Ideology and Voting

DW Nominate Scores

Senator Charles Schumer seems to be a more liberal than conservative according to his DW Nominate Score. According to Voteview.com, which records polarization and many other voting records and statistics, Schumer got a DW Nominate Score of -0.362 in the 113th Congress. This seems pretty normal for a Democrat coming from New York.

Party Vote

With Schumer being a well known Democratic his party unity vote seems to be very high. He seems to keep a high unity vote throughout his time in office which means he votes along with his party a lot of the time. According to Voteview.com Schumer has a pretty high rating of 99.776 in the 113th Congress. Through out the past years it seems to look like that he usually stays within the 97-99 range most of the time. His competitor Senator Gillibrand has a score 99.549, which is still a high score but currently not as high as Schumer, both of them seem to vote with their party most of the time.

ADA and Interest Group Scores

With Schumer being a Democrat it would be like to see his ADA score to be in the upper 80 to 100 percentile and the Republicans usually have a lower percentile, usually below 20 percent. According to the ADA Schumer is at a 90% which isn't the highest in the Senate but is still higher than his competitor by 5%. Schumer seems to be among many of the Democrats because many of them scored a 90% on this scale as well.

According to Votesmart.org, which displays all known interest group ratings for each candidate or official without bias. I would say one of the more popular and higher rating interest groups for Schumer would the the group called "Foreign Affairs".  In the year of 2014 he had received ratings from three of his different interest groups. The first one is Citizens for Global Solutions which received a rating of 91%. This group envisions a future in which a nation can work together a abolish war,protect our rights and solve problems facing humanity. The next group is Friends Committee on National Legislation which received a rating of 100%. This groups purpose is to urge government officials to change government policies that perpetuate all forms of injustice. The last group is Peace Action West which received a rating of 75%. This group want to approach American problems in a smarter way like terrorism and poverty.

 

Crossing Party Lines

Schemer seems to stay on sides of foreign affairs and policy.  He is very democratic and you usually know where he will stand on a certain subject. On a certain subject dealing with Iran and Nuclear weapons there is a little bit of a conflict. With a bipartisan coalition of 367 Representatives they signed a letter that was sent out to Obama about their opposition that doesn't deal with "completely eliminate the path to nuclear weapon". This then got brought to the Senate and along with 7 other Republicans Schumer did not sign this because he called it "ill advised". ( found on a known news website)

 Here is a short video with more about the Prime Minister and his speech,http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/03/netanyahu-in-speech-to-congress-iran-nuclear-deal-paves-path-to-bomb/ (another well known news website)

Committee Assignments

Committee Service

Committee on Rules and Administration, Ranking Member

     - has jurisdiction over federal elections, including qualifications and credentials of Senators, contested elections, oversight of the Federal Election Commission and the Electoral Assistance Commission

     - oversees Senate procedures, rules, and buildings, and every four years, leads the planning of the Presidential Inauguration at the Capitol through the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies

Legislation

    - S.1728  Safeguarding Elections for our Nation's Troops through Reforms and Improvement Act

    - S.1937 Elections Preparedness Requires Early Planning Act

Heres a webcast of hearing of Omnibus Committee Funding

Senate Judiciary Committee

    - oversees federal law enforcement, all federal courts, and key policy areas including anti-terrorism  measures, copyright and patent law, immigration policy, and bankruptcy protection

    - has review power over all nominations for life-time judicial appointments, including Supreme Court, key positions in the Department of Justice, like Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Subcommittee

  -Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts

  -Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights

  -Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs

  -Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Boarder Security

  -Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security

Legislation

3/12/15 Bill S.178 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Schemer shows his support behind this bill on twitter.

