Commentary—

Keeping Tabs On Congress

By William A. Collins

Votes in Congress,

Often hid;

So we won’t know,

What they did.

The success of democracy depends, reasonably enough, on knowing how our representatives vote. But success at staying in office often depends on obscuring how you vote. For example, several political “annual reports” arrived here recently, each scrupulously avoiding their incumbent’s stance on most major issues. Ironically, though, the state environmental rankings came out at the same time, showing that our local senator did not do well. Somehow his newsletter neglected to mention that.

Still, telling us about his own naughty votes is not really the senator’s job. It’s the press’s job. But unfortunately the press has more important things to report, like crime and sports. Besides, tracking down voting records can be a nuisance.

But even without competent news coverage, there is one sad trend that makes it easier to guess how at least the Republicans voted. Ever since the Newt Gingrich era, independence within the GOP has plummeted. And like his recent predecessors, current House boss Tom “The Hammer” Delay, does not cotton to dissent. If you want your fair scoop from the Washington pork barrel, or wish to retain your subcommittee chairmanship, you’d better vote the party line. Also, the ever-swelling volume of corporate-influenced campaign contributions enforces that same rightish trend. Those big bucks even move some Democrats to the right. Luckily Connecticut’s two Dem House members have stood firm.

The recent Medicare Act is instructive. Not surprisingly, all our Republican representatives — Rob Simmons, Nancy Johnson, and Chris Shays — voted for it, while Democrats John Larson and Rosa DeLauro voted against. More telling still was an amendment proposed to remove the disastrous section of the bill that calls for eventual partial privatization of Medicare. In older days, our moderate Republicans could have voted for that amendment. On this day, none did.

Nancy Johnson’s case offers a special window into why she championed the bill. Since 1999 she has accepted $275,000 from HMOs and $219,000 from other health insurers. Of the $800,000 she has already collected for this year’s race, 73 percent comes from political action committees, heavily tilted toward insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately, the Associated Press doesn’t report that kind of stuff. Nor do any local media.

The Patriot Act presents a further example of this regimentation. Perhaps its scariest original provision allowed the FBI and CIA to search our homes without telling us. The House voted overwhelmingly to repeal that section, but Simmons, Johnson, and Shays all stuck with it. You might want to ask them about that.

Workers, too, should have an interest in what our delegation is up to. The House, for example, passed new overtime rules that will protect 1.3 million new toilers, but will delete 8 million old ones. Since the bill only passed 213 to 210, obviously some Republicans couldn’t stomach it. Unfortunately, our three all could.

But the irresistible pressures of politics don’t just corrupt Republicans. On the defense budget, Connecticut’s Democrats took a dive too. In fact, only 19 members of the whole House were willing to oppose profiteering contractors, Star Wars, needless weapons, surplus bases, and ill-advised wars.

Finally, from Connecticut’s downwind standpoint perhaps the clearest choice of legislative right and wrong was the energy bill. It chiefly benefited oil, gas, coal, and nuclear producers, at the expense of consumers and the environment. Republicans all over the Northeast threw off their Texas yoke to oppose it, including Chris Shays. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson, however, stuck with their party. Presumably they will not have to wait for heaven to collect their reward.

(Columnist William A. Collins is a former state representative and a former mayor of Norwalk.)