House Passes Defense Bill, Rushes Toward Recess

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

(12-16) 11:02 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The House has passed a $636 billion Pentagon spending bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and provides a 3.4 percent pay hike for military personnel.

Approving the defense bill was one of several major must-do tasks the House must address before its planned adjournment for the year at the end of the day.

To accomplish that, Democratic leaders attached to the defense bill numerous temporary extensions of programs about to expire at the end of the year. Those included two-month extensions for federal highway programs and unemployment benefits.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/15/national/w101244S15.DTL

[harun]

1. Who were the 34 who voted against so we know who to support come

next election.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Here's who voted no. I notice the Blue Dogs who yelled the loudest about health care

adding to the debt, voted for this expense.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll985.xml#N

Baldwin
Bishop (UT)
Campbell
Chaffetz
Clarke
Costello
Duncan
Ehlers
Ellison
Filner
Flake
Gohmert
Grayson
Johnson (IL)
Kagen
Kucinich
Lee (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lofgren, Zoe
Lummis
McDermott
Nadler (NY)
Paul
Payne
Polis (CO)
Quigley
Serrano
Shimkus
Stark
Towns
Velázquez
Welch
Woolsey
Wu

[harun]

6. I'm going to write my Blue Dog rep and complain about that.

[Lorien]

2. But spending that much over SIX years for health care

would be far too much. :eyes:

[Jefferson23]

3. Hooray for Lockheed Martin and war!

[ixion]

5. Yes, look how quickly they move when they are serving their true masters...

no expense is too great, no hurdle is insurmountable.

Hizzah for the Military Industrial Complex! Hooray for Death and Destruction and US State sponsored terror!

[chill_wind]

7. You betcha.

eom

[harun]

8. The REAL boss get's results, and quick.

[FarLeftFist]

9. Why would one give a NO vote on a military pay hike.

These men and women put their lives on the line for us everyday, they truly deserve a pay hike. And a NO vote on unemployment extensions? Do these people believe the job market has rebounded? Knowing these wars aren't ending anytime soon, would a NO vote on funding these wars for our soldiers to have better, safer equipment and nutritious food to eat really be helpful.