Posted on 06/24/2023 6:22:00 AM PDT by Twotone
Two House Republicans defected from their party, voting to kill two National Defense Authorization Act amendments that would have defunded diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the military.
In an otherwise party-line vote, Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Mike Turner (R-OH) voted against the amendments, causing their failures in 29-30 votes in a committee markup for the NDAA Wednesday night.
One amendment, offered by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), would have prohibited NDAA funds from being used for DEI training.
Gaetz offered another amendment that blocked funding for drag shows at military facilities, which passed.
The other failed amendment, offered by Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO), would have defunded the Defense Department's top diversity officer, the deputy inspector general for diversity and inclusion and extremism in the military, currently held by Theresa Hull.
"Diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Department of Defense is unnecessary and divisive," Alford told the Washington Examiner. "With our military missing recruiting goals, we should be focused on pushing American greatness and not pronouns or gender identities. Last night's vote was disappointing and will only exacerbate this problem. The issue is not dead, and I am not done pursuing it."
Bacon said that the Alford and Gaetz amendments were "drafted too broadly and had the potential to do significant harm to long-standing DOD equal opportunity programs that ensure Department of Defense compliance with the Constitution and U.S. law."
“Last night, there were numerous NDAA amendments proposed in opposition DOD’s excessive and often divisive emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion," Bacon told the Washington Examiner. "I was proud to join my colleagues in supporting six different amendments that eliminate the position of chief diversity officer, eliminate the Countering Extremism Working Group, prohibit formal instruction on CRT at our academies, prohibit drag shows on government property, and other similar measures."
One amendment, Bacon said, "would have totally cut all diversity training for the military, which is unreasonable. All service members should know that racism and sexual harassment are not tolerated in our military, and you do that through training.”
Despite the amendment failures, the NDAA overwhelmingly advanced through the committee in a 58-1 vote, with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) being the only member to vote against it.
"We have DEI on the run, and our pursuit continues," Gaetz told the Washington Examiner.
Turner did not respond to a request for comment.
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Mike Turner has done some SQUIRRELLY things lately...he’s DIRTY!
The Uniparty lives
Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Mike Turner (R-OH) - turncoats... Primary both of ‘em.
Primary them
Just vote harder next time.
Lol… working for us, isn’t it. D.U.
“In an otherwise party-line vote, Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Mike Turner (R-OH) voted against the amendments, causing their failures in 29-30 votes in a committee markup for the NDAA Wednesday night.”
Where are the RINO supporters? Where are the people who insist that we have to reelect RINOs in order to take the house and senate? They’re always AWOL when their beloved RINOs are undermining the party. They should be defending Bacon and Turner.
Turner has lost my primary vote. He must be spending too much of his time in Dayton and Springfield.
Just about all of them are dirty in one way or another for different things. The system encourages it.
bttt
“The Uniparty lives”
Indeed!
Democrats vote in lock-step in nearly EVERY circumstance. For Republicans, there’s always just enough peeled off to bend over the populace...
Don Bacon is a Democrat in all but name. He represents a very marginal district (Omaha) in a very Republican state (Nebraska).
Now for some pertinent info on Nebraska electoral politics:
In the most recent redistricting, the Republican-controlled Nebraska legislature could EASILY have made Bacon’s district (NE-2) much safer for the GOP, but they chose not to do so.
The other 2 Nebraska districts are already safe, and NE-3 is probably the most Republican district in the COUNTRY. Some of its voters could easily have been swapped with voters in the adjacent NE-2 for a win-win.
So why didn’t the RINO legislature wish to help one of their own kind stay safely in Congress for the next decade?
Because they were afraid that making NE-2 more REPUBLICAN would make it more CONSERVATIVE — which it would.
They are perfectly content with either a RINO (Bacon) or an even more liberal Democrat winning that seat. They are terrified that a conservative might win it, so they made sure that can’t happen. If Bacon loses (somehow) in a GOP primary, the RINOs will make absolutely certain that the Democrat wins in November. Book it. It’s a bit of a moot point, as at least for now nobody on the right is challenging the RINO.
By failing to make NE-2 safer for the GOP in Congress, the RINO legislature also failed to make it safer for the GOP at the PRESIDENTIAL level. Nebraska is one of only 2 states (the other is Maine) which allocate Electoral Votes by congressional district.
In 2020, Trump lost NE-2 and therefore lost one of Nebraska’s 5 Electoral Votes. The “path to 270” is already hard/impossible enough for Republicans now (and just wait until Texas flips from True Blue to Commie Red) without RINOs helping to sabotage GOP chances at the White House even further.
Bacon represents Nebraska 2nd district which is basically Omaha. Democrats win that seat routinely. Mitt Romney won it with a 7% margin over Obama but Trump only defeated Hillary by 2% in 2016, so you can see the trend. Biden defeated Trump by 6% so Bacon is doing just what his constitutents want.
But then again, Democrats aren't infiltrated with traitors to their cause.
Read post 14 as to *why* NE-2 is the way it is.
BTW, Democrats have won that district one (1) time in the last 15 House elections (and RINOs the other 14 times) so I would hardly call it “routine” for Rats to win it though obviously the district could go either way at any time — at least NOW it works that way.
“Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Mike Turner (R-OH) - turncoats”
Bought and paid for, I expect. It would be interesting to see their secret financials and offshore account figures — the ones the IRS and the pols’ constituents can’t see.
If they voted against a Republican bill, why do we still call them Republican? We are way past the point of still playing slap and tickle with the dems. Some of these people claim to be sticking to their principles. All they are doing is ensuring dems keep moving down the path towards America’s destruction. Nice! Thanks.
…and yet it doesn’t seem to bother them, which sort of makes them traitors as well, no?
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