A Day of Delineation in the House

By: Ron1
Published On: 5/15/2008 5:25:19 PM

As it turns out, there are about 25 to 30 House Republicans that have accurately sized up the situation and are trying to stave off some of the well-deserved electoral accountability (namely, their own) that is looming for the fall.

None of these Republican Representatives, naturally, are from Virginia.

(Elaboration on the flipside)
Today, some very interesting votes on Iraq took place in the House with regard to the 'emergency' funding supplementals currently being debated in the Congress.

On the vote for overall funding of the war (see the Roll Call here), the vote failed! By a, and take notice, 141-149-132-12 margin (yeas/nays/pres/nv), the funding for the supplemental was not passed. 147 anti-war Democrats joined with 2 Republicans (Ron Paul and, interestingly, John Duncan of Tennessee, who had not previously voted against the war) to vote against funding. 85 Democrats, mostly Blue Dogs, voted for the funding, along with 56 Republicans. The amendment was supposed to pass by the votes of Republicans and these more conservative Democrats. But, in addition to 12 members not voting, 132 Republicans voted present instead of taking an actual stance. Who were amongst these 132? Can't you guess that it'd include the retiring-with-his-tail-between-his-legs, corrupt, phony-'moderate' from the 10th; Frank Wolf; Thelma Drake; Virgil Goode; Bob Goodlatte; and Crazy Eric Cantor (TM). [To their credit, and I am sincere in that characterization, both Randy Forbes and Rob Wittman voted 'Yea' for continued funding, as a war supporter should.]

In a second vote, an amendment to pass funding only with a timeline for withdrawal was passed (see the Roll Call here) almost directly down partisan lines, 227-196-11 (yea/nay/nv). Only 8 Republicans crossed over to support a withdrawal timeline, and 13 Dems voted against a timeline. None of the Virginia Republicans were amongst the 8 Republicans crossing over; all 8 VA Republicans voted against a timeline.

Finally, in a third vote, an expansion of veterans benefits that mirrors the language being pushed by Senator Webb passed overwhelmingly (see the Roll Call here), 256-166-12 (yea/nay/nv). Interestingly, only 32 Republicans had enough survival instincts to go along -- and I'll let the enterprising RK reader take a wild guess as to how many of those reside in Virginia [hint: it rhymes with the word that describes what the veterans returning from this occupation are -- hero].

The 32 sane Republicans that at least voted for this expansion of benefits include a number that are retiring, and a number that could find themselves in very competitive races this fall in the ever-expanding House target list, including Chris Smith in NJ; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in FL; Shelley Moore Capito in WV; Steve Buyer in IN; Mike Castle in DE; Jeff Fortenberry in NE; Vito Fossella in NY; Charles Dent, Tim Murphy, and Phil English in PA; Chris Shays in CT; and a number of Michigan Reps that were previously thought to be safe.

Today is the day that ought to be highlighted by every challenger in Virginia going up against these Virginia Republicans -- that they are so committed to George W. Bush that they would play games with the actual war funding of the war they profess to support; that they do not believe in a timeline to end this fruitless and disastrous occupation; and that they don't believe in rewarding the women and men of the armed services that return from the frontlines of the invasion that they wanted. They are moral cowards, and this needs to be brought to the attention of every voting citizen in the Commonwealth. This is what November is about.  


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