In a procedural motion on a resolution to continue federal spending as the fiscal year ends Sunday, Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-California and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, offered an amendment supporting Gen. David Petraeus and condeming MoveOn.org’s criticism of him. The motion was accepted by appropriations chairman Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisconsin.
All I can say is: ugh! While I am not completely in agreement with Moveon.org’s advertisement (maybe that’s for another post), must Congress use this crucial time to vote on whether or not ads purchased by PACs should be given approval?
The fiscal year is winding down.
No spending bills have been signed into law yet.
Congress’s approval rating is at 11 percent.
And what do we get? Procedural motions that can produce nothing but “gotcha’ politics” and ammo to those on both sides. I’ll update as this continues.
The motion to amend (it was really a motion to recommit with amendment, but the bill is already back before the House as I write this, whatever) passed 341-79. All 79 nays were Democrats who will now be accused of “turning their backs on the troops” or some such nonsense by talk radio and right wing bloggers.
10 minutes of debate. 20+ minutes of the voting machine being open. You can laugh at this if you want, but that half hour is time that could have been spent on real legislation such as that before the House addressing popcorn lung disease. I will update with how the Minnesota delegation voted once the roll is posted (though I am sure there won’t be any surprises).
No surprises here on this roll call. Minnesota members voting aye: Walz, Kline, Ramstad, McCollum, Bachmann, Peterson, Oberstar. Voting nay: Ellison. At least maybe some people will let up on bullcrap such as calling Tim Walz “MoveOn.org’s Minnesota representative.”
