Doctor No

Over the weekend, the local newspaper used its editorial page for an analysis of the major bills passed by Congress in 2009, and how members of the House and Senate from Texas voted on each one. There were no major surprises, with Republicans and Democrats voting pretty much as one would expect.

I may have missed something in the small print, but it looks like the blue ribbon for consistent negativity in 2009 goes to Rep. Ron Paul, the R from District 14 also known for creating a very minor ripple on the presidential campaign trail in 2008.

There were fourteen House bills identified as significant in the news analysis, and Ron Paul voted on thirteen of them. He didn't vote/abstained on HR 3081, the foreign affairs budget bill that essentially funded 12 more months of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Does that mean he hates the troops ? It once did, as I recall.

Paul voted in favor of two bills that were both ultimately defeated. Of course, he voted "YES" on the Republican alternative health care reform bill, as did every other Republican in the Texas delegation. A "NO" vote on that one would have been unpardonable. He also voted in favor of a Republican attempt to soften consumer financial protection regulations, which was another party-line vote supported by a few Texas Dems with Hispanic surnames.

That leaves 11 of the 14 bills that Paul voted against. Even bottom-feeders like Pete Sessions and Louie Gohmert only voted "NO" eight times. When people refer to the GOP as The Party of No, they must have Ron Paul in mind.