Senator Shaheen’s Bipartisan Flop

Senator Jeanne Shaheen is proud of her “bipartisan” roots, because, after all, anything crafted in a bipartisan effort has to be a great deal for the nation. Every chance Ms. Shaheen gets, she likes to remind voters that “I have taken my bipartisanship to Washington with me. I have learned that the way to get things done is to work across the aisle.” However it is hard to expect something truly compromising and honestly bipartisan from a senator like Ms. Shaheen who, according to the Washington Post, has voted 97% of the time with Senator Harry Reid, and for President Obama’s bad policies.

One prime example of her bipartisan flops is the Shaheen-Portman Energy Bill, S. 2262. This bill, which she co-wrote with moderate Ohio Senator Rob Portman (FreedomWorks lifetime score 63%) has bad news bears written all over it. This “bipartisan” bill is only bipartisan because it steals the bad ideas from both sides of aisle. This bill increases the role of the federal government and spends millions more of taxpayers hard earned dollars while achieving no real progress towards sound energy policy. Members of both parties should be ashamed of this work.

Some of highlights of this bill include:

  • Forcing the taxpayer to “volunteer” over 200 million dollars for states and tribal groups to meet allegedly voluntary building codes.
  • Continuing Congress’ love affair with corporate handouts by providing grants to companies to improve manufacturing efficiency.
  • Copycatting regulations already in place by the states, which have already cost taxpayers billions.
  • Messing with the already complex housing market by subsidizing government-backed mortgage loans under the pretense of energy efficiency.

And those are just the major highlights.

New Hampshire sent Senator Sheehan to Congress to fix our problems, not work with those who want to create new ones, Republican or Democrat. The fiscal mess our country faces is a by-product created on a bipartisan basis; both parties are equally to blame. Partnering with moderate GOP senators might meet the literal definition of “bipartisanship” but when the average voter can’t tell which idea came from the democrat or republican all you are left with is a bad bill.