CT Roll Call on "Blank Check" Supplemental (Updated)

If he does, he will be my nominee. (4.00 / 1)

for next MLN progressive hero of the week.

The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice. --Martin Luther King, Jr.

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by: connecticutyankee @ Wed May 23, 2007 at 14:14:50 PM CDT

Courtney undecided at the moment. (4.00 / 1)

Just hung up the phone with Courtney's office as I was typing this.

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by: snorwich @ Wed May 23, 2007 at 14:19:56 PM CDT

YAY Chris murphy (4.00 / 2)

there was a reason I knocked on doors (and was almost beaten to a pulp by Nancy Johnson supporters) for this man.

Standing proud in the fifth district!

.Adding Another Dimension of Vituperation Toxicity to Blogging since 1999!.

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by: nolopro @ Wed May 23, 2007 at 15:40:54 PM CDT

Dodd will prove whether he's just another Senator or (0.00 / 0)

maybe something more by what he does this week on the Senate Floor.

So far he's swung and missed or left the bat on his shoulder at every opportunity.If he does the same here he's useless.

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by: ctkeith @ Wed May 23, 2007 at 16:20:22 PM CDT

I just called Courtney's Washington office (4.00 / 1)

and asked the staffer if Courtney had made a decision on voting for the "blank check" Iraq war supplemental spending bill.  She said that she did not know.  I told her that Courtney should follow Chris Murphy's lead and vote against it.

I'm on vacation, so it's easier for me to make these kinds of calls.

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by: Larkspur @ Wed May 23, 2007 at 16:26:00 PM CDT

When I called Larson's office yesterday..... (4.00 / 2)

and aide merely took my name and town and my NO vote.

If he becomes swamped with calls like this, will he pull a Lieberman and vote for it anyway?  I will work hard to get him out, should he do so.

PLEASE, everyone.  call.  Have your Mother, sister, brother, spouse, children call.  Flood Larson's office with calls and faxes. 

For those of you who did not watch the Olberman show, I advise you to.  We HAVE been betrayed.  Don't let our State leaders do it too.

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by: PamB @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 08:02:16 AM CDT

10:00 calls (4.00 / 1)

Just called at 10:00am...
Courtney,  No Answer, just a machine, left msg.

Deloro, Office staff didn't know

It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality. - Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BC)

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by: CTpeon @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 09:05:16 AM CDT

Another call (0.00 / 0)

I called around 9:30 this morning, spoke to a staffer who said that although Joe strongly favors holding the President responsible, he has not yet decided how he will vote on this one.

I refuse to let my pragmatism get in the way of my idealism.

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by: JohnMac @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 11:43:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sort of related (0.00 / 0)

Hillary got quite agitated yesterday when a reporter had the temerity to ask which way she would vote. She declined to answer, naturally. This will be a real problem for her. Maybe she'll just pull a McCain and be out of town. Biden is voting "yes", of course, as if it matters.

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by: Scarce @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 09:16:36 AM CDT

It could end up (0.00 / 0)

that Dodd and Kucinich are the only two in the pres. race who will vote against it. Big opening for Dodd if that's the case (yes, Edwards is speaking out strongly against it too, but Dodd gets a chance to lead in the Senate on this).

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by: tparty @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 09:19:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Obama (0.00 / 0)

..will be at YearlyKos in a couple of months. I can't see him voting "yes" and attending it. Chris Dodd ought to attend.

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by: Scarce @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 09:39:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hillary & Obama voted "no" (0.00 / 0)

Only 14 Senators voted "no", and that included 3 republicans (!) and Bernie Sanders. Shameful. A freakin' disgrace.

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by: Scarce @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 20:43:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

About those "No" Votes from Hillary and Obama (0.00 / 0)

Keith Olbermann reported on the vote live during his show and called attention to the fact that the "No" votes from Hillary and Obama both occurred after there had already been enough "Yes" votes to pass the bill.

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by: CTPatriot @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 22:27:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

That... (0.00 / 0)

sounds about right...

But let justice roll down like waters...Amos 5:24a

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by: Jake Blount @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 22:37:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not to be too reductionist here (0.00 / 0)

But anyone who votes for that parlimentary rule is a pussy*.

Looks like the Republicans were right about Democratic leadership after all (who knew?).

Good government should be based on open discussion, and when our party's leadership doesn't have the stomach to publicly record their votes on this funding (only the most visible, most contentious issue that, oh, every Democratic voter in the country cares about), they deserve every bit of scorn and derision they're gonna get.

* Sorry about the language, but this is one case where I feel it's a term that's pretty applicable.

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to it."

-Lawrence Summers

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by: joesaho @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 12:00:08 PM CDT

DemFromCT (4.00 / 1)

just posted Chris Murphy's press release on Daily Kos.  Looks like he is voting no.