2/12/15 Bill S.295 Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2015

To see more legislature and find out more information follow this link http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/legislation

Senate Finance Committee

    - writes legislation related to the U.S. tax code and tax policy; the International Revenue Service; trade issues, such as trade agreements, Trade Adjustment Assistance for workers, and tariffs and duties; issues related to private and private pension plans, including 401(k) plans and IRAs; and unemployment insurance

    - has jurisdiction over the Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families programs

Legislation

1/28/15 H.R. 22 Hire more Heros Act of 2015

6/24/14 H.R 5021 The Preserving America's Transit and Highways Act

To find more legislature follow this link: http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/

Subcommittee 

  -Subcommittee on International Trade and Global Competitiveness 

  -Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy

  -Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-term Growth

Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee 

    - oversees United States' fink system and institutions, monetary policy, housing, community development and transit programs

    - works to protect consumers by focusing on issues like credit card interest rates and disclosure, low income housing and shareholders' rights

Subcommittee
  -Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
  -Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development

  -Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment

Legislation

   - 1/06/15 S.25 bill to improve coordination of export promotion programs

   - 1/07/15 S.52 bill to close the loophole that allowed 9/11 hijackers to obtain credit cards from United States banks that financed their tourist activities

To follow up on more legislation follow this link: http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=LegislativeCalendar.Home

Why does this matter?

All of the committees that Senator Schumer is on are a part of the standing committees, which means these committees have been around for awhile and most likely will stick around for awhile as well, like we discussed during class. The importance of being on the Rules and Administrative committee for Schumer would be the fact that he gets to help decide who are the qualified Senators and also helping with the Presidential Inauguration also gives him a a way to credit claim and take position. Being on the Senate Judiciary Committee is a good committee to be on for Schumer because I feel like it is more of an area that his constituents pay more attention to. The people tend to care about immigration, law enforcement and terrorism, they like to feel safe so I would say it is a great way for him to credit claim and make the people feel safe. On the Senate Finance Committee it deals with tax policy and 401(k) programs which are important to the people even though we don't hear much about it on the media, it is something the people just rely on, so this is a great place to position take for Schumer. The Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee relates to the Senate Finance Committee, it is there but not many people think about it. We realize we need it but we don't really want to hear about it so it is a good position taking committee.

http://www.schumer.senate.gov/committee-assignments

https://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Charles_Schumer#Committees

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/

http://www.ushistory.org/gov/6c.asp

Electoral Circumstances

Last Election

On Novemeber 2nd, 2010 Senator Chuck Schumer won his 3rd re-election. He is highly popular in the State of New York, so there wasn't much doubt that he would win the election in 2010 after winning his 2004 election  against Howard Mills (republican) by 71% to  24%. He won popular vote in 2010 against Jay Townsend (republican) by a 65% to a 33%. He won over 2 million votes in his last election. Almost all of the counties in his state voted in his favor.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/new-york (NBC and nytimes are well known news and media source)

Primary Election

Schumer's outlook for 2016 looks pretty solid. He has been in office for a long period of time and he seems to have most of the state of New York on his side. I have been trying to find out what people re saying but it doesn't seem like people are saying much about this election.  I think that is saying that people are not feeling strongly against Schumer since he has been in office for awhile I don't think they have much to say about him being re-elected again.

General Election

As for the general election there has been some word that a colleague of Schumer might run for president. According to The Huffington Post (another well known news and media source) the is word that Hillary Clinton may run for president again in the 2016 election. It is unknown if she will for sure run but she is considering it and doesn't want to rush into making decisions. Schumer fully supports Clinton if she does decide to run for president.

Current Prediction

 The outlook for Charles Schumer looks pretty good for the 2016 election. He has been re-elected many times before this election and it seems like the people of New York really like him as their Senator. The only issue I would see is that some people may not like the fact that he supports Clinton if she does run for president. I don't really see that affecting him a whole bunch during the election, since New York is a pretty solid blue state, and because he is popular among his people.

2012 Vote

For the 2012 election the state of New York voted for Obama instead of Romney at a percentage of 63.35% for Obama and a 35.17% for Romney. That is a pretty big of percentage between democratic and republican for a state that is suppose to be a pretty decent blue state since their senator is democratic and have been there since 1998. It seems to be that Schumer likes being in the minority,"It is actually fun. It is really fun to be in the minority," he tells The Huffington Post. "You have a little more freedom in the minority. It is easier to take a theme, stick to it and constantly go after it." In this video Schumer talks about what went wrong for the Democratic Party in the 2014 midterm elections and some insight on what his plans are for 2016.

