Sen. Smith's stands rile both left, right

[Judi Lynn]

Sen. Smith's stands rile both left, right
Principle - Beliefs on defense, Medicaid will trump costs of votes on drilling and deficits
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
JIM BARNETT
WASHINGTON -- After crossing his party leaders on an upcoming budget vote crucial to President Bush, Sen. Gordon Smith said he also is prepared to inflame his critics today by casting a key vote to allow oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.

The Oregon Republican previously opposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pledging in his 2002 campaign to protect it. But the issue has become embedded in defense spending, and Smith says he will vote for the defense bill even if it includes Alaska drilling.

"I'm not going to obstruct the bill on the floor. That is an essential piece of our obligation to national security," Smith said in an interview this week. "ANWR is a very important issue. It's just not the only issue that is dispositive of my vote."

Smith also will cast a key vote expected today on a contentious deficit-reduction bill that would cut federal benefits by $40 billion through the end of the decade. Smith opposes the Republican bill because it would raise costs to low-income and disabled people on Medicaid.
(snip/...)

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1135137338244610.xml&coll=7

[blitzen]

1. Did Smith really vote against the Repuke budget cuts?

If true, I'll give him a modicum of praise.

I'm an Oregonian-in-exile so I don't know him too well, but I've always thought of him as a right-wing kook. I suppose that he's been trying to position himself as a moderate, given Oregon's more or less blue-state demographics.

[roguevalley]

2. Oregonian-in-exile too here. May a grizzly bear eat his liver for his

ANWAR vote.

RV, a compatriate of Alaska now

[blitzen]

3. Rogue, I wish my exile had been pointed in your direction...

I'm in F-ing Louisiana, with no trout or steelhead

[roguevalley]

5. sweetie, we have salmon here that are five feet long. may you have

a chance to come up. also, bless your battered state and people.

[LostinVA]

10. I caught one almost that big two summers ago

Off of Sooke....

[burrowowl]

9. AMEN! AMEN!

Yes, eat his liver!

[OregonBlue]

19. Oregonians need to contact Smith. He's a repuke but he knows he

could be vulnerable. I emailed him today:

Since President Bush knew the New York Times was going to release the story about the wiretaps, if it was truly a matter of "national security" he could have stopped them.

Democrats, Independents (I am a registered independent) and true conservatives in this state are absolutely outraged that our government has been spying on American citizens. It is going to come out who he spied on and why.

Per the KATU poll that was conducted in the last couple of days, Oregonians, even before we know exactly what has gone on and why, DO NOT SUPPORT SPYING ON AMERICANS WITHOUT A COURT ORDER. The results of the poll which asked "should the president be allowed to spy on "suspected terrorists" without a warrant", were 63% NO. Once they find out that in fact, this was not suspected terrorists but many others as well, the outrage will grow.

Do not try to cover this up. You must stand up and support an independent counsel to examine why the President abused his power.

As Chuck Hagel said, you took an oath to defend the constitution of the United States, not to defend a President or a party.

http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Now, you must be loyal to that oath.

[pk_du]

4. Yup - he voted Nay...making it 50-50 tie

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00363

and so the chimperor's right hand cast his vote to break it.

[Protagoras]

6. They probably let Smith do this as cover

since he lied to Oregon about Anwar to get elected. Then it did a 180 on it and people around here are PISSED. So since Cheney was there to pass the latest budgetary rape of the poor, Smith could act like a saint without actually hurting the neocon looting of our economy.

The man needs to return to the private sector because he doesn't represent Oregon.

[nosmokes]

7. i called his office tues and the staffer promised me

that smith was opposing the ANWR drilling, 'whatever it took.' uh -huh.

[expatriot]

8. This is so disingenous I could puke.

Like he is so naive to think that if he stood his ground and voted against the Defense Bill that our national security would be compromised. Secondly, doesn't he have any pride? Is he just going to sit back and let the GOP leadership play him like that?

Geesh.

[gratuitous]

20. The GOP leadership doesn't have to "play" Smith

He gladly does whatever his overlords tell him to do. Smith really likes public pontifications and portraying himself as "struggling" over "difficult" decisions, but there's no mystery at all in where he'll come down, and the only time he appears to cross the leadership is when an unpopular bill is assured of passage. Smith NEVER votes against GOP interests when his vote is needed, but he really likes to be styled as a "maverick" because it plays so well with the sheep and the Oregonian is very accommodating to Mr. Smith.

[depakid]

11. The Oregonian doing what it does best- shilling for Republicans

That's why almost no one here still reads it!

Smith is such a phony, that he didn't even support mental health parity until his own son committed suicide.

[OregonBlue]

12. Oregonian is one of the worst papers I know of. The Columbian

from Vancouver, WA is so much better even though it's small. Also, Tacoma Tribune is a really good newspaper. Oregonian is owned by big corporate conglomerate.

[depakid]

13. Newhouse Publishing

It really is a bad paper- the writing is terrible and the slant in the copy is obvious.

You can more actually news about what's going on from the Seattle PI and Willamette Week- the little alternative that won the pulitzer prize for exposing a story that the Oregonian had been covering up.

Circulation at the paper has gotten so bad, that every three months or so, they send people around to offer 3 months free! No one I know takes it.

[aaronbees]

15. The Oregonian is trash...

at least it was in the days when I read it ... about 6 years ago. I only check it for Blazers coverage now and that's pure sensational garbage. You're correct on Willy Week -- generally pretty middle road but good investigative work; they take the time to get stories right.

[OregonBlue]

18. When I lived in Seattle, I read the Tacoma Tribune. Better paper

than Times, PI or Oregonian.

[Straight Shooter]

14. The Oregonian endorsed Kerry.

I like their op-ed page, but to tell the truth, I haven't read the paper in so long, it's pitiful. Why waste trees when the Internet is available?

edit: by op-ed, I'm referring to LTTEs and opinion columns, except for that nutcake RW bozo whose name I cannot recall

[depakid]

16. You're thinking of David Reinhard

and he's as dishonest as they come. Pure garbage.

I read the thing once in a while if I find it on light rail, and he's not the only one. They also print far right assholes like Krauthammer and plenty of others- and dropped Molly Ivins over an article she wrote on SUV's.

Their publisher, Fred Stickle- wanted to endorse Bush in 2004, but had a little rebellion on the editorial board over the issue. I think in the end, they realized that if they endorsed Bush, they'd lose even more circulation than they have already.

ps: their paltry website is hosted back east- and went down in the blackout. LOL! It's as embarrasingly bad as their paper.

[Straight Shooter]

17. I don't even know who that is, LOL.

I've been in Oregon 15 years and bought The Oregonian maybe 30 times, LOL. Even if I were a subscriber, I would have canceled when they dropped Molly. I don't even remember reading her column in their paper, that's how long it's been since I've perused it.

Krauthammer, that's the name of that rightwing nutcase I was thinking of. Ewwwwwwww, he's bad.