Blog #5

According to Govtrack.us Senator Jeff Merkley is a “far-left democrat.” The website is intended to help the American public track the progress of both the state and national legislatures. It tracks bill statuses, voting records, and the membership of each legislature. An article published on HuffingtonPost.com (a liberal leaning online news website) outlines Merkley’s life and experience. The article said this about the Senator “his entire career has been animated by a simple philosophy: that each of us has a responsibility to make the community, the nation, and the planet a better place.” A strong advocate for social programs, Merkley supports health care reform and welfare programming. In addition Merkley, “was also honored to take the baton from the late Senator Ted Kennedy as the lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and has made full equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans a signature priority.” These sources indicate that Govtrack accurately characterizes Merkley as a left leaning liberal, because of his emphasis on equality, welfare, and the use of government intervention in our everyday lives.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/jeff_merkley/412325

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-merkley/

Merkley is not known to cross party lines when taking votes on bills. Recently, however, he voted counter to his party when approving John Brennan as the new CIA director. On March 7^th. Senator Merkley with Senators Leahy and Sanders from Vermont joined 31 Republicans in voting Nay to his approval. Merkley expressed concerns over the Obama administrations drone program. This information comes from the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/07/john-brennans-confirmation-how-they-voted/

Interest group approval ratings are as follows:

Planned Parenthood: 100%

Catholic Advocate-Positions: 0%

Alliance for retired Americans: 100%

Low ratings from those that support immigration crackdowns and tougher regulations on immigration problems: 18-0%

Gun-owners of America: 17%

NRA: F

American Civil Liberties Union-Positions: 75%

The National Lumber and Building Materials Unions: 20%

Human Society Legislative Fund: 100%

American Farm Bureau Federation Positions: 40%

These ratings come from Projectvotesmart.com, the website is a great source that provides citizens with any ratings an interest group has given to a congress member.

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/23644/jeff-merkley#.UXl3_HBF6B8

One way to evaluate Merkley’s political positions is by looking at his ADA score. An ADA score is published by Americans for Democratic Action, the organization looks at 20 key votes from the past congressional session and awards points based on a members vote on each issue. The Annual Voting Records have served as the standard measure of political liberalism. Out of 100 Merkley scored a 95% from the ADA scores, indicating that he consistently votes very liberally.

According to CQ Research Weekly’s 2012 publication about Senators who vote in accordance with the president’s views. Merkley was listed under those who voted most often in opposition to the president from the democratic party, he was scored as a 5.2%. Meaning Merkley voted 5% of the time in opposition to Obama’s stances on issues.

In 2012 Merkley was present for 97% of the votes. He voted in favor of the Presidents opinion 95% of the time and in opposition 5.2% of the time.

Democrats

Manchin, W.Va. 15.2%

Webb, Va. 11.7

Landrieu, La. 10.4

Nelson, Neb. 10.3

Pryor, Ark. 8.9

Baucus, Mont. 7.6

Harkin, Iowa 6.8

Begich, Alaska 6.7

Casey, Pa. 5.3

Merkley, Ore. 5.2

Mikulski, Md. 5.2

Whitehouse, R.I. 5.2

Tester, Mont. 5.1

http://proxy.augie.edu:2955/cqweekly/document.php?id=weeklyreport113-000004207217&type=hitlist&num=1

In 2012 Senator Merkley voted in agreement with the party for 95% of all votes, and in disagreement with the majority of the party 5% of the time.

http://proxy.augie.edu:2955/cqweekly/document.php?id=weeklyreport113-000004207218&type=hitlist&num=0

In 2011 Merkley voted in agreement with the majority stance of his party 98% of the time, and he voted in opposition to the Democratic parties stance 2% of the time.

http://proxy.augie.edu:2955/cqweekly/document.php?id=weeklyreport112-000004011282&type=hitlist&num=0

In 2010 the senator voted in opposition to the president 4.8% of the time.

