Reposted at desmoinesdem's behest
Note that this does not include the final vote on the bankruptcy bill, which for the record Obama did in fact vote against [Hillary was with Bill for his surgery and didn't vote]).
I'm not going to speculate on why they voted how they did, unless it's clear from the Congressional Record. That is what the comments section and many, many, many diaries are for.
I will just link to the vote, give as much detail as is necessary to explain what the vote was on, and say how each one voted, as well as how the rest of the Senate voted in terms of party (Joe Lieberman and Jim Jeffords are counted as Democrats).
If the summary given on the page with the roll call vote seems too brief or confusing to me, I take statements from the Congressional Record to help explain them.
These diaries are intended primarily as a reference, and as one (not the only, but one) source where one can find differences between the various candidates for president.
As a disclaimer, I support Obama, but I've tried hard not to be biased.
Number of votes cast in 2005: | 366 |
# of votes where both HRC and BO were present: | 339 |
% of all votes where HRC and BO voted the same: | 94.1% |
# of unanimous YEA votes where both were present: | 45 |
% of non-unanimous votes where HRC and BO voted the same: | 93.2% |
# of unanimous Dem caucus YEA votes where both were present: | 123 |
% of divided Dem caucus votes where HRC and BO voted the same: | 90.7% |
I've added a summary table to the beginning of this diary to aid in reading it (a ? in the progressive position column means the progessive position is unclear).
"Specific Question" refers to whether it's a motion to table (tabling meaning killing), a motion to waive the Budget Act, a cloture vote, passage (refers to approval of a full piece of legislation), adoption (refers to approval of an amendment), and conference report (refers to approval of a bill after both houses of Congress have passed different versions and hashed out their differences in a conference consisting of members of both Houses of Congress).
1. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
Senator Clinton made a statement on this act, which can be read here (S01239-S01240) [space considerations require me to omit it from the diary]
The Drum Major Institute's explanation of the bill:
The Class Action Fairness Act overturns almost 200 years of federal practice and moves most class action lawsuits, including civil rights, worker protection, product liability and consumer fraud cases, from state courts into the federal court system. Many mass tort cases - lawsuits that combine the cases of a number of victims suffering similar physical damage from the same defective product or negligent practice - are also moved to federal court. The bill calls for increased judicial scrutiny of "coupon settlements" in which plaintiffs sometimes receive only low-value coupons in compensation for their injuries, as well as settlements in which plaintiff class members suffer a net financial loss. Finally, corporate defendants must now report the terms of their class action settlements to state and federal officials.
On passage of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Bayh, Bingaman, Cantwell, Carper, Conrad, Dodd, Feinstein, Jeffords, Johnson, Kohl, Landrieu, Lieberman, Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Jack Reed, Rockefeller, Salazar, Schumer and every Republican voting.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with Akaka, Baucus, Biden, Boxer, Byrd, Corzine, Dayton, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Mikulski, Murray, Bill Nelson, Harry Reid, Sarbanes, Stabenow and Wyden.
- Santorum and Sununu did not vote.
2. Dayton amendment "to limit the amount of interest that can be charged on any extension of credit to 30 percent."
This is a self-explanatory amendment as to what it would do, and here's Dayton on why such an amendment is necessary:
Here is a form of a loan operation in my home State of Minnesota called Money Centers. Their slogan is: ``We make it easy.'' They make it easy all right. Their annual interest charge is 384 percent. But that is a bargain compared to Check and Go in Wisconsin. Their annual interest charge is 535 percent. Both of them combined do not equal the interest rate that is charged by the County Bank of Rehoboth Beach, DE, whose annual interest rate is 1,095 percent of annual interest charged on the amount that is borrowed. Now that is real abuse. That goes way beyond what we call predatory lending. That is ``terroristic'' lending.
Oddly, the only other Democrat who spoke on this bill (and he had a pretty progressive voting record in Congress) was Paul Sarbanes, and he spoke and voted against it because he felt it needed to be considered in committee.
So it's possible that this was the reasoning behind some of the NAY votes, although it's also possible that they don't believe in capping interest rates (certain for some of them).
