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I was snowed under in December and January. Rather than trying to go back and reconstruct in detail what Mike Thompson did in those months, I am just going to tell you how he voted on a couple of key items. I'll try to do a better job covering Mike going forward.
The "Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act" passed 235 to 181, with 16 not voting, and Mike voted Yes.
Mike voted to subsidize the nation's beloved insurance industry with the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, which passed 303-116.
And our beloved Pentagon got a good share of the taxpayer rake in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Representative Thompson voted yes. Only 49 members of the House had the spine to vote against the Act the first time around. The second time around, which means with some changes in a Senate-House conference committee, only 46 voted against it.
Mike voted for the Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act [H.R. 4351], which, if it becomes law (it has not yet) would lower taxes on the highest income Americans, which is consistent with Mike's past support for the George W. Bush tax cuts for the rich. This Act passed 226-193. He voted for the simlar Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007 as well; it passed 352 to 64, so it must have pleased the donors to both parties.
Congressman Thompson voted for the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, authorizing intelligence spending. This version also banned some methods of interrogation that might be defined as torture, like waterboarding. The act passed 222-199.
The Clean Energy Act of 2007 passed 314-100. It raises automobile mileage standards to 35 miles per gallon, but is mostly a boondoggle for corn farmers, alcohol plants, and environmentalist venture capitalists. Mike voted Yes. I've got to agree with him on the vote: some times you have to throw some pork to the pigs to get good provisions of an act through.
The House attempted to override President Bush's veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program Extension and Improvement Act, but was 15 votes short with 260 yes, 152 no, and 19 not voting. Mike Thompson voted Yes.
Mike Thomspon is the current elected member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 1st Congressional District.