Today, about 100 House Republicans refused to vote for more war funding, voting 'present'. They are trying to hand off the war to the Democrats, but even Democrats were able to increase their 'no' vote number on funding from 141 to 149; the bill failed. In a separate bill, Republicans also voted against timelines, for torture, and accountability for military contractors, including various elements of a Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. This bill passed with 227 votes; last year, it passed with only 218 votes, for a gain of 9.
Finally the GI bill passed with overwhelming margin of 256 votes in the House, including 32 Republicans. It included a war surtax of one half of one percent on people making over $500k a year to pay for the GI bill, at the behest of Blue Dogs. This might actually be the most remarkable piece of the votes today; conservative Democrats agreeing to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for educational benefits for veterans. Bill Foster and Don Cazayoux both voted well on the new GI Bill and on the Responsible Plan bill with timelines, but were 'yes' votes on war funding. So yes, they are conservative, and I expect Childers to be conservative as well. Still, the MS-01, the IL-14 special election result, and the LA-06 special election result - all red seats picked off by Democrats - are devastating Republican discipline in the House.
This war is going to end because it is politically unsustainable. The Senate is going to add the funding back in and the House will make sure the money goes to the war, but recognize how big a deal this is. The Republicans in the House and the Senate are going to utterly collapse this fall, and Democrats will have a mandate to end the war. It's something Obama has promised to do, and now the political logic there is undeniable. The question is whether there will be residual troops in the country, and that is where we can have an impact.
An end to this war means no more troops in Iraq. The Republicans are going to face, as Tom Matzzie said, extinction, because they kept the war going.
Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, held a press teleconference today in response to the third straight special-election loss this year. Losing Roger Wicker's Mississippi seat stunned the House GOP caucus, which now has three more seats to recover in what looks like a very bad year for Republicans.
"My sense is--we had a leadership meeting this morning--the sense of the group was we need to pull together as a team. The message of a candidate being 'too liberal' or 'too out of sync' is not what voters want to hear...It just didn't work. But what does work, though, is a realization that the paradigm has been shifted. This country is tired of excuses and doesn't want to hear about 'too liberal' or 'too this' or 'too that.' What they want to hear is solutions."
House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida agreed with [Deputy Whip] Cantor's analysis.
Holy crap, when was the last time top Republicans questioned the wisdom of using "too liberal" as a campaign tactic? The GOP have been rocked. There's rumours of firing the leadership. 3 more Democratic votes in the House (and 3 less Republicans).
Over the last two months, there have have been 3 special elections in which Democrats have been fighting to take back seats from the Republican Party - IL-14, where Democrat Bill Foster was elected to Congress in what used to be Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert's seat; MS-01, where Democrat Travis Childers is seeking to take over Republican Roger Wicker's seat in a special election run-off to be held May 13th; and here in LA-06, we have Don Cazayoux, who is seeking to do what no Democrat has done here in 33 years ... represent the Capital area of Louisiana in Congress.
When I sat down to read what was being said in the world today, I came across Barack Obama's speech in Indiana the night of the Pennsylvania primary. It was the speech we haven't heard from Barack during this 14 month campaign ... as it was a call to action for Democrats.
The money quote, to me, in a speech full of them, was this:
We can seek to regain not just an office, but the trust of the American people, that their leaders in Washington will tell them the truth. That's the choice in this election.
That's what this election right here in Baton Rouge is about. Do we want to listen to the lies of man who knowingly did business with David Duke back in 1996? Or do we want our politicians to tell us the truth about our country, and the choices we will have to make over the next few years?
I'm voting to be told the truth, which is why I am voting for Don Cazayoux. Yeah, that's an endorsement, as Don will level with you on the issues. He'll tell you where he stands, and if he needs more time to look at the issue, he'll tell you that too. Isn't that we should expect from our leaders?
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