On adoption of the Dayton amendment:
- Senator Clinton voted YEA along with Akaka, Bayh, Boxer, Byrd, Conrad, Corzine, Dayton, Dodd, Dorgan, Feinstein, Harkin, Jeffords, Kennedy, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Schumer and Stabenow.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with Baucus, Biden, Bingaman, Cantwell, Carper, Durbin, Johnson, Kerry, Kohl, Landrieu, Leahy, Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Sarbanes, Wyden and every Republican.
- Feingold and Inouye did not vote.
3. Senator Dorgan's amendment, which would have eliminated funding for TV Marti.
We fund broadcasts into Cuba on something called Radio Marti which are very effective. The Cuban people listen to Radio Marti. Of course, they can listen to Miami radio stations as well. But we also fund something called TV Marti, and we have done it for years. The Government of Cuba, of Fidel Castro, jams the signals. We have Fat Albert, an aerostat balloon up there thousands of feet in the air, and the American taxpayer is paying for a fancy studio down on the ground. And up through this cable to Fat Albert we actually send signals into Cuba, television signals that the Cuban people can't see. Traditionally, they have been broadcast from 3 to 8 in the morning, and they are systematically jammed.
On the Motion to table the Dorgan amendment,
- Senator Clinton voted YEA, along with Bayh, Biden, Kerry, Lautenberg, Lieberman, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Harry Reid, Salazar, Sarbanes, Schumer and 53 Republicans.
- Senator Obama voted NAY along with 32 other Democrats as well as Enzi and Sununu.
4. Cornyn amendment "To express the sense of the Senate that Congress should not delay enactment of critical appropriations necessary to ensure the well-being of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces fighting in Iraq and elsewhere around the world, by attempting to conduct a debate about immigration reform while the supplemental appropriations bill is pending on the floor of the United States Senate." This was a typical bullshit John Cornyn sense of the Senate amendment intended to score cheap political points.
On the adoption of the Cornyn amendment
- Senator Clinton voted YEA, along with Byrd, Cantwell, Feinstein, Landrieu, Lincoln, Murray, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Reid, Salazar, Schumer, Wyden and 48 Republicans.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with 31 other Democrats, both Senators from Idaho and Ohio, and Isakson, Snowe and Warner.
5. Motion to recess until 2:00 p.m.. I can't find anything in the Congressional record explaining it, but given that Senator Clinton was the lone NAY vote, it almost certainly wasn't important.
6. Confirmation, Thomas B. Griffith, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge.
The objection to Griffith was that he had opposed the legality Title IX, which mandates equal access to athletics for boys and girls in schools.
On the vote to confirm Thomas B. Griffith,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Baucus, Biden, Bingaman, Carper, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feinstein, Inouye, Kohl, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Obama, Pryor, Harry Reid, Schumer and every Republican voting.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with Akaka, Bayh, Boxer, Byrd, Cantwell, Corzine, Dayton, Feingold, Harkin, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Jack Reed, Rockefeller, Salazar, Sarbanes, Stabenow and Wyden.
- Jeffords, Santorum and Specter did not vote.
7. Schumer amendment "To strike the reliable fuels subtitle of [the Domenici amendment below]. Yet another amendment on ethanol, which would have eliminated the mandate of the use of ethanol in the meeting of clean air standards (not weakening the standards at all, though). Like all ethanol-related amendments, this one was heavily state-based.
On the motion to table the Schumer amendment,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with almost every Senator from the Midwest, Plains States, Rocky Mountain States and the South as well as both Senators from HI, DE and WA, NM, Gordon Smith, Paul Sarbanes and a candidate looking towards Iowa (Kerry).
- Senator Clinton voted NAY along with every other northeastern Senator voting as well as Lott, Allard, Coburn, Ensign, Rockefeller both Senators from AZ and John Warner.
- Jeffords, Stevens and Murkowski did not vote.
8. Domenici amendment which would have mandated the ethanol described in the above amendment. The vote for this amendment was very similar to the vote above. The Senators voting differently on adoption of the Domenici from the way they voted on tabling of the Schumer amendment above are listed below:
- Both Senators from Maine, Chafee, Dodd and Mikulski changed to YEA.
