3 42
Dem 53 1

Environment

Stop "the War on Coal" Act of 2012
For Against
Rep 214 13
Dem 19 162

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013
For Against
Rep 225 1
Dem 4 190

Prohibit the Social Cost of Carbon in Agency Determinations
For Against
Rep 218 2
Dem 4 186

Misc

Prohibit the Use of Funds to Carry Out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
For Against
Rep 45 0
Dem 0 52

Prohibiting Federal Funding of National Public Radio
For Against
Rep 228 7
Dem 0 185

Allow employers to penalize employees that don't submit genetic testing for health insurance (Committee vote)
For Against
Rep 22 0
Dem 0 17

The ones to notice...

Votes where there is a tendency for one side to seem to support a specific outcome, but loses because a few chose to go the other way.

Those are deals...

Both sides need these because they get to play symbolic politics that goes with their voters' views.
They can then comfortably pretend that they tried but lost.

The same thing happens in multiple party systems.
If there is a certainty that a vote will go in a certain direction, the other parties are free without consequence to vote like their voters expect.
Happens a lot in Denmark.

In fact, the social democrates who was originally a workers party 100 years ago is today involved in a lot of deals that go in a more right wing direction.

But... pay attention to the small weird wins.


Civil Rights Same Sex Marriage Resolution 2006
For Against

Loses by 1... because of two dems? How convinient.

And this... haha, wth

Prohibits Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Trial
For Against
Rep 5 42
Dem 39 12

Democrats playing up to their ridiculous new base - the Progressive Liberals .
Using words in the bills that easily fools their base .
Net Neutrality is not what folks think it is. (the "Neutrality" fools folks.)
That goes for most of the rest of those bills as well .

You asked what I think , and now you know.
And knowing is half the battle .

originally posted by: Gothmog
Democrats playing up to their ridiculous new base - the Progressive Liberals .
Using words in the bills that easily fools their base .
Net Neutrality is not what folks think it is. (the "Neutrality" fools folks.)
That goes for most of the rest of those bills as well .

You asked what I think , and now you know.
And knowing is half the battle .

What do you think net neutrality means?

This is not a smart ass quiz. I'm genuinely curious.

I've personally forgotten the correct meaning...

a reply to: scraedtosleep
These vote tallies are often misleading.
Let's say that someone floats a bill that is supposed to be about increasing funds for the VA hospitals... and when you read the actual bill, there is an amendment that says we will pay reparations of $400,000 to every black person in America.
If a person votes against the bill because they don't want to bust the budget with the reparations, someone will come out later and say that the person voted against funding the VA.

a reply to: scraedtosleep

Looks like politics are still just as partisan as they were before Mr. Unity took over. I wish a bill would be created to start taking measures to combat the violence in crime filled cities.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: scraedtosleep
These vote tallies are often misleading.
Let's say that someone floats a bill that is supposed to be about increasing funds for the VA hospitals... and when you read the actual bill, there is an amendment that says we will pay reparations of $400,000 to every black person in America.
If a person votes against the bill because they don't want to bust the budget with the reparations, someone will come out later and say that the person voted against funding the VA.

Nailed it. The Teachers Union wanted a 40% property tax increase in this Parish to give each teacher a $7,000.00 raise. 75% of us said no to the tax increase, the teachers said we said no because we don't appreciate them.

Exactly as others have said.

Look at the recent so-called COVID relief. Almost all of the money in it has little to nothing to do with COVID or relief from COVID.

A lot of times, they give these bills politically attractive sounding names and a provision that they can campaign on, but most of the meat will be things that have nothing to do with the actual name or provision itself. Instead, it will be partisan wish-list for the agenda of the party in power and have nothing to do with the bill's stated intent.

Democrats are masters of it, but only because they have the press mainly on their side. They'd be a lot less successful if the press were as nonpartisan as they claimed because they'd fisk every bill or straight up ignore it or give lots of air time to those Congresscritters against it like they do when Republicans do it. As it is, we often get few a steady diet of "THINK OF THE CHILDREN! HOW CAN THOSE MONSTERS VOTE AGAINST IT!" in the press.

Do you remember the original Stimulus full of "shovel ready" jobs? That's how it was sold to everyone back at the beginning of Obama's first term, and then we found out it was a lot like this latest COVID bill - mostly pay-offs to democrat cronies without any real jobs provisions in it.

a reply to: scraedtosleepthat the Republicans are the right wing; the Democrats are the left wing of the same bird with the same head operating both wings.