New England House Representatives Rock the Vote

Sometimes we take for granted what a great place New England is, especially when the weather turns cold. One great reminder of why this is the best region in the country came with the House of Representatives vote on the deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Of the 23 representatives from New England, all but one supported the deal, which passed by a count of 257-157. The one representative who didn’t vote for it—Republican Frank Guinta from New Hampshire—won’t be going back to Congress this month, anyway. He got voted out of office in November.

Now, I know that we have a mostly Democratic group in New England and that the compromise reached on the fiscal cliff was much better supported among Democrats in the House (who voted 172-16) than Republicans (85-151). But still, the point is that this was a compromise. After all, Charlie Bass, another outgoing New Hampshire Republican, voted in favor of it. And there’s a reason the bill passed the Senate 89-8, winning support from nearly all GOP members, including Scott Brown and Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Given the circumstances, it would have taken a pretty unreasonable—or totally crazy—representative to oppose a bill widely acknowledged to contain concessions to each side.

So congratulations, New England. We don’t brook that sort of tomfoolery around here. Just another reason we’re the best region in the country.