Republicans to delay Reduction in ground level Ozone Emissions, "Balance" Jobs and Affordability over Lung Disease.

Paul Ryan's House of Representatives defeated an amendment by Democrats that would stop deregulation if it "inflict harm on public health or the environment." You read that right. Roll Call: 

The amendment sought to blunt arguments by bill backers that environmental regulations should be weakened in deference to jobs and economic growth.

Like mining, high capacity wells and CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in Wisconsin, Scott Walker "balanced" jobs and corporate profits over the public's safe drinking water. Ryan is bring that same "balancing" act to the nation: 

DELAY OF OZONE STANDARDS: The House passed a bill (HR 4775) that would delay from 2020 to 2026 the year by which states must submit plans to the EPA for reducing ground-level ozone emissions within their boundaries ... breathing unsafe levels of ozone causes or triggers ailments such as lung disease and asthma, particularly for children and the elderly. 

Common Sense would tell us to get rid of ground level ozone, saving lives and the cost of medical care. 

But Republicans have been relentless pushing the lunacy that there is some kind of "balance" to be made: 

Critics said the ozone regulations would stifle development and cost jobs in counties on the receiving end of ozone pollution that is generated in areas beyond their control.

The bill also would require the agency to take “affordability” and “technical feasibility” into account — along with health effects — in setting rules under the Clean Air Act.

Republicans James Sensenbrenner, Glenn Grothman, and Reid Ribble voted for a more profitable "balance." Sean Duffy missed this vote, but when has he ever broken away from the pack?

Shocked by their vote, Democrats Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, and Gwen Moore proposed the amendment below:

OZONE, PUBLIC HEALTH, THE ENVIRONMENT: The House defeated an amendment that would undercut HR 4775 (above) by nullifying any provisions that would inflict harm on public health or the environment. 

So, in what direction do you want to take the country? 

Lunacy # 3: Wisconsin House GOP would prevent EPA from protecting Americans from Ebola, nuclear, biological and terrorist attacks. I'm not kidding.

My head is spinning. After every Wisconsin Republican house member voted to put special interests on the EPA's Science Advisory Board in place of scientists to make it more industry-friendly, and require EPA research to expose the private medical records of effected American citizens dying from pollution - or the rules won't count - they went one step further that will blow your mind. Roll Call:

They turned away a Democratic bid to at least give the EPA an exemption from the restrictions above so it could protect Americans from Ebola, biological terrorist attacks and chemical spills.

EBOLA DISINFECTANTS: The House defeated a Democratic bid to exempt from HR 4012 (above) any EPA actions to approve Ebola disinfectants or protect communities against nuclear, biological or terrorist attacks or chemical spills into drinking-water supplies. A yes vote was to exempt EPA actions against health threats such as the Ebola virus from the bill.

Republicans weren't about to give Democrats a victory even on this. Voting no and against preventing an Ebola outbreak or chemical terrorist attack: Republicans Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

Lunacy # 2: Wisconsin House GOP dismantle EPA Science Advisory Board by replacing Academic’s with corporate special interests!!! What a good idea?

This is a continuation of pure lunacy by our future Republican overlords in 2015, where science bows to the needs of business, our job creators.

Our Wisconsin House Republicans want to put corporate interests in charge of keeping out air and water clean. Gulp. We never learned anything from the amazing work by tobacco industry scientists who claimed cigarettes were healthy? Roll Call:

EPA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD: The House passed a Republican bill (HR 1422) to reshape the EPA's Science Advisory Board to make it more industry-friendly. The board provides independent evaluations of the scientific analyses upon which the EPA bases its regulations. This bill would diminish academic representation on the board while expanding corporate membership; permit experts with financial ties to EPA-regulated industries to serve if they disclose their conflicts-of-interest; give state, local and tribal governments a guaranteed number of seats on the board and require the board to gather more public comments, among other provisions.

Don't you love those unscientific public comments?

Jaw dropping? What could go wrong with putting EPA regulated industries in charge of the EPA? What kind of mind would think this is okay?

These five minds, that's who: Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy, Tom Petry, and Reid Ribble. 

What are they're thinking.  

Lunacy # 1: Wisconsin House Republicans start to dismantle EPA, by requiring confidential health information be made public.

