Murkowski Regrets Voting For Blunt’s ‘Religious Conscience’ Measure: ‘I Have Let These Women Down’

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

Murkowski Regrets Voting For Blunt’s ‘Religious Conscience’ Measure: ‘I Have Let These Women Down’
By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Health on Mar 6, 2012 at 10:33 am

Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski told a local newspaper yesterday that she regrets her vote for the so-called Blunt amendment, the GOP’s alternative to President Obama’s rule requiring employers to provide contraception coverage as part of their health care insurance plans. Under the amendment, which the Senate tabled with the help of just one Republican, employers would have been empowered to deny coverage of health services to their employees on the basis of personal moral objections.


“I have never had a vote I’ve taken where I have felt that I let down more people that believed in me,” Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News’ Julia O’Malley, claiming that the amendment’s language went “overboard”:

“If you had it to do over again, having had the weekend that you had with women being upset about the vote, do you think you would have voted the same?” I asked.

“No,” she said.



Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/06/438394/murkowski-regrets-voting-for-blunts-religious-conscience-measure-i-have-let-these-women-down/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Translated:

I'm sorry I voted the way that Mitch McConnell told me to vote. But I'll do it again in the future.

[grantcart]

5. translation # 2

We got about 150 calls and 300 emails on the subject.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Yup

[gopiscrap]

18. Translation #3

The Republican thugs threatened to put me in a box in the Detroit River right next to Jimmy Hoffa if I didn't vote their way!!!

[xtraxritical]

42. Can't congress critters change their votes after the fact? I think I've read about this before. eom

[tblue]

44. Translation: I am getting phone calls up the ying yang.

And I'm such an idiot.

[democrat_patriot]

2. Not to worry, you'll be voted out soon enough.

Plenty of time to think about past mistakes.

[Inuca]

3. She just got re-elected in 2010

technically as an independent, remember?

[leftyohiolib]

12. lisa the coward hiding her repuglican roots

[SemperEadem]

31. as a write in, no less

no mean feat, that, but then to sell out all women to a party that turned its back on you and went with that clown? Just damn...

[Inuca]

38. Disapointing, I agree

Given that she is not a wingnut + the way she was treated by "her boys", I expected that she will be a friendlier Senate presence, something closer to Snowe, for instance.

[quakerboy]

51. Given her vote on that

And regardless of her convenient "regret" after the fact(and after getting steamrolled by angry constituents), along with voting against ObamaCare, voting to repeal Obama care, Voting against the stimulus bills, etc, How do you make the argument that she is not a wingnut?

Not being the most Authoritarian right representative of the Republican party does not make one not a wingnut. In fact, I think its fair to argue that there may not be a single elected republican today who is not a wingnut.

[roguevalley]

48. I wish I could tell you of the decibels I gave her Kenai and Washington offices. I almost feel sorry

for the person who had to answer the call. :-D She is a fool's fool.

[Inuca]

4. I read the whole article to see whether

she also gave an explanation as to WHY she votes the way she did. I dod not find any.What I did find is a good comment about contraception being a good tool to reduce unwanted pregnancies and a rather strong statement against Limbaugh's appaling comments. From the short article, my inference was that she wanted to play ball, but she was really shocked by what Limbaugh said and its implications, and now she is sorry. Murkowski is in the "I can live with" category, she is reasonably decent, and not the "enemy" IMHO.

[The Blue Flower]

7. What the heck did she think she was voting for?

either stupid or bought

[sofa king]

47. Oh, she knew.

This is the virtual definition of Karl Rove's "compassionate conservatism." A mid-ass-rape apology, if you will.

What counts is the vote. The apology is merely a ruse designed to confuse and misinform, and to those who don't buy it, meaningless.

[MANative]

8. Translation from Republicanese to English:

"I want it both ways."

[stopbush]

13. Exactly. It's her on-the-record vote that counts. Had she voted against it,

the negative ads would point that out, hurting her chances with the Xian knuckle dragging voters. This way, she has her recorded vote and her mea culpa.

[polichick]

15. Yep - just another Republican chickenshit!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

24. does that make her bisexual?

Geez, Lisa, quit playing dumb, or treating the voters as though we are.

You got caught, the firestorm that Rush ignited is burning all who were foolish enough to follow their political bosses' demands, and that means you have to suffer the consequences. It is all a matter of being an adult. You may want to practice that sometime.

[fredamae]

9. I called her DC Ofc

.......Too little too late-She hurt Every female in the US.
I have been advised over the years that "one cannot Unscrew the dog"......

That she voted For this Amend and apologizes later tells Me she has the propensity to vote on legislation that she has not studied, read, researched and committed consideration to Before Voting-therefore I find Murkowski unqualified to fulfill the duties of constituent representation in the manner required that is consistent with the job description and standard expectations for service in the US Senate.

She has Failed at Serving Her People over favoritism of Corporate Interests and Party Ideology.

[SemperEadem]

32. she needs to fire her LA whose job it is to read and relate the bills to her

it was her LA (legislative assistant) whose job it was to tell her exactly what was in the bill

They obviously are looking out for their own advancement in the thug party to not have told her what was up.

[SunSeeker]

53. I guess it's tough finding a repug LA that can read. nt

[SemperEadem]

56. :::snort :::: LOL!