http://proxy.augie.edu:2955/cqweekly/document.php?id=weeklyreport112-000003788814&type=hitlist&num=3

Senator Merkley’s DW Nominate score for the 112^th (2012) congress had the senator at   -0.418, he has ranked as the 10^th most liberal score on the list. DW Nominate scores are created based on a congress member’s history of roll call votes. The score is meant to portray a member’s political ideology based on their stances on issues from their voting history. A score that is above zero indicates more conservative preferences, while a negative score indicates a member as more liberal.

http://www.voteview.com/SENATE_SORT112.HTM

Blog #4 Jeff Merkley

Senator Merkley's Committee Services 

According to the Senate’s website Senator Merkley serves on four committees. The website is a great resource for information about specific committee membership and relevant news about the Senate. Merkley’s committee and sub-committee assignments are:

http://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/assignments.htm

•              Committee on Appropriations

                                *Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug    Administration, and Related Agencies

                                *Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

                                *Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

                                *Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

                                *Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

•              Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

                                *Subcommittee on Economic Policy (Chair) 

                                *Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection       

                                *Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development                                                                                      

•              Committee on Environment and Public Works

                           *Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy (Chair)

                           *Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health

                      *Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife

•                            Committee on the Budget

Merkley is not a chairman or ranking member for any of his committees. However, he is chairman for two of his sub-committees. He is chair of the Economic Policy Sub-Committee within the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. In addition, he is also the chair of the Green Jobs and New Economy Sub-Committee within the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The biggest issues sitting before Merkley’s committees include:

The Senates' recent passage of the Continuing Appropriations Act to fund government through September 30, 2013, and to prevent a shutdown. On March 20, 2013 the Senate passed this this act which has been debate and contested both in the media and in Congress. Congress now has another six months to find ways to avoid government shutdown, and get the major budget issues facing the country sorted out. In a statement issued by Senator Barbra Mikulski she said, "Working across the aisle and across the dome, the Senate has come together to prevent a government shutdown. I am so proud the Senate bill protects national security while meeting compelling human needs. It makes investments in human infrastructure like early childhood education. And it creates jobs today and jobs tomorrow by supporting research and innovation. I thank my Vice Chairman, Senator Shelby, for his support and hard work. I look forward to swift action in the House so we can focus on passing a budget, ending sequestration, and getting back to regular order."

This statement comes from an online newspaper article published by the Alabama newspaper known as The Cherokee Herald.

As a member of the Appropriations committee Senator Merkley can take this new information and go back to his constituency and make credit claiming statements about his involvement with the bill in helping to avoid government shut down.

http://www.cherokeeherald.com/view/full_story/22027511/article-Shelby-announces-Senate-passage-of-legislation-preventing-government-shutdown--?instance=home_latest_1st_left

 Another recent issue relevant to Merkley, although not directly linked to his committee services is his introduction of a bill to improve the process by which Indian tribes reclaim their lands. In an article published on the Polk County Itemizer Observer (a newspaper that publishes news stories for the northwest part of Oregon) Senator Merkley introduced a bill that would “streamline the process of incorporating tribal-owned land into the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde reservation.” The bill was introduced in late February and was assigned to the committee of Indian Affairs. If the bill gets through committee and gets put to vote, it could be a great opportunity to credit claim. In addition, Merkley could send out a newsletter as a way to advertise about what he has done for his local Indian constituencies, and increase his name recognition.

http://www.polkio.com/ns/news/25199/bill-addressing-reservation-land-introduced-in-congress

Merkley,with Oregon's other Senator Ron Wyden (who co-sponsored the "Indian Land Bill" (S.416)  with Merkley)

Senator Jeff Merkley-Strategy

Senator Merkley’s website indicates that he often holds town hall meetings across his state of Oregon. A number of press releases indicate that he has held the meetings to update constituents on his work in Washington, answer questions, and engage in discussions about constituent concerns. In 2013 he has held numerous town hall meetings. His website even shows an interactive map that indicates where and when he will be holding a town hall meeting. The meetings indicate that Merkley puts much time and effort into connecting and understanding his constituency. His efforts to build a good reputation may be due in part to this term being his first term. Many people do not know much about him and his policies, but by going out to the people often and giving them the information in person he builds credibility, and helps build support for his next election.

http://www.merkley.senate.gov/oregon/townhalls/

According to a press release posted on Merkley’s website in October 2012 he and two other senators traveled to Israel during the congressional recess.