We've known for years air pollution harms and prematurely kills Americans every day, but that may not matter anymore if Republicans, who will be in charge soon, block research proving it. Then magically, the harmful effects of pollution will disappear, and anti-science marches on. Roll Call:

SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: The House passed a Republican bill (HR 4012) that would negate specific rule making by the Environmental Protection Agency unless all data from underlying scientific studies -- including any confidential health information about participants -- has been made publicly available so that the studies can be independently replicated. Republicans said the bill would promote much-needed transparency at the EPA, while Democrats said it would thwart enforcement actions because many environmental studies depend on protecting the privacy rights of participants. Democrats said the bill's main targets are studies by the American Cancer Society and Harvard University that link air pollution with ill health and underpin the EPA's administration of the Clean Air Act.

Voting to kill more Americans with cancer and other diseases, by making scientific research completely irrelevant: Republicans Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

Here's Alex Wagner with the story as well:



The next post in this series will take your breath away, literally.

Wisconsin House Republicans didn't just pass the Keystone XL Pipeline, they exempted Big Oil from paying for the Cost of Cleanup!!!

With the Republicans taking complete control of the legislative branch in 2015, all they need is a president to rubber stamp the following irresponsible act of belligerence. 

If passing the Keystone XL Pipeline in the House and “bypassing ... the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act wasn't bad enough, get a load of what OUR Republican Wisconsin Congressmen voted against; a Democratic motion to protect the taxpayers from paying for costly oil spills. From Roll Call:

LIABILITY FOR OIL SPILLS: The House on Friday refused to require the Keystone XL Pipeline to pay into the Treasury Department’s Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Sponsored by Democrats, this motion to HR 5682 (above) sought to blunt an Internal Revenue Service ruling under which crude extracted from tar sands is exempted from mandatory support of the oil-spill fund. The ruling spares TransCanada Corp., the Keystone owner, from having to pay 8 cents per barrel into the fund to help cover the cost of cleaning up any spills. Congress established the fund in response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding, which spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. A yes vote was to require the Keystone XL Pipeline to contribute to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

Guess who voted yes? Rep. Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, and Gwen Moore.

In a breathtakingly irresponsible vote to exempt big oil from paying for spilled tar sand oil? The same guys taking charge in 2015; Rep. Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, outgoing Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

Why not right? The press is not covering this. Our Republican representatives have been voting like this for years. Search my blog for "roll call" or "ribble" and you'll see what I mean. 

Wisconsin Congressmen hold nation hostage; won't stop offshoring or inversions until Democrats agree to Corporate Tax Cut.

Despite not having gone far enough, Dodd Frank is trying desperately to regulate the financial industry while also trying to prevent another Great Recession.

Republicans Dare to have another Great Recession: But Republicans want to play a game of chicken with our economy and retirement investments again by smashing to pieces every line of reform. Like they told us after the global crash, “you knew the risks, you took your chances, and you lost. That’s the market.” Strangely that didn’t piss off a majority of tightwad conservative voters either who lost money. It’s an odd voting base to say the least.   

Congressional Veto Power over an administrations Department Regulations: Big government Republicans want veto power over regulations that might get in the way of business.  

Cut Corporate Income Tax or Else...: And worst of all, Republicans won’t stop companies shifting jobs overseas or prevent tax inversions until they get a cut in the corporate income tax. Never mind those inversions are permanent and lost forever as revenue. 

Sadly, there's more too...Roll Call:

REPUBLICAN JOBS PACKAGE: The House approved a package (HR 4) of 15 jobs bills that previously passed the House as individual measures, and then died in the Democratic-led Senate. In part, the bills would expedite logging in national forests, scale back the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law, make bonus depreciation and certain charitable contributions by businesses a permanent part of the U.S. tax code, ease certain environmental rules to promote job creation and give Congress veto power over federal regulations having at least a $100 million annual impact on the economy.

Voting yes to increase the deficit with permanent tax cuts and lost corporate revenues: Paul Ryan, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble. 

DEMOCRATS’ TAX CHANGES: The House on Thursday defeated a motion by Democrats to amend HR 4 (above) in a way that would deny federal tax breaks to companies that shift U.S. jobs overseas or which reincorporate abroad to avoid U.S. taxation, a process known as “inversion.” The motion also sought to require the Republican leadership to put Democratic issues such as a minimum-wage increase, pay equity for women and student-loan refinancing to House votes.

And you know who defeated cutting corporate handout to offshorers? They're pictured above. And Tom Petri is a moderate? 

