Well, given the fact the Minnesota legislature is out of session (which means far less entertainment from Mark Olson) and Michele "Fool for Christ" Bachmann has avoided doing anything too particularly egregious (Although, Dump Bachmann does have a couple of interesting articles on Michele voting against Native American Small Business Owners and Defunding the National Endowment for the Arts), I thought it might be interesting to do a little comparison showdown.
Minnesota has two freshman representatives (Tim Walz (D) and Michele Bachmann (R) ). Now that we have completed 6 months of service, how do these two stack up in terms of legislation sponsored/cosponsored and other interesting factoids?
Legislation Sponsored/Co-Sponsored:
Tim Walz (D) has either sponsored or co-sponsored 168 Bills.
Some of his highlights include:
Sponsor
2. [110th] H.R.2179 : To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish traumatic brain injury centers.
Sponsor: Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] (introduced 5/3/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: House Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 5/3/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
3. [110th] H.R.2691 : To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide additional incentives for facilities producing electricity from wind.
Sponsor: Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] (introduced 6/12/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 6/12/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Cosponsor
22. [110th] H.R.2 : To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage.
Sponsor: Rep Miller, George [CA-7] (introduced 1/5/2007) Cosponsors (222)
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2007 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 94 - 3. Record Vote Number:42.
25. [110th] H.R.5 : To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce interest rates for student borrowers.
Sponsor: Rep Miller, George [CA-7] (introduced 1/12/2007) Cosponsors (211)
Committees: House Education and Labor; Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/17/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
31. [110th] H.R.67 : To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (32)
Committees: House Veterans' Affairs; Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 5/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
34. [110th] H.R.327 : To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans.
Sponsor: Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3] (introduced 1/9/2007) Cosponsors (152)
Committees: House Veterans' Affairs; Senate Veterans' Affairs
House Reports: 110-55
Latest Major Action: 3/22/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Michele Bachmann has either sponsored or co-sponsored 49 Bills.
Some of her highlights include:
Sponsor
H.R.636
Title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve health care choice by providing for the tax deductibility of medical expenses by individuals.
Sponsor: Rep Bachmann, Michele [MN-6] (introduced 1/23/2007) Cosponsors (56)
Latest Major Action: 1/23/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Cosponsor
9. [110th] H.RES.268 : Supporting responsible fatherhood, promoting marriage, and encouraging greater involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, especially on Father's Day.
Sponsor: Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] (introduced 3/26/2007) Cosponsors (57)
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 6/27/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.
24. [110th] H.R.997 : To declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the English language texts of the laws of the United States, pursuant to Congress' powers to provide for the general welfare of the United States and to establish a uniform rule of naturalization under article I, section 8, of the Constitution.
Sponsor: Rep King, Steve [IA-5] (introduced 2/12/2007) Cosponsors (108)
Committees: House Education and Labor; House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 6/5/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
42. [110th] H.R.2380 : To make the repeal of the estate tax permanent.
Sponsor: Rep Hulshof, Kenny C. [MO-9] (introduced 5/17/2007) Cosponsors (103)
Committees: House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 5/17/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
*If you are keeping score, Tim has sponsored or co-sponsored over THREE times more legislation than our very own Michele Bachmann. While it should come as no surprise to anyone that has done any investigation into Michele, she has been jumping on board legislation that does little more than tow the line of Neo-con philosophy. None of these bills furthers the day to day interests of voters in the Sixth District and I hope her opponent will exploit these points often to expose this woman as the partisan hack she is.
Other points of interest:
*Tim sits on THREE committees along with SIX subcommittees while Michele sits on ONE committee and only THREE subcommittees. So, while sitting on twice as many committees, Tim is able to sponsor or cosponsor three times more legislation. My question is, what are we in the Sixth District paying for?
*Tim has missed 4 votes to Michele's 7. Granted, both are average to above average numbers, but when coupled with Michele's light committee schedule and lack of legislative work one really has to wonder how someone could miss almost twice as many votes as a guy with twice the committee schedule and three times the legislative work.
*Also, as I have noted here before, Michele cannot even seem to get her own biography right.
*Finally, it is important to note that even Jim Ramstad (186 sponsored/cosponsored bills) and John Kline (81 sponsored/cosponsored bills) are able to get some work done in this Democratic controlled congress. So, Michele, what are you doing?
*It looks like the 1st District got a great deal and the 6th District got the shaft!
*Tim has missed 4 votes to Michele's 7. Granted, both are average to above average numbers, but when coupled with Michele's light committee schedule and lack of legislative work one really has to wonder how someone could miss almost twice as many votes as a guy with twice the committee schedule and three times the legislative work.
*Also, as I have noted here before, Michele cannot even seem to get her own biography right.
*Finally, it is important to note that even Jim Ramstad (186 sponsored/cosponsored bills) and John Kline (81 sponsored/cosponsored bills) are able to get some work done in this Democratic controlled congress. So, Michele, what are you doing?
*It looks like the 1st District got a great deal and the 6th District got the shaft!
1 Response to "The Showdown: Bachmann vs. Walz"
Great work!