On March 23rd, after voting against much needed support and additional training for the troops in Iraq, and for the continuation of Bush’s mismanagement of the occupation, Congressman Castle signed on to a letter that explained his vote:
President Bush has issued a veto threat as a result of the inclusion of non-emergency spending and policy proposals, and a large number of Members from both sides of the aisle — and in the Senate — have expressed concern over these provisions. “There is little likelihood that this legislation, in its current form, will ever become law,”
Castle attempted to rationalize away his betrayal of our troops in the field based on the fuzzy logic that “President Bush would veto it anyway.”
Now the President has issued another veto threat. This time the President is threatening to veto the one remaining “moderate” fig leaf covering Castle’s naked conservatism: Stem Cell Research.
Castle must certainly see that this veto threat calls for all “moderates” to support the President by not putting him in the undignified position of vetoing the bill. Certainly Castle understands that since ““there is little likelihood that this (stem cell) legislation, in its current form, will ever become law” he should vote against his own bill.
Right?
UPDATE:
Jimminey Christmas! – Castle is so full of crap! According to MYDD, he passed on joining this ad hoc group of Republicans who are pushing to end the war in Iraq:
A diverse collection of House Republicans has formed an ad hoc group to negotiate with the White House on a compromise Iraq spending bill, Politico’s Ryan Grim reports. The group plans to hold talks with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who has been working behind the scenes to cement opposition among Republicans to the spending bill that would require U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq at some point.
The group includes five Republicans, diverse in geography and ideology: Reps. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, Charles Boustany of Louisiana, Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, Mac Thornberry of Texas and Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland. Of the five, only Gilchrest broke with his party to support a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
Now, Gilchrest says the group will encourage the White House to compromise on negotiations with Syria and Iran and on setting a date for withdrawal from Iraq.
As Stoller says, the Iraq Accountability Act was the single most important vote since the original authorization to use force, and it was a vote to end the war. Castle stood with Bush and is STILL standing with Bush. Can someone please remind me why the hell he represents Delaware in Congress?