Wisconsin Congressmen vote to sell Natural Gas and Oil to Terrorists, and raise our prices by depleting our surplus energy supplies.

Nothing says “irresponsible” more than drilling off our pristine coastlines, quickly approving the XL Pipeline and banning fracking regulation of our public/tribal lands.

The XL Pipeline’s one intended purpose is to export our own supply of oil out of the U.S. for Big Oil profits. It could destroy of our water supply or return us to Middle Eastern dependence on oil, but who cares right?   

Oh, and say goodbye to those low natural gas prices to heat our homes. Republicans want to provide quick approval to export more of that too.

Republicans also want to sell natural gas and oil to terrorists and the countries that harbor them.

In what would appear too many as a political death wish agenda is really a winning platform that might put Republicans in control of the Senate. None of this is hyperbole. Read for yourself the new Republican Energy plan from Roll Call endorsed by our Representatives:   

REPUBLICAN ENERGY PACKAGE: The House approved a package (HR 2) of 19 GOP-drafted energy bills that previously cleared the House as strand-alone measures before faltering in the Democratic-controlled Senate in the face of environmental concerns and other objections. In part, the bills would expand offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, require speedy administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, expedite Department of Energy approvals of applications for exporting liquefied natural gas and prohibit federal regulation on federal and tribal lands of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Higher gas prices at the pump and rising energy costs to heat our homes? Yes say Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble. Heck, any rise in natural gas would mean more drilling, and higher pump prices are always blamed on the Democratic President.   

OIL EXPORTS TO TERRORISM-ENABLERS: The House on Thursday defeated a Democratic motion that sought to amend HR 2 (above) so that it would “prohibit U.S. oil exports to any country, company or individual that supports or harbors terrorist organizations, including ISIS or al Qaeda.”

Voting no to the Democratic amendment, and yes to send our energy recources to terrorist; Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble. Your on the record now. 

Psst! Democrats quietly try to pass Midterm Agenda for America. Don’t tell anyone.

Who knew? Thanks to the weekly feature Roll Call, where the paper lists all the “action” in the House, there is now a slight chance we just might stumble upon the bold Democratic statement for the midterms.

It’s hard to imagine anyone with a job or experience handling the household income objecting to the following populist agenda…oh wait, Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble voted against it? 

Voters won’t like that:

DEMOCRATIC POLICY GOALS: The House on Wednesday turned back a bid by Democrats to add five of their policy goals to HJ Res 124 (government funding bill). The motion called for raising the minimum wage, requiring that women receive equal pay for equal work, allowing most student loans to be refinanced, denying government contracts to companies that move headquarters overseas and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank for the long term.

Republican never, if ever, pass Democratic amendments that are logical no-brainers for the rest of us. 

Wisconsin Congressmen vote to Discharge Pesticides into Navigable Waters.

The following vote by our free market disaster capitalists in Congress was not only dangerous to our waterways, but my god, how bad does something have to look before you stop and ask; are we going too far? Deregulation deceptively dressed up as “freedom” is the fuel the tea party Republicans use to get their low information base to charge blindly ahead.

But really, discharging anything into our waters should be met with some skepticism, especially pesticides. Roll Call: 

REGULATION OF PESTICIDE DISCHARGES: The House passed a bill (HR 935) that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring permits under the Clean Water Act for discharges into navigable waters of pesticides authorized for use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Clean Water Act permits still would be required for discharges regulated by that law as municipal or industrial waste or storm water.

Voting to dump pesticides into our waterways (I can’t believe I’m typing this): Paul Ryan, Ron Kind, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

My sympathies to Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore for not getting press for their sane but important vote against this lunacy. And Ron Kind? Anybody know what happened here? 

House Republican GOP to turn special interest research and hearsay into "the best available science."

Remember when tobacco executives said smoking didn't cause cancer? It was based on their own research...science. Or that climate change is fake, based on corporate research they call "science." 

Well, Republicans want to make the stuff churned out by think tanks and corporations into policy making "science." 

And they're hoping slip this stuff by the public, who probably won't notice the play on words. Who are they? Roll Call:

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT HURDLES: The House passed a Republican-drafted bill (HR 4315) requiring the Department of the Interior to publish online the scientific basis of all new “endangered species” and “threatened species” designations under the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bill also requires the department to treat data from state, local and tribal governments as “best available science and commercial data” in making decisions on species protection.

