Budget & Economy

Voting Record

• Obama’s economic plan focuses on middle class. (Oct 2008)
• Deregulationgot us into the housing crisis. (Oct 2008)
• Balancing budget is about priorities; GOP made wrong choices. (Dec 2007)
• Save Pentagon spending by getting the troops out of Iraq. (Dec 2007)
• More transparency for hedge funds and private equity funds. (Aug 2007)
• Invest in new programs by ending war & eliminating tax cuts. (Apr 2007)
• FactCheck: McCain didn’t “lurch” from “strong” to “crisis”. (Oct 2008)
• Voted NO on $40B in reduced federal overall spending. (Dec 2005)
• Voted NO on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (Apr 2000)
• Voted YES on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997)
• Voted YES on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997)

Education

Voting Record

• Voting for No Child Left Behind was a mistake. (Jul 2007)
• Voted YES on $52M for "21st century community learning centers". (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. (Mar 2005)
• Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
• Voted YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
• Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
• Voted YES on Educational Savings Accounts. (Mar 2000)
• Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
• Voted NO on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
• Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
• Voted NO on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
• Voted YES on national education standards. (Feb 1994)
• Rated 91% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes. (Dec 2003)

Energy

Voting Record

• 1970s: Voted against the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. (Nov 2009)
• I have supported clean coal for 25 years. (Oct 2008)
• Cause of global warming is clearly Man-made. (Oct 2008)
• Obama believes in investing in alternative energy. (Oct 2008)
• Voted YES on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (Jun 2008)
• Voted YES on addressing CO2 emissions without considering India & China. (May 2008)
• Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on fac
  • America should guarantee Katrina reconstruction. (Jun 2007)
  • Take away the billions of subsidy to the oil companies. (Jun 2007)
  • Scored 80% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection. (Jan 2007)
  • Voted YES on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. (Sep 2005)
  • Voted NO on confitoring global warming into federal project planning. (May 2007)
  • Sign on to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Jan 2007)
  • Designate sensitive ANWR area as protected wilderness. (Nov 2007)
  • The energy challenge take sacrifice and is a moral crusade. (Dec 2007)
  • FactCheck: Oil did not jump $18/bbl due to Iran Resolution. (Dec 2007)
  • Supports cap-and-trade for greenhouse gases. (Nov 2007)
  • Provide for emergency fuel assistance immediately. (Oct 2007)
  • Make every automobile sold be a flex-fuel automobile. (Apr 2007)

Environment

Voting Record

• America should guarantee Katrina reconstruction. (Jun 2007)
• Take away the billions of subsidy to the oil companies. (Jun 2007)
• Scored 80% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection. (Jan 2007)
• Voted YES on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. (Sep 2005)
• Voted NO on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
• Voted NO on more funding for forest roads and fish habitat. (Sep 1999)
• Voted YES on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
• Voted YES on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
• Voted YES on continuing desert protection in California. (Oct 1994)
• Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)
• End commercial whaling and illegal trade in whale meat. (Jun 2001)
• Rated 95% by the LCV, indicating pro-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
• EPA must do better on mercury clean-up. (Apr 2004)
• Strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting. (Jan 2007)

Foreign Policy

Voting Record

• Time to sit down and talk, talk, talk to enemies. (Oct 2008)
• Bush’s approach to middle east has been disastrous. (Oct 2008)
• FactCheck: McCain did not refuse to sit down with Spain. (Oct 2008)
• The US is less secure and more isolated in recent history. (Aug 2008)
• Even Bush recognizes we should talk to Iran. (Aug 2008)
• Voted YES on cooperating with India as a nuclear power. (Oct 2008)
• Remove African National Congress from terrorist list. (May 2008)
• Implement Darfur Peace Agreement with UN peacekeeping force. (Feb 2008)
• Condemns Russia for provocative statements to Georgia. (May 2008)
• Doctrine of crisis prevention, not preemption. (Dec 2007)
• Hold China accountable; it’s capitulation, not competition. (Dec 2007)
• Move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy. (Nov 2007)
• Pakistani elections will be a sham if emergency not lifted. (Nov 2007)
• Pakistan is potentially most dangerous country in the world. (Aug 2007)
• China holds the mortgage on our house, to pay for war. (Aug 2007)
• American troops on the ground in Darfur now. (Jul 2007)
• US troops on ground in Sudan to end Darfur carnage. (Jun 2007)
• Biggest threat to US is from North Korea, Iran, & Russia. (Apr 2007)
• Impose sanctions and an import ban on Burma. (Oct 2007)
• Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s. (Mar 2007)
• Urge Venezuela to re-open dissident radio & TV stations. (May 2007)

