Keep This Straight

Randy Kuhl's vote on extending the Protect America Act:  No.

Consequence of his vote, according to his blog entry:  Dire.

Comments

According to CQ, the no vote was a protest against the Democrat leadership not bringing to vote a long term surveillance that had passed by a veto proof majority in the Senate.

"Republicans, aided by both liberal and conservative Democrats, on Wednesday defeated a 21-day extension (HR 5349) by a 191-229 vote. GOP lawmakers and some of the Democrats wanted the House to immediately take up a bipartisan long-term surveillance bill that passed the Senate on Feb. 12 by 68-29."

Here's the link:
http://cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002671615

Seems Nancy wanted to go on vacation.

I agree that it was a protest vote. But he doesn't get to have it both ways. If PAA is really critical to the nation's security, then the Republicans should tolerate a 21-day extension for the good of the country.

Instead, what's happening is that the Republicans are coupling "sky is falling" rhetoric with votes against PAA. If the sky is, in fact, about to fall, then Republicans ought to prop it up, even if propping it up doesn't fit into the Republican political agenda.