Steve Buyer’s Recent Record Rolls Rightward
Friday afternoon, just days after Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington recommended an investigation of Congressman Steve Buyer for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from pharmaceuticals corporations outside of the legal campaign finance system, Representative Buyer announced that he will not seek re-election this year. Though he’s now out of the 2010 election game, it will nonetheless be helpful for voters from Indiana’s 4th congressional district to understand what Buyer’s record has been as they evaluate new candidates for the office he will soon leave behind.
For the 111th Congress so far, Representative Buyer has earned a progressive rating of 4 percent, but a conservative rating of 53 percent, showing that he has tilted strongly to the right in his voting record. Buyer’s sole progressive vote of significance in the current session of Congress was in favor of H.R. 35, a bill to end interference with the release of presidential records.
On the other side, Buyer helped to whip up some traditional nationalistic passions by supporting a resolution to ban flag burning. He worked against efforts to ensure an end to torture by requiring the videotaping of interrogations. Buyer voted against the Lilly Ledbetter protections from workplace discrimination, and sided with financial firms by voting against bankruptcy protections for ordinary homeowners. He cosponsored legislation to aid corporate union busting, and voted against a law that would have required shareholder approval for huge executive bonuses. Buyer also voted against a bill that would have required stimulus projects to pay construction workers prevailing wages, instead of cut rate pay.
In Buyer’s recent record, issues of economics and the American character come to the fore. As they evaluate new candidates for Buyer’s seat, the citizens of his home district would do well to focus on these areas, to ensure that their next U.S. Representative represents the best of their values, rather than pandering to a passionate foundation of greed and fear.
[...] district incumbent Steve Buyer is not running for re-election. So, a newcomer will now fill this seat – either Republican [...]