Posted on 10/26/2005 1:28:51 AM PDT by Smelly_Fed
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Allen took a Conservative Stand on October 20th
A telling vote was taken on Capitol Hill last Thursday. At issue - a massive spending bill before the Senate. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn (R) placed an amendment before the Senate wanting to kill a few earmarked items (aka pork-barrel projects) in an effort to help fund the rebuilding in the Katrina aftermath.
Sounds fiscally responsible to me - it's what my wife and I do with our own checkbook, we make tough decisions between what we NEED and what we want. You too, eh? If only Congress had to be responsible in the same way you and I do.
The arguing commenced with Washington Senator Patty Murray (D) threatening that any Senator who supported the Coburn Amendment would have their own projects black-balled in retaliation.
The Amendment was voted down but later Coburn brought it back up again. This time targeting two "Bridges to Nowhere" in Alaska costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Interject Senator Ted Stevens (R) from Alaska. You may have seen the video of Senator Ted Stevens yelling and screaming on the Senate floor - it made the news cycles. Senator Stevens went nuclear on the entire room and threatened to quit the Senate and all but withdraw the State of Alaska from the Union before he'd see the Amendment pass.
15 Senators cast a yea vote for the Coburn Amendment. Allard (R-CO) Allen (R-VA) Bayh (D-IN) Burr (R-NC) Coburn (R-OK) Conrad (D-ND) DeMint (R-SC) DeWine (R-OH) Feingold (D-WI) Graham (R-SC) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Sessions (R-AL) Sununu (R-NH) Vitter (R-LA)
Telling that there aren't a few more self-proclaimed Conservatives on that list. To his credit, Senator George Allen did vote with the fiscally responsible.
"Senator Stevens went nuclear on the entire room and threatened to quit the Senate"
Well, don't let the door hit ya on the way out, Senator.
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