BREAKING: House Judiciary Reconsiders BACKS Bush Torture Bill

[kpete]

BREAKING: House Judiciary Reconsiders, Backs Bush Torture Bill

September 20, 2006, 3:47 pm
One Vote Short

McCain
John McCain and two other Republican senators who oppose President Bush’s plan for prosecuting enemy combatants came close to winning support of the House Judiciary Committee today.

As the committee considered the Bush plan, which the House Armed Services Committee passed last week, Reps. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) and Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) offered an amendment substituting McCain’s approach. It failed by just one vote — 18-17 — as all the Democrats who were there and two Republicans — Flake and Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina — voted for it.

The amendment might have passed had two Democrats not missed the vote; the two were at a news conference on the Medicare drug benefit. A spokesman for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, one of the two, said she was rushing back for the vote but just missed it. “She’s obviously disappointed,” said the spokesman, Jonathan Beeton. “It was unfortunate timing.”

House leaders plan to bring the Bush plan to the floor next week. –Sarah Lueck

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/09/20/one-vote-short/

[Donnachaidh]

1. who did they get to?

And I wonder what goodies were offered to the traitors.

[Patsy Stone]

2. Sneaky bastards!

This is a revolting development.

[Ninja Jordan]

3. Scumbag anti-Constitutionalists

[Freedom_from_Chains]

4. So what did they do, wait until these two were out and then call

a quick vote so they could ram it through. Kind of like how they passed the Patriot Act in the middle of the night.

[Klukie]

9. That was my first thought as well. n/t

[Freedom_from_Chains]

11. It's a sad day when we have to be strong arming Congress

to keep our pres out of danger of going to jail.

[lonestarnot]

21. Withering snakes! Opportunistic scumbags!

[undeterred]

5. Sensenbrenner at work.

[mmonk]

6. Well, the Medicare drug benefit IS more important than

the constitution or our freedom.

[marmar]

7. These evil bastards are going to pay...sooner or later.

:grr:

[notadmblnd]

8. it still has to get to the house floor and then on to the senate

hopefully it will get beaten down in one of those places.

[acmejack]

10. I don't imagine this was just a coincidence or anything/

The vote surely wasn't held when a couple of key opposition votes were indisposed somewhere else? The republiclowns would never suddenly have a "revote", whatever that is. These dirty trick SOBs!

[gkhouston]

12. Make those fuckers own it.

Every damn one of them up for re-election, from now until doomsday, hound them with questions about why they think it's right to torture possibly innocent people to gain what will probably be useless information. Turley had the right of this last night on Countdown: you can't fight a moral war using immoral means. They used a slimy maneuver to further the consideration of an even slimier law. Let's hang this around their necks like an anvil and throw them in the deep end.

[Truthiness Inspector]

13. Who was the other one who missed the vote? n/t

[BootinUp]

14. Oh fer crise sakes. &#&^@!!!!

[spanone]

15. Unfortunate timing? Unfuckingacceptable answer.

That just doesn't cut it with me. This is tooo fucking important.

[Recursion]

17. Amen. Who's the whip nowadays?

Is it still Steny? He should have those two's asses. If we got 2 GOP defectors we have 0 excuse for losing that vote. That's a bush-league mistake. Amateur.

[enough]

16. k&r

[glitch]

18. More to indict. nt

[chill_wind]

19. So who was the other MIA Dem?

Lueck mentions one by name in her story but not the other. Wonder why?

[Oilwellian]

20. Here's a pic of Debbie Wasserman Schultz

She has a website that shows her to be a solid Democrat.
http://www.house.gov/schultz/new-direction-en.htm

I'm Googling for news generated from the news conference on the Medicare drug benefit. No luck yet.

[Fovea]

22. I predict this bill, if passed in the Senate

will generate the largest war crimes tribunal in history.
Which ones will swallow cyanide?

My money is on Rummy.

[Skidmore]

23. I was just watching the Judicial Committee debate...

The Rs kept harping on the Dems on the Armed Service Committee voting for this abomination. I want to know who the 5 Dems on the Armed Services Committee were who voted for it and why.

And this isn't the first time that Dems haven't shown up for a key vote that could have been won.

Do these people think about the importance of what is to be voted on and discuss a strategy in caucus at all?

[Ino]

24. I had just watched Debbie Schultz on cspan yesterday

I was impressed. She was letting the Repukes have it on their "the economy is great" BS and not raising the minimum wage. She was ragging them hard about healthcare & gas prices. I'm inclined to think she was devastated about missing that vote. The Repukes have no honor, just an impeccable sense of timing (midnight votes, recess appointments, Bush scheduling a press conference during an important Dem presentation). HATEFUL people.

[a kennedy]

25. I can't stand to look at the chairman.......he's from Wisconsin

Sensenbrenner..... and oh yeah, he just keep saying, call the vote, call the vote. What a putz. He's one of those "big head" people, you know the type, the head looks like it's too big for the body. :puke:

[Ganja Ninja]

26. Satan Wins!

What a surprise.

[Canuckistanian]

27. This was no mistake

Those whips know where everyone is at all times during critical votes.

This looks like a rushed vote.