Adrian Smith's House Votes 7/30/2007 - 8/5/2007

by: Lisa Hannah

I've been delayed in getting this posting together because 1) It's summer and I'm busy, and 2) it was a big, long week before the summer recess full of all kinds of drama. Essentially I had to weed through all the muck as the Republicans threw a great big temper tantrum. This last week before the recess really showed Adrian Smith in his true form: A follower who will do whatever his party leaders and biggest contributors tell him to do, even at the expense of his own constituents.

So what exactly did he do? Adrian Smith: - Voted against continuing health insurance coverage for children who's parents work and make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but can't afford insurance for their children. That would have ended coverage for 45,000 of Nebraska's children. He did so because of cuts in the Medicare Advantage program. A program that has not proven cost effective, and is a nod to the insurance and drug manufactors.  - Voted against tax credits for renewable energy because loopholes were closed that ended much of the ongoing corporate welfare to the Big Oil companies during a time of record profits. It's a tax credit that benefits Nebraska's ethanol industry. - Voted against a maximum continuous deployment period for troops of one year, as well as minimum rest periods between deployments. There were exceptions made for the President to waive those in times of emergency, as well as in cases where troops volunteer for redeployment.  - Voted against ensuring that workers receive fair, prevailing wages on federal contracts that are granted to build renewable energy systems. If that NO vote had prevailed, it would have prevented those in the Third District working on building any ethanol plants that receive federal funds from being assured a fair wage. - He voted against fair wages for working women. When the Supreme Court ruled against a woman that filed suit for receiving wages less than her male counterparts, they dismissed it saying she filed too late. The bill that was submitted clarified and protected this timeline for women in the future. - He voted against an earmark to continue research into protecting grapes from disease, among other things, to ensure a better crop. He sided with those saying it would benefit the wine industry. He forgot that there is a growing number of small, independent wine producers in Nebraska that would benefit from this research. - He voted against the energy bill, which contains so many benefits through wind and ethanol promotion for Nebraska.  - Smith joined in with his party to play petty, political stalling games all week by voting for every motion to adjourn (except the one time a Democrat moved for it), and voting against the approval of the journal every time. Finally, Smith failed to even vote for the Agriculture Appropriations Bill because, after a confusing vote, he did what his party leadership told him to do and WALKED OUT. They threw a major temper tantrum when there was some confusion, and chose to walk instead of staying and working things out. He then joined the same leadership to cosponsor a resolution to try and bring the bill back to the floor. The night of the walkout, there was confusion as to whether or not a motion to recommit had passed or failed. Votes were being changed, the board was fluctuating, and there was chaos. The Republicans felt they had won the vote, but the board changed to that not being the case. The House Majority Leader (a Democrat) moved to vacate that vote so the Republicans could redo it and the vote would be without controversy. They wouldn't accept. They demanded that they won. They then walked out. In the ensuing votes, the Democrats agreed to redo the vote, but with the Republicans leaving (and all but a few of them choosing to stay), they redid the motion to recommit that then failed on a voice vote. They then passed the bill. In cosponsoring the new resolution, Smith joined with his party leadership saying they wanted to have a redo to add the provision that illegals don't have certain rights (that are already on the books, by the way). They had their chance to have a "Do Over", but they walked out. They demanded it again well after the fact. After all that, he still managed to miss another vote on the Water Resource Development Act. Why? Well, he said he was at a meeting. The interesting thing was he was there voting 8 minutes before on another vote, and this vote took place around 10:30 IN THE EVENING. Why would someone have a meeting that late at night? Adrian Smith spent the entire week never once speaking up on any issue. Not one statement on the record. He let his party leadership do everything for him. He never showed any kind of leadership of his own, and he took positions that were not of benefit for the people of Nebraska.