Posted on 10/26/2023 8:45:14 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
When Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker, he said that the House was getting right to work Wednesday afternoon. The first item on the agenda was to vote on a resolution to show support to Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against it.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Cori Bush (D-MO), Al Green (D-TX), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) voted against the bill. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Greg Casar (D-TX), Chuy Garcia (D-TX) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) voted present.
With the exception of Pressley, all of the present votes came from lawmakers who had co-sponsored the resolution in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but have since called for a cease-fire. With the exception of Green, the lawmakers opposing the bill have frequently criticized Israel and are reliable “no” votes on pro-Israel legislation.
Why did Massie join members of The Squad and other Democrats in withholding his public show of support for Israel? He said he has reasons for not supporting House Resolution 771.
1) It calls for sanctions on a sovereign country. Sanctions are a prelude to war and hurt the citizens of the country more than the government of the country that’s being sanctioned. And ultimately, sanctions create laws that will be used to prosecute American citizens (who engage in trade), not citizens of the sanctioned country. In short, sanctions do not achieve their stated purposes but do breed resentment of our country abroad.
2) It asserts the necessity of foreign aid commitments which I have voted against. Our country is going bankrupt and we can’t afford to borrow money to send overseas, yet this resolution states that we should.
3) It contains an open-ended promise of military support that is so broad that it could be interpreted to commit US soldiers to the conflict. US troops should not be engaged in this conflict.
4) It tends to broaden the conflict to other countries when it would be better to keep the war contained geographically.
I condemn the barbaric attack on Israel and I affirm Israel’s right to defend itself.
However, I will not be voting for House Resolution 771 today because:
1) It calls for sanctions on a sovereign country. Sanctions are a prelude to war and hurt the citizens of the country more…
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 25, 2023
I read the resolution. I have to say I don’t reach the same conclusion that Massie does. If I was a member of the House, I would have voted for it. I think Massie is reading things into the resolution that are not there. YMMV.
To read the comments on his tweet, you see he has support for his vote. The no votes received criticism from their colleagues in the House.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told Jewish Insider she was “appalled by the Democratic members who opposed this resolution and failed to condemn Hamas,” calling their votes “shameful.” Rosen noted that a similar resolution had passed unanimously in the Senate.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said, “someone who votes against this I would think doesn’t have a soul.” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said that members who were unwilling to vote for the bill “are not worthy of serving in this body” and should “resign in disgrace.”
This is not the first time that Massie has raised eyebrows with a no vote against Israel. In May 2022, he was the lone ‘no’ vote on an antisemitism resolution. At the time, he tweeted something about the title of bills.
If we just voted based on the names of the bills, I’d vote for almost all of them.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 19, 2022
He later tweeted that the resolution violated 1st Amendment rights.
“I don’t hate anyone based on his or her ethnicity or religion. Legitimate government exists, in part, to punish those who commit unprovoked violence against others, but government can’t legislate thought. This bill promoted internet censorship and violations of the 1st amendment.”
The pro-Israel resolution was the first legislation passed in the House in three weeks.
Because he’s a RINO.
Chuy Garcia (D-TX)...unless there is more than one Chuy Garcia in congress, this one is from Il
Because he is a goof that claims to be against “Big Government” then votes for the McCarthy Debt Ceiling.
He’s made a career out of taking “principled stands” against House bills that pass with 400+ votes.
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He also joined Dems to give Biden a Victory on giving away money to China.
There was a Bill to increase Chinese Tariffs on specific Technology, and Joe was not going to let that happen, Massie crossed over to save Joe, again.
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And twisted too.
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It’s a coincidence that he just happens to save Joe and keep the historic spending - historic.
If Massie keeps this up, he’ll soon have a reputations as being anti-Semitic. He’s weird.
Interesting points. Does this mean he would support selling rope to communists, which would be used to hang him?
He has an interesting point, but it also means he is okay conducting trade with the country’s enemies?
He’s been sliding off the tracks of late. No more support for him.
You’re proof against Massie is that he voted against (Trump’s) Covid National Emergency Declaration???
That was the start of Fed.gov and Fauci locking down and bankrupting America, pushing the clot-shot, ensuring corrupt elections - d****s!
Massie was 100% correct
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You left off closing borders.
Because he’s banging Tlaib.
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