In this MegaVote for Texas’ 1st Congressional District:
Recent Congressional Votes
Senate: Internet Sales Tax ? Final Passage
Senate: Water Infrastructure Projects ? Amendment Vote
House: Private Sector Comp Time ? Final Passage
House: Debt Payment Prioritization ? Final Passage
Upcoming Congressional Bills
Senate: Water Resources Development Act of 2013
Senate: Nominations
House: To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
House: SEC Regulatory Accountability Act
Editor’s Note: Due to the redistricting of congressional districts, you may live in a new district and your subscription to this newsletter may need to be updated. To ensure that your congressional district information is correct, click on the “Edit Subscription” link at the bottom of this email. Scroll down to “Subscription Management” and enter your email to make changes to your district.
In this MegaVote for Texas’ 1st Congressional District:
Recent Congressional Votes
Senate: OMB Director ? Confirmation
Senate: Internet Sales Tax ? Cloture Motion
House: High-Risk Insurance Pools ? Rule Vote
House: FAA Furloughs ? Suspension Vote
House: Federal Helium Sales ? Suspension Vote
Congress is in recess until Monday, May 6.
Recent Senate Votes
OMB Director ? Confirmation – Vote Confirmed (96-0, 4 Not Voting)
Last week, the Senate unanimously confirmed Sylvia Matthews Burwell to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The office oversees development of the president?s annual budget proposals and oversees the performance of federal agencies. Sen. Ted Cruz voted YES Sen. John Cornyn voted YES
Internet Sales Tax ? Cloture Motion – Vote Agreed to (63-30, 7 Not Voting)
Before leaving for a week-long recess, the Senate also approved a motion to invoke cloture on S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. S. 743 would allow states to require online retailers to collect sales and use taxes on purchases made by their residents. President Obama supports the measure, saying it would “level the playing field” for brick-and-mortar retailers. The bill is expected to pass when the Senate returns; House action is uncertain. Sen. Ted Cruz voted Not Voting Sen. John Cornyn voted Not Voting
Recent House Votes
High-Risk Insurance Pools ? Rule Vote – Vote Passed (225-189, 18 Not Voting)
The House was expected to pass a bill to transfer funds from one Obamacare-created program to another last week, but after agreeing to a framework for debating the measure with this vote, Republican leaders concluded they did not have enough votes and pulled it from the floor. H.R. 1549 would transfer approximately $3.6 billion from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which was created to fund various eponymous initiatives, to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which was created to provide health insurance coverage to individuals who could not obtain such insurance until 2014, when another Obamacare program, the health insurance exchanges, are scheduled to begin operation. President Obama has threatened to veto the bill if and when it does come up again.
< img src=”http://images.capwiz.com/img/spacer.gif”; alt=”" width=”1″ height=”8″> Rep. Louie Gohmert voted YES
FAA Furloughs ? Suspension Vote – Vote Passed (361-41, 30 Not Voting)
Responding to rising anger with flight delays around the country, Congress acted with rare celerity to avert further furloughs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA had been forced to reduce the hours of its air traffic controllers as a result of the sequester. After several days of thousands of passengers experiencing delays (and presumably well aware that they would hear about it from constituents during the recess), the Senate passed a bill (S. 853) by unanimous consent allowing FAA to transfer up to $253 million to ?prevent reduced operations and staffing.? Because the bill could be seen as a spending measure (though it spends no new funds), Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. secured unanimous consent that a House-passed bill with identical text t o S. 853 would automatically pass the Senate as well. The House passed such a bill last Friday; it is expected to clear the Senate when that body meets in pro forma session on Tuesday, April 30. The White House stated last week that the President will sign the bill when it reaches his desk. Rep. Louie Gohmert voted YES
Federal Helium Sales ? Suspension Vote – Vote Passed (394-1, 37 Not Voting)
In its final action of the week, the House passed a bill creating a framework for winding down operation of the Federal Helium Reserve. Under current law, the Reserve is mandated to cease commercial helium sales once it pays off its debt, which is expected to occur by October 2013. According to the House Natural Resources committee, the scheduled closure would cut domestic helium supplies in half. H.R. 527 would keep the reserve open with new operating instructions until its capacity is 3 billion cubic feet (down from 10 billion cubic feet at present), at which time commercial sales will no longer be authorized and remaining supplies will only be available for national security and scientific needs. Neither the administration nor Senate leaders have staked out positions on the measure. Rep. Louie Gohmert voted YES
(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Senate voted 89-8 to approve legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff despite having only 3 minutes to read the 154-page bill and budget score.
Multiple Senate sources have confirmed to CNSNews.com that senators received the bill at approximately 1:36 AM on Jan. 1, 2013 – a mere three minutes before they voted to approve it at 1:39 AM.
The bill is 154-pages and includes several provisions that are unrelated to the fiscal cliff, including repealing a section of ObamaCare, extending the wind-energy tax credit, and a rum tax subsidy deal for Puerto Rican rum makers.
