Mr. Shays, things are just not going that well in Iraq.
(crossposted at myleftnutmeg.com)
Reality can be a bummer, but it's there, nevertheless.
Fifty-two American military personnel deployed to the Iraq occupation went to premature graves in April. Male, female, black, white, Latino.
However, standing in front of the Norwalk City Hall,
Himes, a Greenwich resident who heads a New York City nonprofit housing agency, is running against longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., in the 4th Congressional District. It's the state's only Republican-held district.
Himes notes that ~
4th Congressional District residents have contributed $3.1 billion to the war that could have gone toward funding universal health care, No Child Left Behind mandates and renewable sources of energy, among other initiatives.
"These are things we need to do, and we need to start doing them now. We are dealing with fewer resources because of the pressures of the war," Himes said. "This middling road of babysitting a civil war is ridiculous. We need to indicate our seriousness about leaving by actually leaving."
Himes supports beginning a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq immediately while Shays has advocated a timeline to remove them gradually, but has voted three times against proposed timelines in Congress.
Why is Shays so confused?
Himes' campaign manager, Maura Keaney, said what Shays says and does are two different things.
"His real power in Congress is where he votes," Keaney said. "The most recent timeline was proposed by the Iraq Study Group, which (Shays) claimed to support. But now he says that's not realistic and moves the goalpost back another year, and another year, and now five years have gone by."
Maybe he's losing track of time and space.
Shays' campaign manager, Michael Sohn, said the proposed timelines were not "realistic" and said Shays, who has visited Iraq 20 times, has been a vocal critic of the war.
Mr. Sohn, he's a war CRITIC? Let's just see about that:
Shays vote: NO
7/12/07 Vote 624: H R 2956: This bill would require the president to begin reducing the number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq 120 days after its enactment and would require most troops to be withdrawn by April 1, 2008.
Shays vote: YES
5/24/07 Vote 425: H R 2206: This bill would provide funding in Iraq without setting withdrawal deadlines for troops.
Shays vote: NO
4/25/07 Vote 265: H R 1591:
House and Senate conferees approved this legislation providing $124.2 billion primarily for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and setting benchmarks and a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
Shays vote: NO
3/23/07 Vote 186: H R 1591:
The bill offers supplemental appropriations to help the United States fight the global war on terror, among other things. However, President Bush has vowed to veto the bill because it includes a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
Reality bites. Some people call it 'documentation'.