Rep. Roscoe Bartlett
Somebody is about to have his invitations to the Republican caucus lunches
revoked.
Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is not exactly toeing the party line when it comes to this winter’s threat of looming, across-the-board restrictions in military spending.
A senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, Bartlett says the uproar among his GOP colleagues over the potential cuts amounts to what some would describe “as a hysteria parade.” [...]
“We need to stop with all the superlatives about the thing and be rational about it and involve the American people on it,” Bartlett said. “It’s their country. It’s their kids that will have to fight the next war. They have a right to be involved, don’t they?”
Roscoe doesn't say whether he'd also go so far as to buck the party on raising taxes, but it's still a pretty big break from party orthodoxy, particularly coming from a member of Armed Services. It can't be a welcome injection of rationality to the debate for Republican leadership, even if it is probably a result of Bartlett trying to save his own skin. His district, Maryland's 6th, was redrawn into a more hostile seat, and he's in
serious danger unless he can pull some moderate and independent voters.