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Unpatriotic GOP
What has happened to the Republican Party's support for our troops? I see from an article in The Bee [June 17] that both of our local Republican congressmen, George Radanovich and Devin Nunes, voted against the bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Democrats voted against or held up funding for the war, Republicans questioned their patriotism. In June of 2008, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, "The Democrats' failure to pass a troop funding bill that will actually get our armed forces the money they need is nothing less than a disgrace." Republicans have said that to hold up a war funding bill would be "the equivalent of waving a white flag to al-Qaida."
Republicans voted 170-5 against the emergency war-funding bill. I simply can't believe congressional Republicans would put their opposition to a line of credit for the IMF and funding to fight the swine flu pandemic, which were included in the bill, ahead of their support for our troops.
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'Really want to help?'
Two stories in the Feb. 18 Bee speak volumes about politicians in Washington.
On the front page was the lead story about posturing senators of both political parties arguing over whether to vote on a symbolic resolution to rebuke President Bush over his conduct of the Iraq war. Both sides claimed they were fully in support of the troops, whatever the merits of the war.
On page A3 was a reprinted Washington Post story headlined "Troops face neglect, frustration at Army's top hospital." The story revealed the nation's supposed "crown jewel" medical facility, the famed but aging Walter Reed Hospital, is plagued with bad smells, mice droppings, dead cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses and bureaucratic bumbling. The Post found frustration among soldiers at the hospital, many with brain injuries, severed arms or legs and post-traumatic stress syndrome, is palpable, with their families living at near poverty levels.
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Valley Dems, GOP work to get out the vote
The election is 15 days away, and Barack Obama supporters in Fresno are busy wooing voters -- in Colorado.
Forget California, said T.J. Cox, a regional field director for Obama who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. George Radanovich in 2006. He is confident -- and polls are showing -- that California is going "blue," in which case Obama would prevail here and the Golden State would cast its 55 electoral votes for the Illinois senator.
What matters are the half-dozen swing states that likely will determine the outcome on Nov. 4. So volunteers working the phones at Obama's Shaw Avenue office in Fresno are busy calling people in those states. First, it was Nevada, Cox said, and now it is Colorado.
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Democrats wave Franken as trophy over limping GOP
Turns out that not-funny senator bit was an act.
"I'm an extremely good-looking person," satirist-turned-senator Al Franken cracked as photographers snapped his picture Tuesday after he took the oath of office.
Funny, ha-ha. But the Senate can be funny-odd, too, not to mention unforgiving.
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Franken declared winner, giving Democrats 60 Senate seats
Al Franken's victory in the long-contested Minnesota U.S. Senate race means that Democrats will control 60 Senate seats for the first time in 30 years, but they will still face obstacles to passing major legislation.
On paper, the party now has the muscle to block any Republican filibuster, since it takes 60 votes under Senate rules to end debate and move to a final vote. However, two key Democratic senators are battling serious illnesses, two others are independents who caucus with the party but aren't sure votes with the majority, and all senators have diverse constituencies that sometimes lead them to break ranks with their parties.
As a result, it's unlikely that the 58-year-old Harvard-educated comedian and now senator-elect will make a dramatic difference this year as his party and the White House fight to overhaul health care, limit carbon emissions and pass other major legislation.
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