- Alexander, DeMint and Shelby changed to NAY.
- Craig did not vote.
9. Hagel amendment "to provide for the conduct of activities that promote the adoption of technologies that reduce greenhouse gas intensity in the United States and in developing countries and to provide credit-based financial assistance and investment protection for projects that employ advanced climate technologies or systems in the United States."
This was one of those "alternative" amendments the Republicans offered which would have either a neutral or very minimally positive effect, but can be (or is) used to provide the Republicans with cover, so they can claim that they did in fact vote to raise the minimum wage, to protect servicemen from bankruptcy means-testing, and to oppose the escalation.
This "alternative" amendment was on "acting" to stop global warming [didn't do harm, but didn't do much good] either. The strong version of this amendment to combat global warming was the McCain-Lieberman (yes, they've actually done one positive thing together) amendment. Voting for both amendments were Bayh, Bingaman, Clinton, Feinstein, Lugar, Mikulski, Murray, Reid, Rockefeller, Salazar, Schumer and Stabenow.
Voting against both amendments was Jim Bunning (crazier than Inhofe on global warming, apparently, just less vocal) and Senators Boxer and Feingold, who opposed it because of the nuclear subsidies (or rather, Feingold doesn't like any sort of subsidies, whereas Boxer is okay with certain subsidies, just not nuclear ones).
Anyway, on adoption of the Hagel amendment,
- Senator Clinton voted YEA along with the Democrats noted above who also voted for the McCain amendment, as well as Baucus, Conrad, Dayton, Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Pryor and 47 Republicans.
- Senator Obama voted NAY along with 22 other Democrats, the 5 New England Republicans, McCain and Bunning.
- Dorgan, Jeffords, Johnson, Kerry and Thune did not vote.
10. Senator Durbin's amendment to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards.
The League of Conservation Voters ranked this vote (the positive vote being YEA) and had the following to say about it:
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) proposed an amendment to raise the CAFE standard for cars, SUVs, and minivans to 40 miles per gallon by 2015. If enacted, Durbin’s Senate Amendment 902 would have saved 3.1 million barrels of oil a day by 2020—as much oil as the U.S. currently imports from the Persian Gulf and could extract from the Arctic Refuge and the California outer continental shelf, combined—and would have annually kept more than 500 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air.
On adoption of the Durbin amendment,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Akaka, Cantwell, Carper, Chafee, Collins, Corzine, Dayton, Dodd, Durbin, Feinstein, Gregg, Harkin, Jeffords, Kennedy, Lautenberg, Leahy, Lieberman, Lugar, Murray, Bill Nelson, Obama, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Snowe and Wyden.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with 18 other Democrats and 38
11. Tom Coburn's amendment "to require conference report inclusion of limitations, directives, and earmarks." (This wouldn't get rid of earmarks, but they would be more visible to the public).
This was a very heavily mixed vote by party, which is not a surprise.
On adoption of the Coburn amendment:
- Senator Clinton voted YEA along with Akaka, Alexander, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Cantwell, Coburn, Cornyn, Corzine, Dayton, Ensign, Feingold, Feinstein, Frist, Inhofe, Isakson, Kerry, Kohl, Kyl, Landrieu, Levin, Lugar, McCain, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Schumer, Sessions, Specter, Stabenow, Sununu and Wyden.
- Senator Obama voted NAY along with Baucus, Carper, Conrad, Dorgan, Durbin, Harkin, Inouye, Jeffords, Johnson, Kennedy, Lautenberg, Leahy, Lincoln, Mikulski, Murray, Pryor, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Salazar, Sarbanes and 38 Republicans.
- Burr, Byrd, DeMint, Dodd, Dole, Graham, Lieberman and Rockefeller did not vote.
12.Dorgan amendment, again regarding Television Marti (see above)
Senator Dorgan:
The amendment I offer today is very simple. It is an amendment that will eliminate the $21 million in this appropriations bill for something called Television Martí and will instead use that $21 million to restore funding for the Peace Corps.