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Repugs are scared

They have pissed off women, and that ain't good.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

25. Hell knoweth no fury like a woman scorned, or at least her access to

health care.

[Thrill]

11. Another Coward

That wants to apologize after the fact

[dsharp88]

14. She talks moderate quite a lot, but I never see her vote anything but conservative.

Ever.

[Horse with no Name]

22. Wants her cake and wants to eat it too

Sorry. Not buying it.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Good. What that probably really means from a politician is...

'I'm sorry I didn't realize that the female citizens of my state would give me an even harder time than my party leaders!'

So keep up the pressure - it sometimes works!

[AlbertCat]

17. do you think you would have voted the same?” I asked. “No,” she said.

Yeah... but you don't get that vote again, so who cares. You blew it. Now go away.

[freshwest]

19. Yup

[shcrane71]

20. With the facts and understandable indignation, many Americans would act in the best interests of

themselves and their neighbors.

[bullwinkle428]

21. "I was for it before I was against it!"

No sale, Lisa.

[SusanaMontana41]

33. Ha!

Murkowski is pathetic.

[Solly Mack]

23. Piffle

[Dawson Leery]

26. Typical coward.

The Republican party is a far right reactionary party who has never accepted the 20th century.
If Olympia Snowe were running for another term, she too would have voted to deny women contraception.

[LynneSin]

27. Really? Does she think we're that stupid

What better way to keep EVERYONE happy.

First she knew there was no way the bill would pass in the senate since democrats were pretty solid in opposing this. But she still had to protect her right-wing republican values which were very strongly challenged this last election cycle. She knew that voting for a bill that was not going to get passed she could make the right-wingers happy and then afterwards apologize about the vote to keep the moderates and women happy.

Lisa, we weren't born under a rock. We know how these political stunts work and you failed miserably with yours!

[barbtries]

28. republican first.

woman, alaskan second. live with it.

[eyewall]

37. True

Aren't they all?

Republicans are not allowed to vote their conscience.

So I imagine they just don't bother having one.

[barbtries]

40. that's a good way to put it.

i imagine it would get uncomfortable after a while.

[JitterbugPerfume]

29. hind sight sure come in handy sometimes

huh lisa!

[SemperEadem]

30. Gee Lisa, ya think?

by virtue of the fact that you possess or have possessed ovaries should have been the one guiding force in voting no on that amendment...

this is what happens when you put politics before good sense... bitter is the regret. How does it taste, Lisa?

[Atman]

34. It begs the question...

Why didn't she know what her constituents wanted BEFORE she voted? What was she doing instead while she was supposed to be looking out for the women of Alaska?

[eyewall]

35. Couldn't she write a Bill that would undo the Blunt Amendment?

Last edited Tue Mar 6, 2012, 03:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Doesn't mean it would get passed but it would show she is sincere.
(assuming the Blunt measure becomes law)

[Blue_In_AK]

36. Here's a link to Julia O'Malley's article about her Murkowski interview.

http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/node/160093


Lisa's in a lot of trouble here (where abortion continues to be legal, safe and relatively uncontroversial and where everyone accepts contraception) with her female constituents, especially considering that she retained her seat last time with the help of independents and moderate Democrats who were too afraid of Joe Miller to vote for newbie Scott McAdams. It's just a shame she doesn't come up for re-election until 2016 because we would vote her out tomorrow if we had the chance. A lot of timid Democrats are having regrets about their lack of courage in 2010.



Read here at The Mudflats how Lisa sponsored a bill when she was a state representative that guaranteed that employers include contraception coverage in their insurance policies. Flip. Flop.

http://www.themudflats.net/2012/03/02/lisa-murkowski-was-for-contraceptive-coverage-before-she-was-against-it/

[olegramps]

41. It is just another example of someone wanting it both ways. Just as sincere as Limbaugh's apology.

[Warpy]

39. Too late, Lisa

You've already outed yourself as a panderer and an enemy to your fellow women.

Maybe it's time to retire and let a competent Democrat have a chance.

[Dont call me Shirley]

43. What she really said was "I regeret that I lost my next election because I

lost the female vote". Should have prethought that one out Lisa, most women don't believe in your anti-woman stance.

[Deep13]

45. Agreed, she did let America's women down. nt

[Tx4obama]

46. I think her regret is sincere. Ever since her re-election in 2010 ...

she has voted with the democrats several times on women's issues/other issues.
She normally has voted with other moderate GOPers (Collins, Snowe, Brown) when the dems have needed extra votes.
I was surprised that Murkowski didn't vote with the democrats against the Blunt amendment.
I think she IS sorry about her mistake, and I think that she probably screwed up by not really researching what she was actually voting for.

What is really bad is that THREE democrats voted 'for' the Blunt amendment.

[fhrtjtr]

49. Spam deleted by uppityperson (MIR Team)

[riderinthestorm]

50. Easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission

to vote against her party masters....

[alp227]

52. if she really means this she should switch like Specter or go indie like Lieberman

[SunSeeker]

54. Fine. Show you're sorry, Murkowski: donate to Planned Parenthood.

Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.

[Cass]

55. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the amendment was a bad one.

She was pretty eager to throw her lot in with republicans. Now she's wringing her hands and blathering on about regretting what she did. How very convenient for her as she plays both ends.