(CNSNews.com) – The House of Representatives late Tuesday night voted 257 to 167 to approve a “fiscal cliff” deal that had been negotiated by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden and approved by the Senate in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
The majority of House Republicans voted against the bill, with 151 opposing it, 85 supporting it, and 5 not voting. House Speaker John Boehner voted for the bill. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor voted against it.
HOW TO SET UP ONLINE ACCOUNT TO MAKE PHONE CALLS FOR
ROMNEY/RYAN CAMPAIGN
THE PHONE CALLING SYSTEM IS VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND. HOWEVER, IF YOU SIGN UP USING YOUR TEXAS CITY AND ZIP CODE, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SET UP TO MAKE CALLS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. SO THESE ARE INSTRUCTIONS TO SHOW YOU HOW TO CALL SPECIFIC STATES. (Training Video also provided below to watch with instructions on setting up an account to make calls from Romney website)
Any questions, please contact Cindy Schwartz @ 903-297-3436 or by e-mail schw...@aol.com
You will need to create a new user ID for each state. Here is how:
Under the In Your Community tab, click on the “Make Calls Option”
Click on I’ve never made calls before “Register Now”
At the “Register Now” screen:
Type in First and Last Name. After your first name type the state abbreviation you want to make calls for and also do the same after your last name (if you call for more than one state, it will help you identify each account when signing in).
Example:
First Name: Jane Last Name: DoeOH
Create a user name and also include the state abbreviation.
Example:
User Name: JaneDOH
Create a password and include state abbreviation.
Example:
Password: zzzzzzzOH
Provide your e-mail address and your primary phone as requested.
Select a city and matching zip code and select the state you want to call for (A listing of zip codes are provided below).
Example:
City: Akron State: Ohio Zip Code: 44301
CLICK SAVE. You will then be taken to the next page – Request Submitted. Then click on the green LOGIN button.
At the next page you can Click on the Tutorial tab to watch training video or the Begin Calling tab. Please note that when you highlight the Begin Calling tab, My Account will appear directly underneath. Do not click on the My Account. Click directly on the Begin Calling tab to begin calling.
You will receive a confirmation by e-mail showing your User Name and Password after setting up an account.
Please note: After setting up your account you may need to log out of Romney website, wait for your confirmation e-mail then log back into the website. Go to the Community Tab, click on Make Calls, click the Sign On button. Then you will be asked for your username & Password.
As of now, it is recommended we call in Ohio, Florida and Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado & Nevada. The best cities & zip codes to use for setting up accounts in each state are: Akron, Ohio 44301; Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120; Miami, Florida 33010; Richmond, Virginia 23218 & 23223; Manitowoc, Wisconsin 54220; Littleton, Colorado 80120; Las Vegas Nevada 89148.
BEFORE CALLING, PLEASE WATCH THE ROMNEY TUTORIAL VIDEO.
Please also read the Phone Bank Instructions provided in writing
If you set up an additional account to call for another state, follow the same steps as above but of course change your state abbreviation, select a city and matching zip code. You can keep the same password, email, and phone number for each state account you create but you’ll need to change your user name and at least one of your other names (first or last name).
If you are using a cell phone, please check your available minutes. Most plans have unlimited minutes on weekends. You will need to check with your cell phone provider.
TRAINING VIDEO ON HOW TO SET UP AN ACCOUNT ON ROMNEY WEBSITE TO MAKE CALLS (Enlarge to Full Screen for better viewing)
I have received a number of questions lately about why some states are seemingly more important than others in winning the White House. The answer is the Electoral College.
In a time when there is so much focus on popularity, the Electoral College seems out-of-date to many. But the Founding Fathers had very legitimate reasons for creating the Electoral College.
In cobbling together the new nation from very diverse states, one issue that frequently arose was the concern that the large states would dominate the new country. So compromises were reached.
One of which was a Congress with two houses — one house with representation based on population (the House of Representatives) and another house where each state had equal representation (the Senate).
Another compromise involved the election of the president, and it borrowed heavily from the concepts that led to the creation of Congress.
The Electoral College was also designed to prevent large states from dominating the election. Each state is awarded votes in the Electoral College based on its total representation in Congress — the number of House members plus its two senators.
So California with 53 House members plus two senators has 55 votes in the Electoral College. Delaware with one at-large representative and two senators has three votes. It takes 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency.
The Race To 270
In the race for 270, Barack Obama has the advantage. He starts out with a solid base of Blue states like California and New York, which gives him 201 Electoral votes. Governor Romney’s Red state base has 191 Electoral votes.
There are approximately 10 “purple,” or swing, states with 130 Electoral College votes that will decide the election: Colorado (9), Florida (29), Iowa (6), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), Ohio (18), Pennsylvania (20), Virginia (13) and Wisconsin (10).
The most likely scenario for Governor Romney to win involves carrying Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio, plus one more state. The first three states are leaning in his direction, while Ohio is a toss-up. Thus all the focus on Ohio.
If he loses Ohio, he must flip another state like Pennsylvania, where I am today rallying values voters. And he must still carry an additional state, most likely Colorado. By the way, today’s Time poll finding Obama up five points in Ohio is garbage. Continue reading “The Electoral College”
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