The vote on this amendment was the same as the one above (#3) except that Senator Corzine decided that it made sense to vote against it to lock up the Cuban vote in his gubernatorial race. Mary Landrieu did not vote.
13. Russ Feingold's point of order that the Energy Policy Act of 2006 violated the Congressional Budget Act. This point of order is used whenever the spending allocated for a bill/amendment exceeds that allocated in the original budget. Since it requires a 3/5 majority to waive the budget act, it provides a less obstructionist parliamentary maneuver to delay, force concessions on, or kill amendments and legislation with a minority of Senators.
On the Motion to Waive C.B.A. Regarding Energy Policy Act of 2006
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Akaka, Baucus, Bingaman, Byrd, Cantwell, Conrad, Dayton, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Mikulski, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Stabenow and 46 Republicans.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY along with Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Carper, Chafee, Chambliss, Clinton Cornyn, Corzine, Feingold, Gregg, Isakson, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Kyl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Martinez, McCain, Murray, Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Sarbanes, Schumer, Sununu and Wyden.
14. Conference Report, Energy Policy Act of 2005
The League of Conservation Voters rated this vote, the positive vote being NAY, and had the following to say:
In 2001, President Bush released an energy plan that was widely criticized by environmentalists for failing to reduce U.S. dependence on oil or promote energy efficiency and clean renewable energy. For nearly five years, a coalition of environmental, consumer, and other public interest groups blocked final passage of legislation to enact the President’s plan. In July 2005, House and Senate conferees agreed on an energy bill conference report that dropped some of the most controversial provisions from earlier bills, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and taxpayer-funded cleanup of the toxic gasoline additive MTBE. However, the new version still weakened key environmental protections for oil and gas drilling, added billions in new subsidies for coal, oil and nuclear power, allowed harmful underwater oil and gas testing in currently protected coastal areas, and stripped states and local governments of the authority to site liquefied natural gas facilities and transmission lines.
Senator Obama's statement on the Conference Report can be found here (S9338-S9339)
On adoption of the Conference Report, Energy Policy Act of 2006,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with all but 6 Senators not from states actually on the East or West Coast, as well as Cantwell, Smith, Mikulski, Lieberman and both Senators from NC, SC, GA, VA, ME, HI and AK.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with 6 Senators (both Senators from VT and AZ, as well as Feingold and Harry Reid) not from the East or West Coast, as well as Wyden, Dodd, Sarbanes, Murray, Schumer and both Senators from NH, FL, NJ, MA, RI, and DE.
15. Senator Dorgan's amendment regarding trade practices.
Dorgan:
My amendment says no money will be used by the folks in the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade ambassador's office negotiating these trade agreements to weaken trade protections for American workers and businesses. It is a simple amendment but important in terms of the future.
On adoption of the Dorgan amendment,
- Senator Clinton voted YEA, along with Akaka, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Conrad, Dayton, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Mikulski, Bill Nelson, Pryor, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Salazar, Sarbanes and Stabenow, as well as Chambliss, Coburn, Collins, Craig, Graham, Shelby, Snowe and Specter.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with Baucus, Cantwell, Carper, Feinstein, Jeffords, Lieberman, Lincoln, Murray, Ben Nelson, Jack Reed, Schumer, Wyden and 47 Republicans.
- Corzine did not vote.
16. Tom Coburn's amendment "to curtail waste under the Department of Defense web-based travel system."
This was a heavily split amendment. The only Democrat to speak on the amendment was Senator Levin, who opposed it, but it looks like the progressive vote was most likely NAY.
On the motion to table Coburn amendment
- Senator Clinton voted YEA along with 65 other Senators.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with Bayh, Bingaman, Boxer, Brownback, Burr, Byrd, Cantwell, Coburn, Dayton, DeMint, Dodd, Dole, Durbin, Feingold, Graham, Gregg, Inhofe, Kerry, Kohl, Kyl, Lincoln, McCain, Bill Nelson, Obama, Sessions, Snowe, Stabenow, Sununu, Thomas, Thune and Wyden.