This bill is two inches away from giving a blank check to the President for this war, and I will not support it because it continues our commitment with no plan to redeploy our troops out of the civil war in Iraq.

"People in Connecticut and across the country overwhelmingly support redeploying our troops out of Iraq, yet this message falls on deaf ears in the Bush Administration.  This bill may pass today, and the President may sign it, but I cannot support it.  I was sent here to bring this war to a close, and this bill doesn't do that.

I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals -- Butch Cassidy
Check out www.ctsmartgrowth.com

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by: commonweal @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 12:17:59 PM CDT

Good News (4.00 / 1)

All five Dem's from Ct voting against the blank check.
It's front paged on Kos

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by: terhuxtim @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 13:24:49 PM CDT

NY Times Poll: voting no is way to go (0.00 / 0)

From the NY Times:

While the troops remain in Iraq, the overwhelming majority of Americans support continuing to finance the war, though most want to do so with conditions. Thirteen percent want Congress to block all spending on the war. The majority, 69 percent, including 62 percent of Republicans, say Congress should appropriate money for the war, but on the condition that the United States sets benchmarks for progress and that the Iraqi government meets those goals. Fifteen percent of all respondents want Congress to approve war spending without conditions.

Seems like the only people who think this bill makes sense are spineless Democrats and brainless Republicans.

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by: CaptCT @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 13:27:50 PM CDT

I don't think I ever felt so proud of being from CT! (4.00 / 1)

Democratic Congressmen Band Together On Iraq
>2:03 PM EDT, May 24, 2007
>
>By DAVID LIGHTMAN, Washington Bureau Chief  WASHINGTON -- The four
>Democratic members of the Connecticut House
>
>delegation banded together and said in a joint statement today they
>will oppose the Iraq spending plan, a plan with
>
>no timetables for withdrawing U.S. troops, and instead "demand
>legislation that includes consequences" for the
>
>Iraqis and "a plan to redeploy and then bring our troops home."
>
>In an unusual development, the members issued a four-paragraph
>statement, saying, "We will vote the will of our
>
>constituents in Connecticut and the American people -- voting against a
>measure that does not hold this
>
>administration accountable for its failed policy in Iraq or set a new direction.
>
>"We cannot in good conscience support a bill that keeps our troops in
>the middle of a bloody and chaotic civil war
>
>with no exit strategy and no timeline for redeploying our troops," they said.
>
>Making up their minds today were Reps. Joseph Courtney, D-2nd District,
>Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, and Chris
>
>Murphy, D-5th District. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, announced his opposition Wednesday.
>
>They were all under intense pressure from Connecticut anti-war
>activists who have been flooding their offices with
>
>e-mails and phone calls. A Connecticut Opposes the War newsletter
>issued today via e-mail, for instance, listed each
>
>member's phone number and reminded readers: "Democrats need to hold
>firm now in order to keep the pressure on Bush
>
>and Republican legislators."
>
>Murphy, DeLauro and Courtney all said they wanted to read the
>legislation before taking a position, but all had
>
>unique pressures in their districts. DeLauro represents a New
>Haven-based district that is a center of anti-war
>
>activity. Murphy and Courtney last year beat veteran Republican
>incumbents and felt they had been sent to Washington
>
>with a mandate to end the war.
>
>Though the legislation has benchmarks President Bush is supposed to
>follow to try to end the war, Murphy said today
>
>he did not see it that way. "For me, it's two steps from another blank
>check," he said. "In my conscience, I just
>
>cannot allow the president to continue this war."
>
>The joint statement was critical of Bush, saying his "aversion to
>accountability was clearly demonstrated when he
>
>vetoed a bill earlier this month that would have increased the pressure
>on the Iraqi government to meet benchmarks
>
>and would ultimately allow the safe and responsible deployment of the troops."
>
>It was that veto that convinced Democratic leaders that timetables
>would never become law, so they fashioned the
>
>measure expected to get a vote later today.
>
>But the state's Democrats weren't buying it -- even though Larson and DeLauro are part of the leadership.
>
>"Without accountability we will continue to see more of the same," the
>joint statement said, "more daily reports of
>
>death and destruction in Iraq, more instability and violence in the region, and no clear end to the war in sight."
>
>The state's only Republican lawmaker, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th District, intends to vote for the plan.
>
>In the Senate, which is expected to vote Friday, Sen. Christopher J.
>Dodd, D-Conn., opposes the measure. Sen. Joseph
>
>I. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and is a
>strong war backer, is observing a Jewish holiday
>
>and cannot be reached for comment.
>

(who really gives a s**t what Lieberman has to say?)

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by: PamB @ Thu May 24, 2007 at 14:36:42 PM CDT