“Are We Going To Vote For Iraqi’s Or Americans?”

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Today, during a heated debate over the $789 billion economic stimulus
bill, the House of Representatives expressed why they did or didn’t
support the bill.

The Representatives stated their concerns throughout the debate and
Representative Tom Cole (R-OK.) who voted against the measure said, “It’s
unfocused, bloated, and its self defeating.” He went on to say that it
fails in tax cuts and that it does nothing for protecting those who
are fighting for our freedom. “We can do better than this!” he said.

On the other side of the debate were those who stated why they were for the
bill, such as Representative John Boccieri (D-Ohio) who said, “You are walking
away from America and Americans in her greatest time of need. I
remember as a C-130 pilot flying missions in and out of Iraq, how much
money we were spending over there to rebuild roads and bridges in Iraq
and to make sure that every man, woman and child in Iraq had universal
health care coverage. You didn’t bat an eye to vote for them, you
didn’t bat an eye to bail out $700 billion dollars for Wall Street.
This is about investing in America…Are we going to be leaders or
blockers? Are we going to vote for Iraqi’s or Americans?”

The vote will be delayed consequent to a procedural vote to extend
debate for 90 minutes.