My Congressman, Dave Obey (WI-7), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, met recently with some of his constituents to discuss current issues, including the recently passed appropriations bill for Iraq, accusations that it is loaded with "pork," and same-sex marriage. Although I missed his talk, I had to share some of his quotes, as reported in my local paper. You can read the full article here.
Some of his replies to tired Republican talking points are wonderful, and since they have only been reported locally (as far as I know), I thought I would share them below...
First the Iraq bill, and Bush's threat to veto it:
"If (Bush) vetoes it, we will just have to go back at it again with another bill," Obey said after the meeting. "... We will keep passing this until he recognizes a need for change in direction."
I hope he means that. My read on Congressman Obey is that he does.
On the accusations of the bill being loaded with pork, Obey had more good stuff up his sleeve:
Obey walked the audience through the list of extra funding items, which included $3.4 billion for veterans health care, $1.4 billion for military housing and $2.6 billion for homeland security. Funding was also allocated for Hurricane Katrina-related reconstruction, pandemic flu epidemic vaccines and low-income heating assistance programs, among other things, Obey said.
"This is the so-called 'pork,'" Obey said. "... These are the kind of items that are supposed to be in an (emergency spending) bill. The president wants to hide the annual cost of the war."
Good answer. Veterans benefits and Katrina relief are pork? Please.
But the money quote - the one I really admire Dave Obey for - was the one in which he stood up to a Republican bigot on same-sex marriage:
Gadamus criticized the country's "ethics," and said America is the "most-hated country," in part, because of same-sex marriage and abortion.
"When are you guys going to get it?" Gadamus asked Obey. "If you want to stop all war, you've got to respect life from the very beginning to the very end."
After Gadamus' comments were eventually interrupted by another audience member — "I did not come here to listen to your speech!" the man said — Obey responded, his answers eliciting audience applause.
"With all due respect, I'm not going to take a lecture from you or anyone else on ethics ... I take a backseat to nobody in being concerned about ethics," he said, citing his opposition to the war. "... I hate abortion. It's really none of my business what people's sexual preferences are. If you've got a problem with gays, take it up with God — he made them!"
Take it up with God - he made them. What a great way to spin the anti-gay hate speech of the Christian right.
I couldn't be prouder to be living in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.