Healthcare

Voting Record

• McCain health plan is ultimate Bridge to Nowhere. (Oct 2008)
• Voted YES on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
• Voted NO on means-testing to determine Medicare Part D premium. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on allowing tribal Indians to opt out of federal healthcare. (Feb 2008)
• Modernize, simplify & expand health insurance. (Nov 2007)
• Help medical students find ways to finance their tuition. (Oct 2007)
• Start paying for universal coverage with $100B in redundancy. (Sep 2007)
• Rethink healthcare by focusing on prevention. (Sep 2007)
• Start with catastrophic insurance and insuring all kids. (Aug 2007)
• Got tested for AIDS after blood transfusion; no shame in it. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Nov 2007)
• Voted YES on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Apr 2007)
• Establish a national childhood cancer database. (Mar 2007)

Immigration

Voting Record

• FactCheck: 67% of illegal aliens speak Spanish; not 40%. (Dec 2007)
• H1-B visas only for jobs Americans can’t do. (Dec 2007)
• Americans will do any job if you pay them properly. (Dec 2007)
• Oppose granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. (Nov 2007)
• Supported Bush plan: both border fence & path to citizenship. (Nov 2007)
• 2007: Immigration reform failed because McCain absent. (Oct 2007)
• Sanctuary cities exist because feds can’t enforce their laws. (Sep 2007)
• It’s impractical to deport 14 million illegal immigrants. (Jun 2007)
• Voted for border fence, but to tackle drug trafficking. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on continuing federal funds for declared "sanctuary cities". (Mar 2008)
• Voted YES on comprehensive immigration reform. (Jun 2007)
• Voted NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on eliminating the "Y" nonimmigrant guestworker program. (May 2007)

Jobs & Corporations

Voting Record

• Voted YES on overriding presidential veto of Farm Bill. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on terminating legal challenges to English-only job rules. (Mar 2008)
• No job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Aug 2007)
• Implement current recommendations on job safety. (Aug 2007)
• FactCheck: His AFL-CIO rating of 85% is not best of all Dems. (Aug 2007)
• Couldn’t afford living at minimum wage; advocates raising it. (Jul 2007)
• Bush tries to strip away 100 years of labor progress. (Mar 2007)
• Voted YES on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Jun 2007)
• Voted YES on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Feb 2007)

National Security, Homeland Security, & Defense

Voting Record

• Regrets his war vote because Bush misused war authority. (Apr 2007)
• Vote for war allowed war only after all else failed. (Apr 2007)
• Introduced legislation barring US Military bases in Iraq. (Apr 2007)
• Vote for Iraq War was mistake; assumed Bush competence. (Feb 2007)
• Voted for Iraq war in 2002, but now a war critic. (Nov 2006)
• Voted NO on designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorists. (Sep 2007)
• Voted YES on redeploying US troops out of Iraq by March 2008. (Mar 2007)
• Voted NO on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on investigating contract awards in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Nov 2005)
• Voted YES on $86 billion for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Oct 2003)
• Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)
• Voted NO on allowing all necessary force in Kosovo. (May 1999)
• Voted YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo. (Mar 1999)
• Voted YES on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
• Condemns anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism. (Oct 2001)
• No troop surge: no military escalation in Iraq. (Jan 2007)
• Deploy UN multinational peacekeeping force in Darfur. (Jul 2007)
• Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. (Nov 1995)

Taxes

• Middle class is U.S. economic engine and needs tax cuts. (Oct 2008)
• FactCheck: McCain did not vote with Obama on tax increase. (Oct 2008)
• Voted YES on increasing tax rate for people earning over $1 million. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on allowing AMT reduction without budget offset. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on raising the Death Tax exemption to $5M from $1M. (Feb 2008)
• Save $150 billion in tax cuts for people who don’t need them. (Dec 2007)
• Take away $85B in annual tax cuts for 1% of top earners. (Jul 2007)
• FactCheck: Top 1% only got $67B in 2007 tax cuts, not $85B. (Jul 2007)
• Eliminate the tax cut just for those people in the top 1%. (Mar 2007)
• Voted NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax. (Mar 2007)
• Voted NO on raising estate tax exemption to $5 million. (Mar 2007)