When I read Joe Trippi or any one of several other of Carolyn Maloney's online supporters make the case for Maloney's impending challenge against our incumbent Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, by stating, that Maloney is a "true progressive," I am a bit skeptical.
Rather than accept those statements as fact, I think people should take a look at her voting record. That's where I always look...and I want to share with you what I found, which is some pretty interesting stuff.
As Swing State Project revealed back in March, Carolyn Maloney is among the top 30 Democratic members of Congress whose records are significantly more conservative than the voting patterns of their districts. The fact is, despite representing the 31st most liberal district in the country (NY-14, making up the Upper East Side of Manhattan and part of Queens,) Maloney has not really been a reliable progressive, especially back during the dark days of the early Bush years when it really counted.
As you can see below, on some of the most important votes of the last 10 years, Carolyn Maloney has veered away from progressive values time and time again.
1. The first, of course, is the biggie: Maloney voted for Bush's war.
In 2002, Maloney voted for the resolution allowing Bush to use force against Iraq. Most of the representatives in surrounding districts voted No. The city was fervently against the war. Nationwide, only 3 representatives with more liberal districts voted yes on the war. In fact, in her floor speech, Maloney boasted about the thousands of people who protested against the war in her district, and then she voted against those protests.
Of course, like most Democrats who voted for the war, Maloney ultimately came to oppose it and cultivated quite an anti-war persona, even pledging back in 2007 not to vote for any war funding bills that didn't include funding for withdrawal. But just last month, she broke that pledge with her vote for the most recent supplemental.
This one is a tough one for me. I, like many others, really didn't like this bill one bit. But, in 2001, Carolyn Maloney voted for that original Patriot Act, which expanded law enforcement's power to investigate suspected terrorists. Among many provisions, the bill allowed disclosure of wiretap information among certain government officials and authorized limited disclosure of secret grand jury information to certain government officials. Additionally, the bill authorized the use of roving wiretaps, in which officials were allowed to tap whatever telephone a person used instead of one telephone at a time. Like I said, that one was tough.
3. In more than one vote, Maloney voted to dismantle our financial regulatory framework
In 1999, Maloney joined the majority in voting for the Financial Services Modernization Act, which repealed part of The Glass Stegall Act, a landmark in financial regulation. Then, in 2000, Maloney voted for the Commodities Modernization Act, which, among other things, created the Enron loophole and contributed to food and energy price spikes in 2008. It also explicitly barred the SEC from regulating credit default swaps. It seems that throughout her career, Maloney's votes has helped dismantle the careful regulatory framework that created in the 1930s and in so doing has contributed to the crisis in which we currently find ourselves. As a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, much of the Republican-led de-regulation of the last 10 years has taken place under her watch.
4. Maloney Voted in Favor of Republican Bill to Build a 700 Mile Border Fence along the US/Mexico border.
In 2006, at the height of the anti-immigrant/Lou Dobbs hysteria, Maloney voted for The Secure Fence Act of 2006, which would require the Homeland Security Department to authorize the construction of approximately 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border. The Democratic split was 64 in favor and 131 opposed with Maloney in the minority of the caucus. Among her fellow Manhattan representatives, only Anthony Weiner joined her in voting for this bill.
5. Carolyn Maloney voted for Permanent Normal Trade Relation Status For China
New York is the most pro-union state in the country, but in May 2000, Maloney voted for a bill that would grant permanent normal trade relation (PNTR) status to China. The bill was strongly opposed by organized labor. Here's how The United Auto Workers (UAW) referred to their campaign to defeat the bill's passage:
We emphasized that the U.S.-China trade deal did not require China to recognize basic worker and human rights. And it also lacked adequate safeguards against surges of Chinese imports that could threaten the jobs of American workers. For these reasons, we believed it made no sense for Congress to grant China a 'blank check' by eliminating the annual congressional review of its trade status.
So, as with all characterizations about elected officials, the next time you read a comment or a diary about Carolyn Maloney's "progressive" credentials, you should be a bit skeptical. Look at the record. Considering her district, Maloney should be way more progressive than she votes, and, as you can see by the several votes I list above, Carolyn Maloney isn't quite as progressive as some would like you to believe.
Just sayin'.