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php

Campaign Finance Status

It looks like to me that Schumer is pretty well set on raising money and getting money for his campaign. He seems to have many fundraising events throughout his terms to help with his financing. During the years of 2009 to 2014 his cycle fundraising from his campaign says he raised $25,578,359 and he spent $22,739,439 and he has $13,409,983 cash on hand with no debts according to OpenSecrets. Something else that I found out was interesting was the list of the top contributors for Schumer with the most being $543,490 from Goldman Sachs and the least being $157,150 from Blackstone Group. Out of his whole career (from 1998-2014) he has raised $72,315,486 and has spent $59,748,888. 

There have been some questions about how they get this money and how it works to fundraise so if you would like to know more I would refer you to read the CRS Campaign Fiance Report starting on page 12 about soft money.

Major Issues

There have been a couple issues that Schumer has been trying to get through with being the minority. He is trying to help with a better economy and trying to be more involved with the more Affordable Health Care Act even though the democrats are in the minority. Supporting Hillary Clinton might be another issue for Schumer if the people do not want Clinton to run, like I have said before. He also gives a strong opinion on Obamacare in this article. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/11/28/How-Obama-Marginalized-Democratic-Party

(This is  known site for business,economics, finance and politics)

Strategy

Travel: Chuck Around New York

Chuck travels around New York every year. He visits every 62 counties every year which he is continually meeting new constituents every time.  Already in 2015 he has been to 15 different counties. It looks like he likes to stay around and travel the state of New York to get in touch with his constituents better. Being New York is close to D.C. it doesn't take much of travel time to get there so that also means more time around his people in his home state. Here is a list of a few of the places where he has been and what he was doing in the area at that time. (To learn more about his whereabouts follow this link) http://www.schumer.senate.gov/chuck-around-new-york

• January 5, 2015,  pushed to establish a crop insurance program for Rochester-area farmers
• February 6, 2015, urged the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to add new synthetic drug chemical combinations that have emerged over the past several years in Batavia, NY
• February 9, 2015, urged Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expedite the approval of the town of Brookhaven's application to construct a new wastewater treatment plant
• February 17, 2015, announced war on heroin was raging in Oneida County and urged The President's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to designate Oneida County as a federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in Utica, NY
• February 19, 2015 visited Poughkeepsie Amtrak Station to urge  Amtrak to conduct an audit on all of its powerless to make sure they are safe and not in danger of the residents in Poughkeepsie, NY

Press Releases: Newsroom

Senator Schumer gets on many press releases. He has many situations that he feels strongly for. Issues involving medicare to adding more parks in a community, and then to realizing a heroin problem and how to try to stop it. It really shows how much he cares for his people in many different ways.  (To see the rest of his press releases follow this link) http://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases 

2.24.15 - Schumer, Gillibrand announce nearly  $700,000 in Federal Funds for new water infrastructure in Orleans County- Improvements to water mains, valves and hydrants to improve water quality 

2.24.15 - Schumer announces U.S. Postal Service has needed his call and agreed to undertake review process that could give Halfmoon its own zip code. This town is currently  split among four different towns' zip codes - review is critical first step toward preventing confusion that hinders emergency response and hurts local businesses

2.23.15 - Devastatingly dangerous heroin like 'China White', now being widely peddled in New York and over doses rapidly rising, Schumer moves to reverse President's cut in critical drug trafficking program; urges senate to reject president's budget request and raise HIDTA funding by $100M

12.12.14 - Senator Schumer floor speech on justice against sponsors of Terrorism Act

http://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/video/sen-schumer-floor-speech-on-justice-against-sponsors-of-terrorism-act

Legislation

Sponsored:

Bill Number S. 163: A bill to establish a grant program to help Senate and local law enforcement agencies reduce the risk of injury and death relating to the wandering characteristics of some children with autism and other disabilities

Bill Number S. 22: A bill for the relief of Alemseghed Mussie Tesfamical

Bill Number S. 2933: A bill to prohibit the unauthorized use of electronic tracking devices

Bill Number S. 2934: A bill to prohibit trespassing on critical infrastructure used in or affecting interstate commerce to commit a criminal offense

Bill Number S. 2935: Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization Act

Cosponsored:

Bill Number S.Res. 37: A resolution supporting women's reproductive health care decisions

Bill Number S.Res. 38: A resolution relative to the death of Wendell H. Ford, former United States Senator for the Commonwealth of Kentucky 

Bill Number S. 229: Democracy is strengthened by Casting Light On Spendings in Election Act of 2015

(To see more bills he sponsored and co-sponsered follow this link)  http://www.schumer.senate.gov/legislation?c=all

Here is another link about his sponsorship that show how he relates with other Senators

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/charles_schumer/300087

Getting the Word Out

It looks like Senator Schumer likes the use of his social media websites like Twitter and Facebook as long with the use of his own website to let his constituents what he is up to. He likes to keep his constituents up to date on his whereabouts and what he is currently working on. To keep in touch with what he is doing to to contact him you can go to any of these places.

Charles E. Schumer: United States Senator for New York

"I respect people who feel things passionately. I do. But when someone is a judge, that is not what they should bring to the bench. It is not really passion, except in rare instances, that serves the bench well. It is, rather, an ability to understand the law and follow it."

Biographical Information - http://www.schumer.senate.gov/about-chuck 

Born: November 23, 1950 in Brooklyn, NY

Parents: Selma, who was a homemaker who was also active in the community and Abe who owned a small exterminating business 

Family: Charles (Chuck) Schumer has two siblings, Fran and Robert. He is married to Iris Weinshall and together they have two daughters, Jessica and Allison.

Education: Graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School in 1974

Career: At age 23 he ran for the New York State Assembly, the youngest member of State Legislature since Theodore Roosevelt. At age 29, Chuck ran and won the seat in the 9th Congressional District, which he represented for 18 years.Chuck authored the Omnibus Crime Bill, he was also the leading

sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, and the Brady Bill. He co-wrote the Assault Weapons Ban, and sponsored the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In 1998 chuck was elected to the U.S. Senate and became New York's senior senate. He was re-elected in 2004 and was awarded a seat on the Senate Finance Committee and was on the Chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee which he lead for two consecutive cycles until the end of 2008. New Yorkers re-elected him for the third time in 2010 and took in an expanded role in the Senate as Chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center.
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/week-sen-charles-schumer-21426855

Politcal Party: Democratic

Religion: Reform Judaism

Electoral Victory and Tenure- http://ballotpedia.org/Chuck_Schumer

Term: 1996 to current

Schumer was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and is currently serving his third term having won the election on November 2nd 2010. He is up for re-election on November 8th 2016. 

Before being elected to the Senate, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981-1999 and the New York State Assembly from 1975-1980.

Based on rankings, Charles Schumer is considered a safe vote for the Democratic Party in congress because he is one of the most reliable Democratic Votes.

New York: The Empire State

Statehood Granted: July 26, 1788

Population: 19.65 million

Major Cities: New York City, Rochester, Albany

Racial and Ethnic Background: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36000.html

The state racial composition in 2013 by the United States Census Bureau was:

• White: 70.9%
• Black or African American: 17.5%
• American Indian and Alaska Native: 1.0%
• Asian: 8.2%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
• Two or more races: 2.3%
• Hispanic or Latino: 18.4%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 57.2%

Religion: http://religions.pewforum.org/maps#

• Evangelical Protestant Tradition: 11%
• Mainline Protestant Tradition: 16%
• Historically Black Protestant Tradition: 5%
• Catholic Tradition: 39%
• Mormon Tradition: <0.5%
• Orthodox Tradition: 1%
• Jehovah's Wittness Tradition: 1%
• Other Christian Tradition's: <0.5%
• Jewish Tradition: 6%
• Muslim Tradition: 1%
• Buddhist Tradition: 1%
• Hindu Tradition: 1%
• Other World Religions: <0.5%
• Other Faiths: 1%
• Unaffiliated: 17%
• Don't know/ refused: 1%

Major Industries: Construction, Manufacturing, Financial Activities

Fun Facts:

• Niagara Falls is one of the seven wonders of the world.
• New York was the first state to require license plates for cars. 
• The first American chess tournament was held in New York in 1843.
• New York City has 578 miles of waterfront.
• Babe Ruth hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium in the first game ever played there.
• The Statue of Liberty is 101 feet tall from base to torch, 305 feet tall from pedestal foundation to torch. She has a 35-foot waist and an 8-foot index finger, and she weighs 450,000 pounds.