Great service for tracking Congress

[Ouchyfish]

I love this. I get weekly emails whenever they vote.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/

[Eziekial]

I'm already sick of what generally is going on up in DC. Having daily details of gross incompetences and poor leadership at our capital in my email inbox may kill me.

[Ouchyfish]

weekly...and it gives you a chance to see how the representative is voting. Then you can email them and ask "WTF?"

Here's what mine looks like:


Recent Senate Votes

National Defense Authorization Act for FY2008 - Vote Passed (92-3, 5 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this legislation authorizing $648 billion in defense spending, including military construction and Department of Energy defense-related programs, for the 2008 fiscal year.

Sen. Richard Shelby voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Jeff Sessions voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


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Recent House Votes

Improving Government Accountability Act - Vote Passed (404-11, 17 Not Voting)

The House overwhelmingly passed this bill to enhance the independence and accountability of the Inspectors General.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


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MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (389-30, 13 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to hold private security contractors accountable for criminal behavior.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted NO......send e-mail or see bio


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Regional Economic and Infrastructure Development Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (264-154, 14 Not Voting)

This bill would extend the authorization for two regional commissions and create three new commissions to help the most severely economically distressed areas of the U.S.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


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Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (386-27, 19 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that is intended to provide tax relief to the increasing amount of people who have lost their homes due to foreclosure.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


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Upcoming Votes

National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 - H.R.2895

The House will vote on this bill to establish the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund in the U.S. Treasury to provide for the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income families.



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Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007 - H.R.3056

The House is scheduled to vote on this legislation that would repeal the IRS’s authority to use private debt collection companies, to delay implementation of withholding taxes on government contractors, and to revise the tax rules on expatriation.



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Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 - H.R.2095

The House is also scheduled to vote on this bill intended to prevent railroad fatalities, injuries, and hazardous materials releases, and to establish the Federal Railroad Safety Administration.

[Arlos]

Just as an aside, I'm glad that mortgage forgiveness act is going through. Some people were really getting hammered on that one, and it was just ludicrous that they'd get nailed that way. So, definitely thumbs up on that one passing.

-Arlos

[Eziekial]

Yes, because the government is suppose to be there to help people who made poor decisions on their mortgages and are not interested in being held accountable.

I also love the "Improving Accountability Act." I would like to know just how many "Accountability" acts have been passed in Congress or acts that are focused on "improving" them have been passed. My guess is 12 since 1950.

[Tikker]

Just as an aside, I'm glad that mortgage forgiveness act is going through. Some people were really getting hammered on that one, and it was just ludicrous that they'd get nailed that way. So, definitely thumbs up on that one passing.

-Arlos

I think it was more ludicrous that people would borrow WAY more money than they could realistically afford

[10sun]

Not that I feel sorry for them or even empathize for them in any way, but a lot of those are people who bought a middle of the road home suitable for them with some tricky financing where the lender wasn't entirely forthcoming about the details of how their interest rates could change in the coming years even if prime rate stayed the same.

or they bought it with the assumption that their jobs wouldn't be outsourced or maybe that they would even get a payraise the next year.

[Tikker]

Not that I feel sorry for them or even empathize for them in any way, but a lot of those are people who bought a middle of the road home suitable for them with some tricky financing where the lender wasn't entirely forthcoming about the details of how their interest rates could change in the coming years even if prime rate stayed the same.

or they bought it with the assumption that their jobs wouldn't be outsourced or maybe that they would even get a payraise the next year.

none of the above is really a reason for government to bail them out

[Arlos]

Actually, the government isn't bailing them out in any way.

What was happening is this: The banks were, in some cases at least, entering agreements with the people that were going to get foreclosed on. The agreements generally ran: You turn the house over to us in good condition, and we'll forgive whatever balance is remaining on the loan after we reclaim what we're going to get when we auction it off. It's a win-win all around really, because the banks get much higher returns at auction and they don't have to sink 10s of thousands of dollars in repairs to fix damage that irate ex-borrowers did to the property on their way out. The people getting foreclosed on benefit because their loan is gone when it's all over, they aren't stuck still owing money on a house they don't even own any more, where otherwise they'd have to declare bankruptcy and go through all that crap to get the debt written off. So, the banks eat the difference because they end up with more money in the end than they would if the person just trashed the place, left, and declared bankruptcy.

The issue was, the IRS looked at that nullifying of outstanding debt as a form of income. I mean, since your net worth (which is assets - debts) has just gone up by a big chunk, that's income, right? So, people were getting forgived the remnants of their loans by the banks, and then suddenly getting 20-30,000 dollar tax bills from the IRS. THAT is what the bill was about, to stop that nonsense. The government isn't buying out any loans or any such thing, the banks are the ones eating the difference, because that still results in the maximum return for them in these cases. The change is now, people who get their loans forgived that day aren't getting stuck with those monstrous tax demands.

So, not in any way a government bailout for bad loans. Got it?

-Arlos

[Ouchyfish]

What a fucking derail..

[Eziekial]

Why would we need to pass a law forgiving taxes that are already forgiven? Currently, if you sell your PRIMARY residence you pay no capital gains tax on the first ?300k? (not sure of the exact figure). I think this law is to bail out speculators who got caught overextended or mortgage lenders who made bad loans.

[Arlos]

Except they AREN'T selling their homes. The homes have been reposessed and it is the bank selling them.

-Arlos

[Ouchyfish]

Holy fucking shit...THIS is why I like this service..how the fuck could this piece of shit say no to these 3?????

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Recent House Votes

War Profiteering Prevention Act - Vote Passed (375-3, 53 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would criminalize "war profiteering."

Rep. Michael Rogers voted NO

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National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (264-148, 19 Not Voting)

The House passed legislation founding the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund within the United States Treasury to assist in the building of affordable housing for low-income families.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted NO

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Tax Collection Responsibility Act - Vote Passed (232-173, 26 Not Voting)

Despite a veto threat from the President, the House passed a bill that intends to stop the Internal Revenue Service's private debt collection program.

Rep. Michael Rogers voted NO

[Yamori]

Just remember a lot of those bills may be 30-100ish pages long, are loaded with waste, pork, and/or have completely ridiculous and unrelated evils slipped into them. Unfortunately people don't realize this and so politicians get away with screaming things like "HE VOTED AGAINST BODY ARMOR FOR TROOPS!!!11" even though that might consist of 1-2 paragraphs amidst 50 other pages.

[Ouchyfish]

Yeah, I understand how shit works except something tells me if that was the case here, the other 375 would have caught it.

War Profiteering Prevention Act - Vote Passed (375-3, 53 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would criminalize "war profiteering."

Rep. Michael Rogers voted NO

[Yamori]

Well, almost everyone in congress voted for the Iraq war, the PATRIOT act, and national ID card (it was slipped in a Katrina funding bill). Majority consensus doesn't correlate with correctness all too often with these scoundrels.

[Ouchyfish]

Washington...