What data? Hearsay science? Special interest “science.” Republicans want what could be called “data” from the state, local and tribal governments. They also want it treated as “the best available science,” even if it might not exactly be science. That’s like the state asking people to report seeing deer and treating it as an official “count.” Oh, they’re already doing that.

My Head Explodes: I don’t understand how small government Republicans who believe in the free market can write laws that limit private attorney fees in lawsuits. I’m stumped. Here’s another instance written into this bill:

In addition, the bill puts a $125-per-hour cap on government payments of “prevailing attorney fees” in litigation challenging endangered-species designations.

Hey, let’s cap government payments to those attorney’s representing politicians in John Doe probes. I’m all for it now.

Voting yes to turn special interest research into “the best available science” and meddling in private sector attorney’s fees: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble.

And when Democrats tried to fine tune and define what was scientific: 

Republicans  refused to strip HR 4315 (above) the “best available scientific and commercial data,” even if it has not been subjected to peer review. In the scientific community, peer review is a discipline in which new research is not accepted as valid until it is evaluated by other experts in the same field.

Voting against the revision and making it perfectly clear actual science was not what they were looking for: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble

GOP tantrum over phony IRS Scandal seeks to help tax dodgers by using programs for seniors.

The supposed IRS scandal targeting both liberal and conservative groups seeking tax exempt status for essentially helping candidates advertise and reach voters, has allowed Republicans a way to encourage tax dodging and defunding the much hated IRS. That in turn starves government of its much needed revenue stream. 

It’s so easy to tear things down, isn't it? When it’s your own country…well, that’s saying a lot.

Wisconsin’s House Republicans want to do just that, by cutting the IRS budget by 3%. But that’s not the ugly and devious part: They want to help tax dodgers by taking those IRS cuts...to fund programs for seniors. You can’t make this stuff up. Roll Call:

IRS Enforcement Cuts: The House voted to shift $10 million from Internal Revenue Service enforcement activities to programs that help seniors and other taxpayers. Overall, the bill cuts enforcement spending by 25 percent, from 2014 in response to the agency’s targeting of certain conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. A yes vote was to reduce the IRS budget for catching tax cheats.

Voting yes, and pitting seniors against catching tax dodgers (I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this one): Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble. Who comes up with this stuff?

Voting an obvious no, Mark Pocan, Ron Kind and Gwen Moore. Sadly, it's important votes like this that don't get any media attention. Party differences are dramatic. 

Not able to Lower Corporate Taxes, GOP tantrum seeks to expand off shore tax havens for Business.

At first I thought, “Why would Democrats vote against a tax deduction for corporations who donate food to charities?”

Here’s why: Rep.’s Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble, angry they can’t reduce corporate tax rates, want corporations to reincorporate overseas to avoid paying taxes. You read that right. 

Nice strategy, don’t you think. Of course that only increases our deficit by reducing revenues even at current spending levels. Ever get the feeling the GOP wants to make things worse? Now you know they do. Roll Call:

Corporate Tax Avoidance: The House defeated a bid by Democrats to deny benefits under HR 4719 (Charitable Deductions, National Debt bill) to businesses that reincorporate overseas to avoid U.S. taxation, a process known as “inversion” that is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Voting to discourage corporate tax dodging through “inversion,” were Democrats Mark Pocan, Ron Kind and Gwen Moore.

Voting to allow corporations to off shore their profits to avoid paying their fair share of taxes? Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy and Ribble. Way to go guys, one way or another you'll bring this country down to its knees. 

Irresponsible Wisconsin Republican Congressmen vote to shrink Natural Gas Supplies, Raise Prices and Export Supplies to Countries that sponsor Terrorism.

In the back pocket of big oil, Republicans are not only pushing the XL Pipeline to export gas out of the countries, they're also planning on padding the industries pockets with natural gas export money. You can say goodbye to low natural gas prices for Americans already on tight budgets, like senior citizens:

EXPEDITED NATURAL-GAS EXPORTS: The House passed a bill (HR 6) requiring prompt Department of Energy (DOE) action on applications from U.S. companies to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries in Europe and elsewhere with which America does not have a free-trade agreement. Critics said this would truncate DOE's reviews of whether applications are in the public interest in terms of assuring adequate and affordable domestic supplies of natural gas.

