Steve Daines took his first votes on behalf of Montanans in Congress this week, the Havre Daily News reports.  Daines was one of only 67 Republican members of the House who voted against a measure to send relief money to victims of hurricane Sandy, which passed with 354 votes.

Montana has benefited from federal disaster relief in the past–for floods, fires, and droughts, and likewise we should help members of the other 49 states when they are similarly in need.  Daines may think he’s earned himself some kind of conservative street cred by voting against the funds.  But the vote shows Daines to be coward rather than a conservative hero. That’s because it’s easy to vote against something when you know it’s going to pass anyway.  Ounce for ounce, Montanans are more charitable than any people in America, and Daines should be representing the state accordingly.

But while Daines tried to defend his vote by saying he opposes any government spending, his actions show otherwise.  Daines also voted this week for an increase government in spending. He voted to give Congressional lawyers more money to defend the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) which unconstitutionally denies hundreds of benefits to legally married same-sex couples, as From Eternity to Here reports.