Senator Pat Toomey

Since I am interning for Senator Bob Casey, I chose to look into Pennsylvania's other senator, Pat Toomey. According to his personal website, Senator Toomey was elected running "on a platform of limited government, economic and job growth, and fiscal responsibility." Toomey serves as a part of the Finance; Banking; and Budget committees, and recently served on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Looking further into his website I was able to see recent statements made by Toomey regarding police brutality (namely supporting the idea that police lives matter), his opposition to the Iran deal, and also interestingly introducing a legislation "to save lives and reduce health care costs." At first glance, it seems that Pat Toomey is a staunch republican, that displays the ideals and values of many of his colleagues in the GOP, however there are some things he has done during his term that could be deemed slightly liberal, or at the very least, moderate. Toomey has routinely put forth health care bills, as well as voted in favor of health care bills that are inherently favored by the democratic party, or at the very least, bipartisan. Although Toomey seems to be a moderate Republican Senator, it is very possible that some of his votes and bills may stem from trying to please his constituents. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and even Allentown typically lean a bit left on the political spectrum, and are large powers as far as voting numbers go in the state. Although the rest of Pennsylvania typically leans further right, these metropolitan areas contain a great amount of votes, and so Toomey may take a more moderate approach in order to win the votes of those who may be more liberal, or of those who typically vote for candidates of the Democratic party. It is obvious that he is especially economically conservative and speaks out in support of most GOP legislation that is attached to the budget, the deficit, or anything else that has to do with the economy, however Toomey uses other key issues to show his moderation in Politics, in order to connect with those of his constituents that are more liberal. You can see how Senator Toomey fairs in Congress and how he typically votes at this site: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/patrick_toomey/400408