House Democrats Who Voted FOR Patriot Act Reauthorization, Feb. 8 2011You know, it’s a pretty safe bet that a Republican politician will support the anti-constitution, anti-freedom, authoritarian provisions of the Patriot Act: only 26 out of 236 Republicans in the House — less than 10% — voted NO against H.R. 514, the bill Speaker of the House John Boehner tried to shove down Congress’ throat in order to reauthorize crucial provisions of the Patriot Act without amendment, without committee consideration and with no more than 40 minutes’ debate.
Yes, you can expect most if not all House Republicans to shuck aside their campaign rhetoric and suck up to the Big Government they say they despise, voting against Americans’ dignity and their constitutionally-guaranteed liberty. But Democrats should know better. It was the Democrats in Congress who spent the Bush years railing against the Patriot Act, who declared that if we voted for them they’d restore our liberties (see esp. “Obama, Barack”).
It should be noted that 122 of the 193 House Democrats maintained consistency, held their ground and voted NO, AGAINST this reauthorization of the Patriot Act. But 67 Democrats voted FOR the Patriot Act, despite liberal Americans’ repeated vocal insistence that they don’t want the darned thing around, that they are tired of the 1st and 4th Amendments to the Constitution being treated like toilet paper, that they don’t want every American to be treated like a threat instead of a citizen.
I mean, really: if the Democrats you see named below are going to do worse on Americans’ liberties than 26 Republicans, then what are they doing in the Democratic Party? Let me rephrase that: what makes them think they shouldn’t face primary opposition in the 2012 elections from Democratic Party challengers who actually hold the same pro-constitution values as the Democratic rank and file?
The 67 Democrats who voted tonight to reauthorize the Patriot Act are:
Rep. Gary Ackerman (Democrat-NY, District 5) — Yea
Rep. Jason Altmire (Democrat-PA, District 4) — Yea
Rep. Joe Baca (Democrat-CA, District 43) — Yea
Rep. John Barrow (Democrat-GA, District 12) — Yea
Rep. Shelley Berkley (Democrat-NV, District 1) — Yea
Rep. Sanford Bishop (Democrat-GA, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Timothy Bishop (Democrat-NY, District 1) — Yea
Rep. Dan Boren (Democrat-OK, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Leonard Boswell (Democrat-IA, District 3) — Yea
Rep. Dennis Cardoza (Democrat-CA, District 18) — Yea
Rep. Russ Carnahan (Democrat-MO, District 3) — Yea
Rep. John Carney (Democrat-DE, District 0) — Yea
Rep. Kathy Castor (Democrat-FL, District 11) — Yea
Rep. Ben Chandler (Democrat-KY, District 6) — Yea
Rep. Gerald Connolly (Democrat-VA, District 11) — Yea
Rep. Jim Cooper (Democrat-TN, District 5) — Yea
Rep. Jim Costa (Democrat-CA, District 20) — Yea
Rep. Joe Courtney (Democrat-CT, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Mark Critz (Democrat-PA, District 12) — Yea
Rep. Henry Cuellar (Democrat-TX, District 28) — Yea
Rep. Susan Davis (Democrat-CA, District 53) — Yea
Rep. Norman Dicks (Democrat-WA, District 6) — Yea
Rep. Joe Donnelly (Democrat-IN, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Jane Harman (Democrat-CA, District 36) — Yea
Rep. Alcee Hastings (Democrat-FL, District 23) — Yea
Rep. Martin Heinrich (Democrat-NM, District 1) — Yea
Rep. Brian Higgins (Democrat-NY, District 27) — Yea
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (Democrat-TX, District 15) — Yea
Rep. Tim Holden (Democrat-PA, District 17) — Yea
Rep. Steny Hoyer (Democrat-MD, District 5) — Yea
Rep. Jay Inslee (Democrat-WA, District 1) — Yea
Rep. Steve Israel (Democrat-NY, District 2) — Yea
Rep. William Keating (Democrat-MA, District 10) — Yea
Rep. Ronald Kind (Democrat-WI, District 3) — Yea
Rep. Larry Kissell (Democrat-NC, District 8 ) — Yea
Rep. James Langevin (Democrat-RI, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Rick Larsen (Democrat-WA, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Sander Levin (Democrat-MI, District 12) — Yea
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (Democrat-IL, District 3) — Yea
Rep. Nita Lowey (Democrat-NY, District 18) — Yea
Rep. Stephen Lynch (Democrat-MA, District 9) — Yea
Rep. Jim Matheson (Democrat-UT, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (Democrat-NY, District 4) — Yea
Rep. Mike McIntyre (Democrat-NC, District 7) — Yea
Rep. Jerry McNerney (Democrat-CA, District 11) — Yea
Rep. Brad Miller (Democrat-NC, District 13) — Yea
Rep. Christopher Murphy (Democrat-CT, District 5) — Yea
Rep. William Pascrell (Democrat-NJ, District 8 ) — Yea
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (Democrat-CO, District 7) — Yea
Rep. Gary Peters (Democrat-MI, District 9) — Yea
Rep. Collin Peterson (Democrat-MN, District 7) — Yea
Rep. Mike Quigley (Democrat-IL, District 5) — Yea
Rep. Nick Rahall (Democrat-WV, District 3) — Yea
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Democrat-TX, District 16) — Yea
Rep. Mike Ross (Democrat-AR, District 4) — Yea
Rep. Steven Rothman (Democrat-NJ, District 9) — Yea
Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger (Democrat-MD, District 2) — Yea
Rep. Adam Schiff (Democrat-CA, District 29) — Yea
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (Democrat-PA, District 13) — Yea
Rep. David Scott (Democrat-GA, District 13) — Yea
Rep. Terri Sewell (Democrat-AL, District 7) — Yea
Rep. Heath Shuler (Democrat-NC, District 11) — Yea
Rep. Albio Sires (Democrat-NJ, District 13) — Yea
Rep. Adam Smith (Democrat-WA, District 9) — Yea
Rep. Niki Tsongas (Democrat-MA, District 5) — Yea
Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (Democrat-MD, District 8 ) — Yea
Rep. John Yarmuth (Democrat-KY, District 3) — Yea
Source: Roll Call for H.R. 514