Voting to drain our supply of natural gas and raising prices? Paul Ryan, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

Democrats to the Rescue? Not if Republicans can help it:

LIMITS ON GAS EXPORTS: The House defeated a Democratic bid to prohibit natural-gas exports under HR 6 (above) that raise household energy costs for U.S. seniors on fixed incomes or benefit countries that are state sponsors of terrorism or conductors of cyber-attacks on America. 

I can hardly believe I'm about to type this: Voting against cheap natural gas prices for senior citizens and for selling gas to countries that sponsor terrorism: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, Ribble

I wish I were making this stuff up. And yet Republicans are still threatening to be reelected in November.  

Wisconsin Congressmen vote to Repeat Great Recession with deregulation!!!

The free market Republican Great Recession was so much fun, let’s bring back the conditions that caused it. From Roll Call:

CURBS ON FINANCIAL REGULATION: The House passed a bipartisan bill (HR 4413) that would renew the Commodity Futures Trading Commission through fiscal 2018, curb its regulatory powers, add investor protections and increase the national debt by $948 million over five years. Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, the agency has begun the first federal regulation of the $700 trillion derivatives market, whose collapse in 2008 helped crash the U.S. and global economies and trigger taxpayer bailouts of financial firms. In part, this bill would subject new CFTC rules to time-consuming cost-benefit analyses and exempt derivatives trading by overseas subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions from direct CFTC supervision.

A yes vote was to reauthorize the CFTC with weakened regulatory powers: Ryan, Kind, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble.

The shocking fact that they didn't learn their lesson when millions of jobs disappeared during the Great Recession, collapsing some European countries, is inexcusable. Here's free market loser Alan Greenspan:

Reckless Wisconsin Republican Congressmen vote to pollute inland Aquifers and...the Great Lakes!!! I'm not exaggerating.

Jobs are one thing, but a total disrespect for the environment at the expense of supposed job creation is lunacy. Wisconsin’s congressmen couldn't be more in the pocket of big oil. From the department “You can’t make this stuff up:”

CROSS-BORDER PIPELINE APPROVALS: The House passed a bill (HR 3301) to weaken environmental reviews of cross-border pipeline projects between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico … critics said it would allow any rejected Keystone application to be resubmitted under relaxed environmental standards. In part, the bill would limit reviews to areas at or near international borders, thus exempting long stretches of pipelines over aquifers and through interior terrain from National Environmental Policy Act standards.

Yes, our state Republicans voted yes on this bill: Voting yes: Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, Reid Ribble.

Voting no thank god Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, and Gwen Moore

But even worse, especially for our congressmen, they were against this...:

PROTECTION OF GREAT LAKES, OGALLALA AQUIFER: The House refused to bar approvals of oil pipelines under HR 3301 (above) that could rupture and spill toxic chemicals into the Great Lakes or the Ogallala Aquifer beneath South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas.

Voting to allow pipelines that could rupture into our Great Lakes? Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble. Come on Democratic candidate opponents, use this stuff!!!! From a Wisconsin State Journal feature Roll Call.

Big Government Authoritarians Ryan, Senesenbrenner and Duffy vote to federally prosecute anyone carrying out state medical marijuana laws in 26 states.

Not only would Representatives Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner and Sean Duffy try to stop progress, but they would also like to make medical decisions for everyone else. I thought they were against government interference in medical decisions? Roll Call:

STATES’ RIGHTS, MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The House adopted an amendment to HR 4660 (FISCAL 2015 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCEBUDGET) that would prohibit federal law-enforcement authorities from interfering with the administration of state medical-marijuana laws. Marijuana possession, cultivation and distribution are prosecuted as criminal offenses under federal law. But at least 26 states and the District of Columbia allow the drug to be used legally for medicinal purposes, and two states have legalized it for recreational use as well.

A yes vote was to bar federal intervention in the administration of state marijuana laws: Pocan, Kind, Moore, Petri, Ribble

Voting no against a nationwide movement of marijuana acceptance and to make medical decisions for Americans by Washington bureaucrats? Those bureaucrats are…Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy.

Wisconsin Congressmen voted to basically eliminate legal representation for the Poor and Kill Jobs Nationwide!

Wisconsin Congressmen voted to eliminate legal representation for the Poor, twice.

In a massive job killing effort to make it almost impossible for those in poverty to get a lawyer:

The vast majority of LSC’s funding is used to support local nonprofit organizations via grants for the delivery of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans.

