Former Rep. Melissa Hart - A Republican Re-Run

HOW HART RESPONDED TO HIGH ENERGY PRICES

• Hart voted against cracking down on the oil and gas industries' price gouging.
• Hart voted for the GOP energy bill that gave $14 billion in subsidies to the energy industry including $2.6 billion for Big Oil.
• Big oil and gas industries gave Hart $123,853. Any surprise?

GOP "HEALTH CARE"

• Big drug interests gave $165,217 to Hart. They know who their friends are.
• Hart voted against lower drug prices, allowing drug reimportation, and more coverage for low-income seniors.

TIES WITH THE GOP LEADERSHIP

• Hart received $25,751 from House Minority Leader John Boehner's "Freedom Project" PAC.
• Hart received $12,500 from GOP Whip Roy Blunt's "Rely on Your Beliefs" PAC.
• Hart voted with President Bush 89% of the time.
• Hart voted with the Republican party 96% of the time.

TIES WITH DISGRACED FORMER MAJORITY LEADER TOM DELAY

• Hart has received $15,000 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC.
• Hart voted to weaken House ethics rules in order to protect disgraced former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

HART VOTED AGAINST SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS

• Hart voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburton even if the Pentagon's own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor's costs in Iraq were unreasonable. No surprise that Halliburton contributed to Hart.
• Hart opposed expanding access to the military's TRICARE health insurance program to thousands of Reservist and National Guard members, even though 20 percent of all Reservists do not have health insurance, and 40 percent of Reservists aged 19 to 35 lack health coverage.
• Hart voted against giving a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and reserve forces.
• Hart voted against providing troops with the funds to repair and replace damaged equipment. He also opposed giving the troops basic quality of life enhancements such as pre-paid phone cards and the construction for more water treatment and power plants for the deployed troops.

• 1,861 water systems in 29 states have been contaminated with MTBE, exposing as many as 45 million Americans to this potential carcinogen, but Hart voted to protect the companies responsible from lawsuits by communities that need their help to clean up these systems.
• Hart voted against bipartisan reform of the Endangered Species Act.
• Hart voted for a massive sell off of public lands to mining interests.

HOW DID HART SUPPORT....

HIGHER EDUCATION?

• While tuition costs are rising, Hart voted to cut Federal student aid by $12.7 billion -- the biggest cuts to student aid in history.
• The average tuition at Pennsylvania universities for the 2005-2006 school year was $6,263, up 2.6 percent from the 2004-2005 term and up 26.1 percent from four years prior.

SOCIAL SECURITY?

• Hart voted twice to spend every penny of the Social Security trust fund.