Voting Update

Here's a rundown of Rep. Carter's recent votes in the House:

• HR 1256 - Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - This is the bill providing the FDA with the authority to regulate the tobacco industry. The FDA regulates all kinds of food and drugs that are much less toxic and harmful than tobacco, but the tobacco lobby has managed to hold off regulation of their product until now. The bill passed the House with a vote of 307-97 (76%-24%). John Carter voted no.
• HR 1886 - The Peace Act - This bill authorizes democratic, economic, security, and social development assistance for Pakistan, among other things. This is important for fighting terrorism in that region, and the bill passed 234-185 (56%-44%). John Carter voted no.
• H RES 453 - Recognizing the Significant Accomplishments of the Americorps - Normally I wouldn't pay any attention to these sorts of resolutions, because most of the time I think they're basically inconsequential and unimportant. But I wanted to highlight this one because usually these resolutions pass unanimously, or by extremely large margins, and this one is no exception. Americorps has done a lot of great work over the years, and deserves this recognition -- and this resolution passed by a vote of 359-60 (86%-14%). But John Carter voted against it.
• HR 2751 - Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act - This is the bill providing incentives to people to upgrade their vehicles for better fuel efficiency, sometimes called the "cash for clunkers" plan. This is good for the environment and for consumers. The bill passed 298-119 (72%-28%). John Carter voted no.
• HR 1736 - International Science and Technology Cooperation Act of 2009 - This is a very popular bill that establishes a committee to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation to strengthen "the domestic science and technology enterprise," and to support U.S. foreign policy goals. The bill passed by a huge margin -- 341-52 (87%-13%) -- but once again, you guessed it: John Carter voted no.
• Finally, there is HR 1709 - Stem Education Cordination Act of 2009 - This bill establishes a committee under the National Science and Technology Council to coordinate the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education activities and programs of all Federal agencies, among other things. This bill was the most popular of those listed here, passing by a vote of 352-39 (90%-10%). Yet, once again, John Carter voted no.

That's your TX-31 representative at work. If the GOP has become "the party of no," I think it's safe to say that John Carter is one of the biggest no-no's of the bunch. No?

Vote ABC (Anyone But Carter) in 2010!