Merkley said this about the trip in the press release:

“This visit to Israel is an opportunity to meet with some of the region’s top leaders and get an on-the-ground perspective on some of the complex foreign policy challenges that directly impact America,” said Merkley. “I’m also looking forward to meeting with leaders in one of the world’s most vibrant technology and innovation hot spots and keeping an eye out for opportunities for Oregon companies.”

http://www.merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=4d0be823-35f9-44b9-837b-d7fd9e64f52c

I was surprised to read that he went to Israel because usually when I think of Congress I think of them dealing strictly with national issues. But the Senate does hold some power in declaring war and dealing with foreign nations, thus Merkley's international trip can be attributed to those powers that are unique to the Senate when dealing with international affairs.

Merkley’s website houses a great database to reference all of the press releases that have been issued about him and his work. The releases range from his statement about the Presidents state of the Union speech, to revealing information about new bills he introduced to the Senate.

http://www.merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/

If I were a concerned voter from Oregon, I believe I would find the press release section especially helpful because even when the Senator is not in the state you can learn about what he is doing, and what he has to say about it.

As I researched Merkley’s use of franking and mailers to constituents. I stumbled upon an issue from his campaign days. “Jeff Merkley calls out Gordon Smith for urban/rural doubletalk,” was the title of the story published on Blueoregon.com. Blueoregon.com is a website that provides opportunity for commentary on the politics in Oregon. In 2007 Merkley’s opponent incumbent Senator Gordon Smith sent out mailings to the Portland area in an effort to appeal to more democratic voters. Merkley responded to Smith’s mailing with his own mailing that said this:

"The enclosed brochure was mailed from Smith’s U.S. Senate office at taxpayer expense. In it he touts work he claims to have done with two prominent Democrats: our other Senator, Ron Wyden, and Senator Hillary Clinton. Smith likes to tell people in Portland that he works closely with Hillary Clinton. Does he talk about his work with prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton when he’s in your town?

That isn’t the way I will run my campaign. I’ll stand by my principles, no matter what. I won’t pretend to be anyone other than who I am, no matter which part of the state I might be visiting. That’s what a Senator for all Oregonians owes to the people he represents."

http://www.blueoregon.com/2007/11/jeff-merkley-ca/

 According to govtrack.us (a website that makes it easy to track the activities of the U.S. Congress) Merkley falls on the far left of the Democratic spectrum. His leadership score in Congress is somewhere in the middle of the pack and he has missed 11 of the 1,207 roll call votes that have occurred during his time in office.Merkley has sponsored and cosponsored a multitude of bills since taking his seat in the Senate. Bills that he has recently proposed to the Senate include:

S. 172: SAFE Lending Act of 2013

A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues related to the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes.

It has 4 co-sponsors.

S. 160: Medical Debt Responsibility Act of 2013

A bill to exclude from consumer credit reports medical debt that has been in collection and has been fully paid or settled, and for other purposes.

It has 6 co-sponsors.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/jeff_merkley/412325

***In VERY recent news, Merkley has been pushing his constituents to sign petitions in favor of passing the Senates Violence Against Women act through the House. His website has had a large portion devoted to promoting the Act. As of Thursday February 28, 2013 the House passed the Senate version of the bill, after being unable to agree upon their own terms of the bill. Jeff was pretty pumped.

He posted a nice shout out on his website/facebook page.

http://www.jeffmerkley.com/

 

Merkley at town hall meetings: