Dave Reichert page @ RemoveRINOs - conservative republicans and independents replacing RINOs with Constitutional conservatives

Dave Reichert

Voted FOR Cap and Trade - For info on the faulty science behind the legislation, please see the following piece by Jonah Goldberg and Kim Strassel: "The Shrinking Consensus."

For info on the even faultier economics behind the legislation, please see the following piece by Guy Benson from National Review Online: "Cap and Trade Doesn't Work."

Voted AGAINST the right of workers to a secret ballot when voting on whether to unionize (ACU-6).

Voted TO OVERRIDE Bush’s 2007 veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion (ACU-6). This program was created in 1997 only to provide insurance to children from uninsured families who were narrowly above poverty. But 10 years later, the Dems moved to expand the program--and, as always, the devil was in the details. By joining forces with the Dems, he chose to do the following:

Re-define "children" to mean "21-year-old adults."

Re-define "just above poverty" to mean "$80,000 income."

Let some taxpayers pay for other taxpayers' insurance (even if the former make less than the latter and purchase their own insurance).

Give incentives for states to “recruit” new enrollees and thus make this big program even bigger. (Carney-1).

Voted FOR a 2009 bill to double SCHIP spending (ACU-17).   This insurance entitlement provides free coverage for enrollees whose incomes can be as high as triple the poverty level - the vote was viewed as an important step toward the kind of nationalized health care that was passed in March 2010. Also notable, the CBO estimated that nearly 80% of the children who were given free insurance under SCHIP already had private policies (Carter - NRO). To pay for the swelling program, this vote included a tax hike.

Voted FOR the 2009 omnibus bill that meant an additional 8% increase in spending, on top of the stimulus

Voted AGAINST strenghtening missile defense in 2009 (ACU-17).

Voted AGAINST Earmark Reform aimed to cut runaway spending (ACU-6).

Voted FOR Cash for Clunkers (ACU-17).

Voted AGAINST off-shore drilling in 06 (ACU-4).

Voted AGAINST off-shore drilling in 07 (ACU-6).

Voted AGAINST lifting the ban on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Introduced in September 08,
this measure would have given states the power to choose whether to allow production off their own coasts

Voted FOR allowing the EEOC to sue employers who require English be spoken in their workplace (1 of 7 R's)

Voted FOR Pelosi's "light-bulb ban" that, as the ACU explains, regulates "lights and appliances (including a ban on the incandescent light bulb), creating new programs for alternative energy sources, imposing more regulations on energy companies and mandating vastly increased use of ‘renewable’ energy” (ACU 6).

Voted FOR the 2007 Energy Policy that, according to the ACU, mandated reliance on biofuels while not allowing oil supplies to increase. The policy also stiffened regulations and raised taxes $2 billion (ACU-6).

Voted FOR applying McCain / Feingold to grassroots organizations (ACU-4) NOTE: Undoubtedly, in this instance, the dems were the good guys. This was GOP-sponsored and nearly ALL republicans voted for it. However, we at Remove the Rinos believe there is no excuse for voting against the 1st Amendment no matter how many republicans do so and no matter how reprehensible George Soros’ 527s are. And if John McCain were to jump off a bridge…..??

Voted AGAINST a 2006 conservative budget alternative that would have extended Bush’s tax cuts while trimming more than 300 billion dollars of discretionary spending, done away with close to 150 programs, and increased funds for the military and for veterans. It also would have opened ANWR for drilling (ACU-4) .

Voted AGAINST drilling in ANWR in 2005 (ACU 2).

Voted AGAINST drilling in ANWR in 2006 (ACU-4) .

Voted AGAINST a 2008 motion that would have encouraged drilling in ANWR, the Outer-continental Shelf, and other territories in the West (ACU-8).

Voted AGAINST banning taxpayer dollars from going to the U.N. to renovate, or build anew, their headquarters in the United States (ACU 4).

Voted AGAINST an amendment that would keep government funds from being used to enforce trigger-lock regulations (ACU 4). Critics argue these regulations have little value in promoting gun safety and are primarily punitive in design, adding cost and red tape to gun ownership. Still worse, these trigger locks would hamper, if not outright nullify, a gun-owner's ability to use the weapon in self-defense. This suggests another Machiavellian gun-control strategy: if you can't make a gun illegal, do the next best thing--make it useless.

Voted AGAINST a bill protecting property owners from eminent domain abuses. The bill would guarantee
access to the federal court so that citizens could sue to stop the government from taking their property

Voted AGAINST an amendment to cut discretionary spending by 2% while protecting the Bush tax cuts (ACU 2).

Voted FOR raising minimum wage after the Dems rejected tax cuts that would have protected entry-level workers and small businesses (ACU-6) . For insights into the harmful effects the measure, in its House form, would have meant to workers and small businesses, National Review Online consulted with four leading economists. All four economists agreed that only politicians stood to gain from the measure : "At Minimum…Should Republicans fight back against a minimum-wage increase?"

Voted AGAINST banning taxpayer dollars from going to the U.N. to renovate, or build anew, their headquarters in the United States (ACU 4).

Voted FOR spending an additional $100 million on Public Broadcasting (ACU 2).

Voted AGAINST a ban on federal eminent-domain seizures that force property out of the hands of private citizens and into the hands of private developers (ACU 2).

Voted AGAINST reforming the Endangered Species Act (ACU 2). to reimburse property owners for losses suffered from not being able to develop their land. It also clarified species designations, better protecting the species in need of protection and better targeting the properties in need of oversight (Marano and Lieberman).

Voted FOR a 700% increase in funding for the HOPE VI Public Housing Program, even as $2 billion remained in the coffers, unspent. This was a program that Bush had marked for elimination (ACU-8).

Voted AGAINST the 2008 Republican budget resolution that, according to the ACU, "would have made the Bush tax cuts permanent, capped discretionary spending at $973 billion, reduced mandatory spending by $12 billion over five years, and imposed a moratorium on pork barrel 'earmarks'” (ACU-8).

Voted FOR the Democrat's Mortgage Bailout (Round One). Introduced in May 08, this bill set the tone for the bailout fever that would soon infect Washington. Under threat of Bush veto, Kirk voted for the bill, which sought to further distort the marketplace by increasing the Federal Housing Authority's influence, guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Simultaneously, it provided a multi-billion dollar trust fund available to parties of questionable relevance and repute, such as ACORN (ACU-8). - For background into the bill's tie-in to our current bailout woes, see the following prescient NRO editorial: "Do Nothing, Congress."

Voted FOR penalizing energy producers. As part of an ongoing assault on the energy sector at a time when we most needed to encourage exploration and drilling, Reichert voted with the democrats on a bill that, as the ACU explains, would have placed "new requirements and penalties on holders of federal oil and gas leases" (ACU-8).

Voted FOR the Paycheck Equality Bill, which--at its best--duplicated anti-discrimination laws already in effect, and--at its worst--moved the burden of proof in discrimination cases from the employee to the employer (a clear
violation of the innocent-until-proven-guilty principle) and opened the door to oppressive intrusion into the labor
market (ACU-8).

Voted FOR the economic stimulus bill of September 2008 (ACU-8).