The House of Representatives voted 280-142 in favor of funding the Iraq War without any binding benchmarks to measure progress. While the vote was roughly two-to-one in favor of passage, 140 Democrats voted No, and the bill passed on the strength of 194 Republican Yeas plus 86 Democrats, including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Curiously, Congressman David Obey (D-WI) voted against the very measure he helped to negotiate, as did Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- the only member of the House leadership to vote against it. The bill goes to the Senate for expected passage tonight.That link takes you here.
Let's take a look at the 19 members of the PA delegation. Following the practice at clerk.house.gov, Republicans are in italics and Democrats are in roman.
- Brady (N)
- Fattah (N)
- English (Y)
- Altmire (Y)
- Peterson (Y)
- Gerlach (Y)
- Sestak (Y)
- Murphy, P. (N)
- Shuster (Y)
- Carney (Y)
- Kanjorski (Y)
- Murtha (Y)
- Schwartz (Y)
- Doyle (N)
- Dent (Y)
- Pitts (Y)
- Holden (Y)
- Murphy, T (Y)
- Platts (Y)
The geography is interesting. Brady is from the PA-1, a district that is real close to Philadelphia. Fattah is from PA-2 a district that is also real close to Philadelphia. Patrick Murphy (the first veteran of the Iraq war to serve in Congress) is from PA-8 which is another district real closet to Philadelphia.
So that means (if I didn't blunder here) that in our area, the ONLY House member from either party to vote NO on the bill was Mike Doyle, PA-14. All the other local Dems voted with the Republicans.
Did they miss the news?
A majority of Americans continue to support a timetable for withdrawal. Sixty-three percent say the United States should set a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq sometime in 2008.I suppose so.
UPDATE: I've been informed by an astute reader that Brady's and Fattah's districts are, in fact, not just "real close" to Philadelphia, they're mostly WITHIN Philadelphia. Thank you, Mr. nit-picky-always-gotta-be-right astute reader guy!
UPDATE II: In a press release out today, Congressman Mike Doyle explains his NO vote:
I share the anger and frustration of the vast majority of my constituents over the President's refusal to be held accountable for his failed plan to invade and occupy Iraq and build a stable, peaceful government in that country. Today, after four years of trying, he has failed to produce a credible plan for extracting our troops from the ongoing civil war in Iraq.
I won't give another $100 billion to this administration without enforceable benchmarks and timelines for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.
4 comments:
I suspect the democrats are giving the president a chance. Is there polling on how popular that is with the American people? Just because they give the president a chance doesn't mean we can't pull out in '08. But since Iraq still has the world ‘s largest or second largest oil reserves, whatever it is, we really do have a reason to keep trying, even though it sure does look (right now) like the surge is failing.
Minor point, but Brady and Fattah just ran for mayor of Philly. That makes them residents, and means that their districts aren't just "close to" my soon-to-me-hometown, but are actually in it.
Since I have a general aversion to stray bullets and crime scene tape, I rather imagine that neither man is likely to be my congressmember in a few months. But I gotta respect their vote here.
Altmire can kiss any future support from me good bye. I gave his campaign money and volunteered some of my time during the last election so he would do the right thing on these key votes. Instead, he showed that he's not up the task of leading, only of trying to win more elections based on ill-conceived perceptions about what the Republicans will say about his vote when he comes home for the Memorial Day recess.
Brady and Fattah's districts are both in the City of Philadlephia, not close to it. FYI.
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