How Obama voted before he came to Washington<li><a href="http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?cat=34">More coverage of Obama on The Ballot Box</a>

Obama’s Voting Record Belies Moderate Image

How Obama voted before he came to Washington

More coverage of Obama on The Ballot Box

Amanda Carpenter

January 16, 2007

In his televised response to President Bush’s Iraq speech last Wednesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) told Larry King he would be making his decision on a run for the White House "fairly soon."

Obama’s decision today to seek the Democratic nomination will shin a spotlight on votes he made during his six years in the Illinois Senate—before coming to Washington, D.C., as a U.S. senator. Explaining these votes could be uncomfortable for Obama, who has never been made to answer for his controversial decisions there.

In his race for the U.S. Senate, not a single negative ad was run against him either during the seven-way Democratic primary or in the general election, in good part because Republican Jack Ryan unexpectedly dropped out of the race after a court unsealed embarrassing divorce documents that were highly publicized by the media. As a result, Obama faced weak Republican candidate Alan Keyes, who was quickly came under attack from the media and was unable to act offensively in the campaign.

Now, basically untouched in these past political campaigns, Obama will likely flaunt his media-created image as a moderate Democrat capable of embracing both conservative and liberal ideals. But, as HUMAN EVENTS has shown in other articles, no matter what lip service Obama gives to conservative principles, at the end of the day he reliably comes down on the liberal side.

Below are some votes Obama made as a state legislator that pierce his moderate façade.

ABORTION
NO	SB 230 (1997)	To prohibit partial-birth abortion unless necessary to save the life of a mother and makes performance of the procedure a Class 4 felony for the physician.
NO	HB 709 (2000)	To prohibit state funding of abortion and induced miscarriages except when necessary to save the life of the mother. Excludes premature births from funding except to produce a viable child when necessary to save the life of a mother. Would permit funding in cases of rape or incest when payment is authorized under federal law.
NO	SB 1661 (2002)	A part of the Born Alive Infant Protection Package. Would create a cause of action of a child is born alive after an abortion and the child is then neglected through failure to provide medial care after birth.
CRIME
NO	SB 381 (1997)	To require prisoners to pay court costs for frivolous lawsuits against the state.
NO	SB 485 (1999)	To give no offer of "good time" for sex offenders sentenced to the County Jail. *Obama was the only vote against this measure
UNIONS
YES	HB 3396 (2003)	To make unionization easier by not requiring a secret ballot to organize if 50% of the eligible workers publicly sign a card of support for unionization.
YES	SB 230 (2003)	Entitles a teacher who is elected as an officer of the state or national teacher’s union to be granted a leave of absence for up to six years, or the period of time the teacher is serving.
YES	SB 1070 (2003)	Allows college graduate assistants who teach college courses be eligible to join a union.
CHILD PROTECTION
PRESENT	SB 609 (2001)	To restrict the location of buildings with "adult" uses (meaning pornographic video stores, strip clubs, etc.) within 1,000 feet of any public or private elementary or secondary school, public park, place or worship, preschool, day-care facility, mobile park or residential area.
NO	HB 1812 (1999)	To require school boards to install software on public computers accessible to minors to block sexually explicit material.
TAXES
NO	SB 1075 (1999)	To create an income tax credit for all full-time K-12 pupils in an amount equal to 25% of qualified education expenses up to a maximum of $500 per family.
YES	SB 1725 (2003)	To restore the Illinois Estate Tax.
YES	SB 1733 (2003)	To impose a Gas Use Tax on the purchase of natural gas from outside the state of Illinois for use or consumption in Illinois. Forces the delivering supplier to pay 2.4 cents per therm of gas, or the customer can elect to become a "self-assessing" purchaser and pay 5% of the purchase price or 2.4 cents per therm.
ELECTIONS
YES	SB 1415 (2003)	To create public funding for supreme court races.
GAY RIGHTS
NOT VOTING	HB 581 (2003)	Allows domestic partners to be allowed to assume the rights of a spouse or survivor with regards to pension benefits under the Chicago Teacher’s pension system.
NO	SB 228 (1997)	Changes the "Illinois Equal Opportunity Act of 1997" to stipulate, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any unit of government or school district that gives benefits to same-sex couples under any criteria must give equal benefits to heterosexual couples.
DRUGS
YES	SB 880 (2003)	To allow the purchase of 10 hypodermic needles from a pharmacy without a prescription.
PRESENT	HB 2000 (4659)	To establish a zero-tolerance drug-testing policy for Department of Corrections Employees
BUSINESS
NO	SB 777 (1999)	To end the unemployment insurance fund building tax.
NO	SB 879 (1999)	To end the minimum contribution tax rate for the unemployment system.
NO	SB 795 (2001)	To reduce employers’ minimum contribution insurance rate.
YES	SB 796 (2003)	To increase the Illinois minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour.

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Written By Amanda Carpenter

Miss Carpenter was formerly a congressional correspondent & assistant editor for HUMAN EVENTS. She is the author of "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton," published by Regnery (a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).

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