In 2012 we will get to decide on Senator Hatch's senate seat:
Senator Orin Hatch
My summary: I've been embarrassed to have Senator Hatch as our representative in government for many years. If he ever had any integrity I doubt he has any now. He routinely votes in violation of his oath of office, even on bills he sponsors.
Similarly, Hatch supported the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which also resulted in greater government control over banks and creditors by allowing federal judges to make decisions for creditors on debt collection and repayment. Hatch’s career is therefore wrought with support for unconstitutional legislation which serves to increase government control over the free market and private enterprise.
Hatch also has supported other unconstitutional spending bills, such as the “Helping Families Save Their Homes” Act of 2009, which amends the National Housing Act to create a taxpayer-funded program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the purpose of providing government assistance for those delinquent on their mortgages.
Hatch also cosponsored the unconstitutional Children’s Health Care Quality Act, which would amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act by expanding the Social Security Administration to include taxpayer-funded programs to “improve the quality, performance, and delivery of pediatric care,” in conjunction with deceased Senator Edward Kennedy (Ma.); both of them also partnered to form the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.
His big-government proclivities extend further. In one bizarre case, Hatch supported federal legislation that would mandate insurance companies to cover the costs of “faith healing” sessions, along with Senator John F. Kerry (D-Ma.). While it is unconstitutional and an unfair and unnecessary intrusion into the free market for government to mandate that insurance companies cover any treatments or services, it is especially ludicrous that insurance companies would be legally mandated to reimburse faith healers, who believe that they can effectively remedy physical maladies through prayer and other spiritual exercises. Likewise, he also sponsored legislation that would mandate a host of taxpayer-funded research programs on chronic pain by expanding the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and that would create a new federal entity, the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee.
Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits (COICA) Act in 2010
Hatch is also a supporter of embryonic stem cell research, and was one of 58 senators to sign a letter addressed to former President George W. Bush, requesting that federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research be lifted, in spite of the numerous bioethical and economic arguments against the practice.
For example, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and his aides took seven trips, totaling $12,000, sponsored by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, as well as two industry trade groups, the California Healthcare Institute and the Healthcare Leadership Council. As of May 15, when Hatch filed his 2005 financial disclosure form, the senator held at least $18,000 worth of stock in Pfizer and Novartis, the Swiss-based manufacturer of Ritalin, the attention-deficit drug.