Okay, I've think we've reached a tipping point. I haven't come back to dailykos for a myriad of reasons, and I'm only coming back today to get people to focus on New START. It's likely to begin debate tonight or tomorrow and Jon Kyl has just vowed that he is going to try to kill it.
Kyl will work very hard to KILL New Start
Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen the administration roll out numerous endorsements in support of New START, including Bush '41, Clinton '43, the Military, all living Secretaries of State, a few National Security Advisors, and numerous others.
The reasoning was that, in the course of this overwhelming amount of support, Congressional GOPers would be stupid to try to stall or kill the treaty. Looks like they were wrong:
Senate Republican leaders’ top point man on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty said Tuesday that he "will work very hard" to ensure that the treaty is not ratified if it's brought to the Senate floor in the waning days of the lame duck session.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., argues that there is not enough time to thoroughly debate and possibly amend the START measure before the Senate adjourns for the year. Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring the treaty to the Senate floor following completion of the tax cuts bill this week.
"I let the Majority Leader know that's an issue for a lot of my colleagues," Kyl told reporters Tuesday. "And if he does bring it up, I will work very hard to achieve that result, namely that the treaty fails."
This is what Kyl does, folks. He kills treaties belonging to Democratic Presidents. He killed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty under Clinton and he's trying to kill the New START treaty under Obama. He's mostly trying because he wants to weaken Obama and ensure he doesn't get a foreign policy victory.
It was thought that he could be bribed with pork. Specifically that which would help the Scientists within the Nuclear Labs modernize our Nuclear Weapons. THEY endorsed the amount of money for that lab and said it was sufficient.
Still even with all of this, Kyl is perversely trying to uphold something that is VITAL to our national security interest.
I'll just link to this article in the Washington Times by a group of nonpartisan Generals. Generals endorse New START
To prevent this from happening, folks need to call Sen. Kyl and DEMAND that New START get a vote in the lame duck. This is IMPERATIVE.
WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207