SAN ANTONIO – Was the fiscal cliff deal the one you expected your elected Congressional lawmakers to make?
We’re holding our leaders accountable for their votes and checked to see how the people who represent you in Washington voted.
Looking at the big picture in Texas, 18 of our Representatives said no and 13 said yes.
One did not vote: Republican Ron Paul. The maverick politician is retiring from Congress and told CNBC the fiscal fight was all about power, not progress.
If you narrow the votes down to lawmakers in our area, five of the six said yes.
The lone no vote was from outgoing Republican Congressman Francisco “Quico” Canseco who, along with the majority of his party, turned down the deal.
Not surprisingly, most of the five yes votes were Democrats: Rep. Henry Cuellar, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Charlie Gonzalez and Rep. Ruben Hinojosa.
Republic Lamar Smith bucked his party’s trend and voted yes to the deal. In a statement, he explained why: “The bill provides permanent tax relief to 99% of American taxpayers. If the bill had been defeated, taxes would have increased for every American.”
A new Congressional class gets sworn in Thursday and all of them will hit the ground running. The New Year fiscal deal didn’t touch on spending or debt limit – two topics that brought us to the edge of the cliff and will have to be addressed very soon.
