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HOW SIMMONS RESPONDED TO HIGH ENERGY PRICES

• Simmons voted against cracking down on the oil and gas industries' price gouging.
• Simmons 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 Simmons $75,675. Any surprise?

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GOP "HEALTH CARE"

• Big drug interests gave $216,121 to Simmons. They know who their friends are.
• Simmons voted for the GOP’s Medicare Part D program, which gave billions of dollars to businesses and the health care industry, while forcing seniors to accept annual increases in premiums and deductibles and a growing gap in coverage for the prescription drugs they buy.

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TIES WITH THE GOP LEADERSHIP

• Simmons received $34,500 from House Minority Leader John Boehner's "Freedom Project" PAC.
• Simmons received $30,998 from GOP Whip Roy Blunt's "Rely on Your Beliefs" PAC.
• Simmons voted with the GOP line 74% of the time.

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TIES WITH DISGRACED FORMER MAJORITY LEADER TOM DELAY

• Simmons voted to weaken House ethics rules in order to protect disgraced former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, after boasting that “Indictments of any kind are serious, and that's why House Republican rules require leaders who are indicted to step aside from their leadership posts.”

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SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS

• Simmons 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.
• Simmons voted against giving a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and reserve forces.
• Simmons 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.

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THE ENVIRONMENT

• Simmons voted against bipartisan reform of the Endangered Species Act.

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HOW DID SIMMONS SUPPORT....

HIGHER EDUCATION?

• While tuition costs are rising, Simmons voted to cut Federal student aid by $12.7 billion -- the biggest cuts to student aid in history.
• The average tuition at Connecticut universities for the 2005-2006 school year was $5,925, up 5.3 percent from the 2004-2005 term and up 42 percent from four years prior.