A new analysis discussed by investigative journalist David Sirota shows that Rep. Beto O’Rourke most often voted for right-wing legislation.
Not only has O’Rourke voted to advance the GOP agenda, but he has also frequently opposed his own party and voted for bills that boosted the fossil fuel industry, big banks, and Trump’s immigration policy.
As Sirota points out:
“A Capital & Main review of congressional votes shows that even as O’Rourke has represented one of the most Democratic congressional districts in the entire country, he has in many instances undermined his own party’s efforts to halt the GOP agenda, frequently voting against the majority of House Democrats in support of Republican bills and Trump administration positions.”
The analysis looked at 167 votes that O’Roruke has cast in his six-year tenure in Congress. The votes that he cast in opposition to his own party were not progressive dissents, but instead were votes to help pass Republican-sponsored legislation.” Much of the legislation that he voted on the side of the GOP “were designed to help corporate interests dismantle Obama administration programs and regulations.”
It would be nice to live in a world where you could link to a lawmaker's votes on the congressional website and not have some people's reaction be this: https://t.co/2mZVsBS11p
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 20, 2018
Not only did he vote against the majority of Democrats, but he also voted against a majority of other Texas Democratic lawmakers in Congress.
“Consumer, environmental, public health, and civil rights organizations have cast legislation backed by O’Rourke as aiding big banks, undermining the fight against climate change, and supporting Trump’s anti-immigrant program,” Sirota states in his article.
Some examples of O’Rourke’s questionable voting record include:
- Voting for a Republican bill in 2015 that was meant to delay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s federal regulations and weaken lending disclosure protections for home mortgage borrowers.
- Again in 2015 he voted for a Republican bill to “to repeal country of origin labeling requirements with respect to beef, pork, and chicken,” according to the bill’s text.
- Co-sponsored and voted for legislation that would have made it more difficult for regulators to protect consumers from racial discrimination.
- Voted for two Republican bills to lift the oil export ban.
- Joined Republicans to vote down Democratic legislation that would have barred drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
- Supported “a package of Republican bills that Democrats said would reduce independent audits of corporations, deregulate stock exchanges, and restrict regulators’ ability to monitor high-frequency trading.”
The could be bad news for many of his supporters who have been hoping for a successful 2020 presidential campaign. In the last few weeks, several early polls have shown O’Rourke in the top three Democratic presidential candidates for 2020, following Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. This news that O’Rourke’s track record is not only anti-Progressive but is pro-right-wing could change that.
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