Article Contributed on: 3/23/2007 7:36:08 PM
This is the first of many "How They Voted" editions. It's an expansion of the limited space the local paper gives to how your local representatives voted in issues of interest. I plan on limiting it just to the Longmont and East Boulder County area representatives at the local, county, state, and federal levels.
First up, HR-1591 "Making emergency supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes". Others have come up with catchy names for it, I came up with "Okinawa Pork" without putting much time or thought into it. This is the House bill to fund (or defund or underfund) the war in Iraq, but added in are all kinds of things that have nothing to do with it, like spinach, shrimp, peanuts, and shellfish. It'd make me angrier if it didn't make me so hungry.
My take, and others you've probably read as well, is it's an insult to our troops laden with earmarks (pork) to garner enough votes to pass. A little something for constituents back home, you know, the kind of thing that many congressmen were (rightly) lambasted for prior to the last election. Once again, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So how did our reps vote?
Mark Udall (Dem-Dist2) voted YES.
Marilyn Musgrave (Rep-Dist4) voted NO. It passed 218-212 mostly along party lines, far from being veto-proof. I visited both of their websites to see if they had any comments on this bill. Rep Musgrave did not (site could be more current), Rep Udall did, here are some excerpts and some random comments: " Many Americans are frustrated and angry because we are four years into a war the president assured us would be short and decisive"...I have swampland to sell you if you buy into assurances of ease and timeliness when it comes to wars or police actions." So long as our troops are in the field, we must provide them what they need" Apparently, what they need is "...
scaling back our military mission in Iraq". This has been called the "slow bleed" and "redeployment" bill, depending on which side you sit. Now here's the pork: " I am pleased that the Colorado delegation was successful in persuading the House leadership to include financial assistance for farmers and ranchers" I'm not sure who was part of the delegation, it doesn't state, but we at least know Mr. Udall was part of adding unrelated earmarks.
I'm all for helping out those in need, whether it be from blizzards to natural or manmade disasters,
but why as part of this bill? These are the kinds of games that tick off the general public. Politicians wonder why there is such disdain and apathy out there, here it is.
©2007 Chris Rodriguez/Wrongmont.Com
(Chris Rodriguez is a Longmont resident, and the editor and publisher of Wrongmont.Com, a community website that raises local issues to increase public awareness and interest)