- Allard, Corzine and Hatch did not vote.
17. McCain's amendment to move forward the date that the transition to digital television was set to occur by one year, from April 7, 2009 to April 7, 2008, the effect of which is not really made clear in the Congressional record. The only people to speak on this amendment were Republicans, with John McCain speaking in favor of it, and Ted Stevens speaking against it, and I'm really not prepared to trust what either of them are saying, especially since this amendment is technology-oriented and we all know Senator Stevens' lack of knowledge in that area.
On adoption of the McCain amendment,
- Senator Clinton voted YEA, along with Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Carper, Dodd, Feingold, Feinstein, Harkin, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Bill Nelson, Rockefeller, Salazar, Schumer, Stabenow and Coburn, Collins, DeWine, Ensign, Graham, Kyl, McCain, Sununu and Warner.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with Akaka, Baucus, Bingaman, Byrd, Cantwell, Conrad, Dayton, Dorgan, Durbin, Inouye, Johnson, Kohl, Landrieu, Leahy, Lincoln, Murray, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Sarbanes, Wyden and 46 Republicans.
- Corzine did not vote.
18. Allard amendment "to authorize a program to provide health, medical, and life insurance benefits to workers at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Colorado, who would otherwise fail to qualify for such benefits because of an early physical completion date."
On adoption of the Allard amendment,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Baucus, Bingaman, Boxer, Cantwell, Conrad, Dayton, Durbin, Feingold, Feinstein, Harkin, Jeffords, Johnson, Kerry, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Pryor, Salazar, Sarbanes, and Wyden, as well as Alexander, Allard, Bond, Burns, Craig, Crapo, DeMint, DeWine, Domenici, Graham, Murkowski, Specter and Talent.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with Akaka, Byrd, Carper, Dodd, Levin, Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Schumer and 40 Republicans.
- Bayh, Biden, Corzine, Dorgan, Hatch, Inouye, Kennedy, McCain and Stabenow did not vote.
19. Lott amendment to change the ethics rules to allow Tom Coburn (well, technically any doctor, but it was at the behest of Tom Coburn) to accept money for performing such "necessary" services as non-consented sterilization. On the motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act on the Amendment,
- Senator Obama voted YEA, along with Tom Carper, Mark Dayton, Mary Landrieu, and 47 Republicans.
- Senator Clinton voted NAY, along with 38 other Democrats, Bunning, Frist (who presumably figured Coburn should be generous like he is, and offer diagnoses for free by video on the Senate floor), Murkowski, Roberts, Shelby, Thomas, Voinovich and Warner.
- Corzine and Inouye did not vote.
20. Tax Relief Act of 2005.
Senator Reid explains his opposition to this act here (S13073):
During debate on this bill, Democrats tried to restore fiscal discipline. Led by the distinguished ranking member of the Budget Committee, Senator KENT CONRAD, we offered an amendment that would have fully paid for the tax cuts in the bill. Unfortunately, the amendment was defeated on a largely party-line vote.
...
The other reason why I oppose this legislation is that it will pave the way for adoption of a budget that does not reflect America's values. To understand why, you need to step back and take a broad view of the budget legislation moving through the House and Senate.
...
We know that capital gains and dividend tax breaks will be included in a final bill, if we let it get to that point. But why should we care? Why are those tax breaks so problematic?
...
Here's the answer: 53 percent of their benefits will go to those with incomes greater than $1 million.
...
$35,000 for those with incomes more than a million dollars. Six dollars for those earning less than $50,000.
And for this, the Republican majority wants to harm some of the Nation's most vulnerable families. That is not just wrong. It is immoral. And that is not my word--it comes from some of our Nation's top religious leaders.
On passage of the Tax Relief Act of 2005,
- Senator Clinton voted YEA, along with Baucus, Cantwell, Carper, Dayton, Feinstein, Johnson, Landrieu, Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Salazar, Schumer, Stabenow and 49 Republicans.
- Senator Obama voted NAY, along with Akaka, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inouye, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, and Wyden, as well as Burr, Chafee, Craig and Voinovich
- Corzine, Lott and Shelby did not vote.