Badger state representatives voted to kill the service completely, before passing a much smaller increase. Roll Call:

The 2015 Appropriations bill would cut current funding by $15 million but is $50 million more than allocate last year. The bill passed at 1:15 a.m. after lawmakers turned back two proposed amendments, one to restore funding to the current level of $365 million, and another to eliminate funding  altogether. Rep. Austin Scott’s (R-Ga.) amendment to eliminate funding for LSC failed by a vote of 116-290.  This is Scott’s third attempt to defund LSC.  

The vote to eliminated funding backed by our state congressional representatives went like this:

LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION: The House defeated an amendment to abolish the Legal Services Corporation by eliminating its $350 million budget from HR 4660. With 800 offices nationwide, the LSC provides free legal representation on an as-available basis to individuals and families with incomes below 125 percent of the federal poverty level. The LSC’s proposed $350 million budget for next year is $90 million below its fiscal 2010 budget.

A yes vote was to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation: Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

I guess it must be time to take the country back from the…poor? 

Wisconsin House GOP keeps making taxpayers pay for their $600 a month vehicle leases!!!

Wanna talk about entitlements? Our elite class of representatives don't like it when "saving the taxpayers money" gets in the way of their own luxurious lifestyle of fancy cars. Roll Call:

LAWMAKERS’ LEASED VEHICLES: The House refused to end public funding of leased vehicles for use by members on official business. Under the amendment to HR 4487, members would be required to use their personal vehicles for official travel, with reimbursement from the legislative branch budget on the basis of miles driven. About 60 House members use leased vehicles, at an average cost of under $600 per month, while most other members use their own vehicles for official business and receive reimbursements. The Senate prohibits its members from leasing vehicles. A yes vote was to end taxpayer funding of leased vehicles for House members.

Paul Ryan sided with Democrats Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan, believe it or not. But voting yes to keep the perk...

 Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble.

Backward Wisconsin House Representatives Deny Medical Marijuana to Veterans with PTSD.

Despite the successful treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder with medical marijuana, our house Republicans are still trying to get over the shock of old Cheech and Chong movies:

VETERANS’ USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA: House Republicans refused to allow the Veterans Health Administration to counsel patients on using medical marijuana for ailments such as chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, and nine allow it to be prescribed for treating PTSD. A yes vote was to allow VHA doctors to counsel patients on medical marijuana.-Roll Call

Sorry, that’s a BIG NO from Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, Reid Ribble.

Rep. Reid Ribble's extreme voting Record easy Target for Challenger Ron Gruett.

Rep. Reid Ribble's voting record is as extreme as it gets. And his challenger Ron Gruett should have no trouble passing along Ribble's votes if he has the money to get the message out before November. 

But the following list of votes isn't just about Ribble either, because the entire Wisconsin GOP House delegation has the same record. So I hope Gruett and Ryan's challenger Rob Zerban take note. From the Wisconsin State Journal's Roll Call column:

Post Crescent: Ron Gruett, 64, of Chilton, told Post-Crescent Media he grew frustrated with Ribble’s votes to repeal Obamacare and other votes that could hurt the middle class. “I think Mr. Ribble is a great representative for the top 1 percent, but the way he votes he’s got it in the for the middle class. He comes off as a nice guy, but he’s doing despicable things like trying to take health care away from 14 million people. I certainly hope we get some national attention.” Gruett favors a strong defense of the Second Amendment … legalizing medical marijuana nationwide, addressing income inequality and legalizing same-sex marriage. 

Ribble’s response?

Ribble said Friday that he has represented all residents in his district during his time in office. “I have a record of fighting for job creation."

But Ribble doesn't really represent “all residents,” Here's his 3rd world voting record:

Voting against the repeal tax breaks for the five largest oil companies and use the savings to soften cuts (he) would make in Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health insurance (SCHIP) program.

Voted to remove inflation from calculations that determine the all-important “baseline” figure in congressional budget deliberations … triggering spending cuts in programs for student loans, food and aviation safety, veterans’ benefits, nursing-home safety and the education of disabled children.
 Voted to strip the Internal Revenue Service of its authority to enforce the 2010 health law’s individual mandate. 

Voted to bar federal regulation on federal and tribal lands of the underground energy-extraction process- fracking, and barring the identity of chemicals used in the ‘fracking’ process.

