Hold legislators accountable for their votes

Despite claims by some Republicans that their states were being unfairly targeted for reforms, the House passed the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act with a 390-33 vote last week.

See stories here (AP), here (San Francisco Gate) and here (New York Times). But none of the stories listed vote tallies. I wish journalists would hold representatives accountable for their votes by naming who voted how much more often. So what if Congress has 435 reps and the tally would take up space? At least, provide such tallies more often on newspaper Web sites with clear, easily identifiable links within the stories.

At least The Washington Post Votes Database allows a quick way to find who voted how.

Not a single Democrat voted against the reauthorization bill. Below are the 33 GOP House members who voted against the bill with the states they represent (and state of birth if different).

Richard Baker (Louisiana), J. Barrett (South Carolina), Roscoe Bartlett (Maryland; born in Kentucky), Joe Barton (Texas), Jo Bonner (Alabama),

Dan Burton (Indiana), John Campbell (California), Michael Conaway (Texas), Nathan Deal (Georgia), John Doolittle (California), John ‘Jimmy’ Duncan (Tennessee),

Terry Everett (Alabama), Virginia Foxx (North Carolina; born in the Bronx), Trent Franks (Arizona), Scott Garrett (New Jersey), Phil Gingrey (Georgia),

Joel Hefley (Colorado; born in Oklahoma), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Wally Herger (California), Sam Johnson (Texas), Steve King (Iowa),

John Linder (Georgia; born in Minnesota), Patrick Mchenry (North Carolina), Gary Miller (California; born in Arkansas), Charles Norwood (Georgia),

Ron Paul (Texas; born in Pennsylvania), Tom Price (Georgia; born in Michigan), Dana Rohrabacher (California), Edward Royce (California),

John Shadegg (Arizona), Tom Tancredo (Colorado), Mac Thornberry (Texas), and Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia).

The devil is always in the details, and news stories, especially online, ought to include those details that hold legislators accountable.

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