Rep. Peter King (R-NY), profile in courage
House Democrats announced on Friday that they would be pursuing a discharge petition to force a vote on a clean continuing resolution. The big question is whether all those Republicans who've been claiming they want a clean funding bill will take this simple action to make it happen. Basically, they have to put up or shut up, but so far, it's not looking good.
Rep. Peter King of New York has been one of the Republicans most outspokenly claiming he wants a clean CR and the government reopened. So you'd think he'd be one of the first to sign a discharge petition, and yet:
Rep. Peter King says he'll not sign a discharge petition House Democrats are trying on use to bring a “clean” continuing spending resolution to the floor.
Asked why he wouldn’t sign the petition, the New York Republican simply said: “It’s not going to go anywhere.”
Well, no, if Republicans like King who claim to want the thing that the discharge petition is intended to accomplish won't actually sign on, it won't go anywhere. A real profile in courage, he is.
This is a simple yes/no question: Will you actually do something to attain the goal you claim to want? Where the answer is no, the media and voters need to take note that the clean-CR bluster from King and his comrades is just that. A thin layer of bluster over a much deeper cowardice. Loyalty to or fear of the Republican Party taking precedence over what's best for the country.