Voted to set statutory deadlines for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act on applications for building natural gas pipelines but against a bid by Democrats to delay HR 1900 until federal regulators have certified it would not result in the building of unsafe pipelines or deny communities a voice in the siting of new pipelines within their boundaries.

Voted to implement a Gulf of Mexico deepwater-drilling treaty in a way that would exempt U.S. oil companies from transparency rules … and defeated a bid to ensure that safety lessons from the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 are applied to deepwater drilling in the western gulf and to require companies responsible for spills to pay all cleanup costs. 

He voted to defeated a Democratic attempt to bar a broadly written bill that expanded offshore drilling from authorizing oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes. 

Voted to bar new federal regulations having an impact of $100 million or more on the economy from taking effect until the U.S. jobless rate drops below 6 percent.  He voted to defeat an amendment to prevent interruptions in regulations protecting the public from "extreme weather, including drought, flooding and catastrophic wildfire" exempt rules ensuring safe drinking water from the freeze.

Voted to bar the Securities and Exchange Commission from issuing guidance on when companies should make disclosures to shareholders and investors on the effect of climate-change developments on their businesses.
 Ribble voted to allow companies to obtain worker passwords as a condition of employment.

When it comes to campaign advertising disclosures,  Ribble refused “to require it to all who give $10,000 or more to fund political ads on broadcast, cable, satellite or radio outlets.” 

Voted for a bill (HR 761) to ease environmental rules and limit lawsuits in order to quicken agency reviews of applications to mine critical and non-critical minerals on federal lands in the West … sand and gravel mining too. The bill would designate mining activities as “infrastructure projects” to make them eligible for fast-tracked government reviews. Ribble defeated a Democratic bid to prohibit strategic and critical minerals mined as a result of HR 761 from being exported to China, Iran or any country that has violated U.S. economic sanctions against Iran.

Ribble voted to cut spending on food stamps by nearly $4 billion annually over 10 years, allowing states to further reduce their rolls by subjecting food-stamps applicants to drug testing. Ribble defeated a Democratic bid to prohibit food stamp cuts from denying food stamps to veterans, pregnant women, seniors, the disabled or minor children in the event of a U.S. government shutdown or default on its debt.

Ribble voted to give payment priority to bondholders, such as domestic pension funds and foreign governments, if the Treasury were unable to meet all of its debt obligations. Social Security trust funds would be next in line. He defeated a bid by Democrats to ensure that obligations to federal deposit insurance, Social Security and Medicare trust funds, veterans’ benefits and recovery from natural disasters be paid ahead of debt service to foreign bondholders such as China and Iran under the terms of HR 807.

Ribble voted to authorize employers in the private sector to offer “compensatory time off” in place of extra cash for working overtime. Employers have discretion to schedule the time off under the bill, and state agencies, not the U.S. Department of Labor, would enforce comp-time agreements. Ribble voted against a Democratic bid to shifted control to workers for time off if they need to schedule medical appointments, care for a family member or, if they are veterans, schedule appointments related to combat injuries.

Ribble voted to raise from 30 to 40 the number of hours worked each week, on average, to meet the Affordable Care Act’s definition of “full-time employee.” The non-partisan CBO said the bill would cause about one million people to lose employer-provided health coverage each year while increasing budget deficits by $73.7 billion over 10 years as a result.

Ribble voted to passed a payroll tax bill using it to jam through two riders that would allow industrial facilities to release more mercury, lead, and other toxins into the air we breathe. The other would enable the Keystone XL pipeline to go through the American Heartland without the environmental and safety review the White House deemed necessary.

Voted to pass a bill that sets a fast-track schedule for completing reviews of large construction projects in America. He voted to refused exemption from projects that involve building nuclear-power plants in earthquake fault zones.

Voted to impose additional paperwork and public-reporting obligations on federal agencies as they go about drafting and implementing rules to carry out laws passed by Congress. Ribble voted against a bid to prevent the from interfering with regulations that expedite veterans’ benefits; protect the health and safety of seniors, children and consumers; ensure pay equity for women; provide refunds and rebates to taxpayers; aid small businesses; prevent discrimination; safeguard drinking water and protect food supplies from food-borne diseases.

Ribble voted to defeat a bid by Democrats to require the Department of Agriculture to conduct annual food-safety inspections in countries that export egg products, meat and poultry to the U.S. A yes vote was to increase food inspections overseas.