Does Mike Simpson support the troops?  

Posted by Jessica in , ,

I've been accused of not supporting the troops so many times, at least I didn't vote to send "unarmored, untrained, unrested (and even, Salon and the Hartford Courant tell us, wounded and mentally unstable) troops to Iraq.

"In a recent vote, the Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee unanimously opposed requiring that the troops sent to Iraq be properly prepared for their mission and protected with armor. Again." From: Daily Kos.

So, who are the offenders?

Alabama: Robert Aderholt
California: John Doolittle and Jerry Lewis
Florida: Ander Crenshaw, Dave Weldon and C.W. "Bill" Young
Georgia: Jack Kingston
Idaho: Michael K. Simpson
Illinois: Mark Steven Kirk and Ray LaHood
Iowa: Tom Latham Kansas: Todd Tiahrt
Kentucky: Harold Rogers
Louisiana: Rodney Alexander
Michigan: Joe Knollenberg
Mississippi: Roger Wicker
Missouri: Jo Ann Emerson
Montana: Dennis Rehberg
New Jersey: Rodney Frelinghuysen
New York: James Walsh
Ohio: Ralph Regula and David Hobson
Pennsylvania: John Peterson
Tennessee: Zach Wamp
Texas: John Carter, John Culberson and Kay Granger
Virginia: Virgil Goode and Frank Wolf

I am actually quite surprised to see Simpson's name on this list. When he came to Idaho State University last month, the very first thing he pointed out was how he had gone against party lines to vote with the Democrats, even when the Democrats were the minority party, and he even provided examples -note, I am being semi-sarcastic in this paragraph-.

However, during this same speech, he also said 99% of Americans have the beliefs of the Republican Party. I'm afraid that when he said this, I laughed way too hard and attracted some attention, but come on, who knew Simpson was such a kidder!

But in all seriousness, this is very disturbing and reminded me of a post Cameron made on his blog about the idea of supporting the troops. Maybe we need to decide, once and for all, what supporting the troop means and how we can all do it, whether we serve in Congress, blog, go to college, and/or work.

5 comments

Cameron   says March 22, 2007 at 7:19 PM

Has Rep. Simpson given an explanation for his vote?

Thanks for the link. I hope you'll keep giving input.

Jessica   says March 22, 2007 at 9:57 PM

Yes, I believed he released a statement, but I cannot find it.

If I am remembering correctly, he had some excuses, maybe something about the Democrats playing politics with Iraq...

Just Callin' It Like I See It   says March 23, 2007 at 6:30 AM

here's the press release http://www.house.gov/list/press/id02_simpson/fund_troops.html

His speeches and public statements from Feb 16, 2007 are important to read as well (I found them at Vote Smart, which doesn't have the recent press release listed yet)

Cameron   says March 23, 2007 at 9:09 AM

Am I reading the press release right? He voted against the bill because he wants a different one considered?

Wordsmith   says March 24, 2007 at 1:28 PM

Simpson simply votes the party line. He's not an independent thinker. It's just a game he plays to 'keep his job.'

H.R. 1591 has many projects attached that have nothing to do with funding our troops in Iraq, including $400 million to extend by one year the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which provides payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging.

As John Murtha pointed out on CNN yesterday with Blitzer - this is stuff left over from the previous Congress, the Republican-dominanted Congress, in both houses I might add.

“While I support and would love to have the funding for schools in my state, there is no amount of money that could tempt me to abandon our troops and vote for this bill," Simpson said.

This above is precisely why my father finally swung over from voting Republican his entire 60 years of voting to Democratic in 2004. The war was the #1 reason. And now the rest of the family is swinging; one sister actually bought Obama's two book.

Murtha in Congress: http://tinyurl.com/2jayqa

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