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.
Hmmm...
Maybe it is my inherent patriotism, carefully nurtured for 90 years, but does anyone else find a problem with this list of elected American Globalist officials?
Because he’s a RINO.
Perhaps even a MAROON ( not an acronym)
>> At the age of 27, Rankin moved to San Francisco to take a job in social work, a new and developing field.
I think I see the problem here...
Let his district voters do it.
The same methods will be used against future conservatives
He condemned Hamas in his own way. Seems to be a bit eccentric reasoning to me.
“...Bill to increase Chinese Tariffs on specific Technology, and Joe was not going to let that happen, Massie crossed over to save Joe, again. “
When it comes to open borders or “free trade” these guys always re-discover their “inner libertarian”.
Yup !
His “inner libertarian” emerges just in time to keep the border open.
I recall this time of not knowing what in the hell was going on. I recall that we including Trump did not know what we were dealing with, where it came from, if it was a bio-attack to spread disease… we did not know. Who did know? Fauci knew, Birks knew, CIA knew, FIB knew…add to that a myriad of traitorous snakes from the DC swamp including former POTUS and former first Lady, Senators, members of Congress…their leadership.
Trump shut it down to protect the American people from what appeared to be a biological warfare attack. Fauci and Birks along with VP Pence stepped up and looked to be hero saviors…. But now we know they were part and parcel in either creating this or purposefully promoting the fear and death. They along with other deep state govt actors are completely responsible.
Agree and also a conniving opportunist.
As Ben Franklin said: ‘Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’
Always bad to have a weakling RINO nearby.
Baseball manager Sparky Anderson (Tigers and Reds champions)
said some players pretend to be slightly injured when the greatest pitchers are coming to town so they’ll keep their averages up. “Every player knows which guys you’ll want to trust next to you when the enemy is attacking; which ones you want in the trenches and which ones you don’t.”
I think of RINOs when I remember that.
👍🏻
Good to review these votes. Massie tries to play all sides of an issue so he looks like the good guy. He is actually a stunted grifter and needs to be primaried.
when you vote with the squad , (as Matt Gaetz did) you can be pretty sure you are on the wrong side of the issue
Thanks
He wears a Debt Clock Pin, and he voted to increase the Debt Ceiling Limit after years of pontificating on the dangers of the Debt.
That’s all I need to know.
Why? 💰?
BTTT
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