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Ron Kind and Republicans vote to fund needless war
George Bush, who has never chosen to take responsibility for addressing the mess he created in Iraq, has now been given permission by the U.S. House to finish his presidency without doing so.
After the House voted 268-155 to provide $162 billion in additional "emergency" funding for the Iraq war last week, Bush was effectively assured that he will be able to finish his presidency next Jan. 20 and head back to Texas without taking any steps to conclude a conflict that has killed and disabled tens of thousands of Americans, killed and dislocated millions of Iraqis, and destabilized one of the most complex and dangerous regions in the world.
"The president basically gets a blank check to dump this war on the next president," says Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern, who voted against letting Bush off the hook -- and against setting up a situation where the next commander in chief will be "a war president."
Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, another "no" voter, explained the frustration of those who opposed a measure that ultimately passed with Republican and Democratic support from House members who are no more willing than Bush to take responsibility for ending a war that should never have begun.
"We have lost 4,103 of America's best and brightest young people, another 30,000 are grievously wounded and will require care for much of their lives, and we are spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. We have built over 800 schools, nearly 5,000 water and sewer projects and over 1,000 roads and bridges -- in Iraq -- while gas and food prices go through the roof here, home foreclosures wreak havoc on American families, and our infrastructure is in a shambles. Enough is enough! One day of spending in Iraq would finance the entire reconstruction of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis," said Ellison, a first-term Democrat who has been meticulous about opposing moves to continue the war. "I will not vote for more American taxpayers' money going to Iraq until that proposal contains deadlines and timetables for the safe withdrawal of our troops."
That's what a congressman who takes his duties seriously sounds like.
Unfortunately, that's not what the majority of House members sound like.
The Iraq spending hike passed the House with the votes of 188 Republicans and 80 Democrats.
The measure was opposed by 151 Democrats -- including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Appropriations Committee Chair Dave Obey -- and a mere four Republicans (Californian John Campbell, Tennessee's John Duncan, Arizona's Jeff Flake and Texan Ron Paul).
Madison Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee Democrat Gwen Moore, steady anti-war votes, joined Obey in opposing the blank check for Bush's war. So too did Appleton Democrat Steve Kagen.
All deserve honor for their morally and fiscally responsible votes.
Wisconsin Republicans Paul Ryan, Tom Petri and Jim Sensenbrenner rubber-stamped the spending request from their party's president, and doomed more Americans and Iraqis to die needlessly. They put partisan politics above the lives of young Wisconsinites serving in the military and above the long-term good of the United States.
They deserve nothing but scorn for their votes.
And what of La Crosse Democrat Ron Kind? As usual, he voted with President Bush.
Kind, a supporter of the war in 2002, likes to talk a good line about wanting to end it now.
But he rarely if ever backs his empty words up with actual votes.
Kind's hypocrisy is as nauseating as it is indefensible.
Associated Press
La Crosse Democrat Ron Kind.
