Local blog round-up, Part II
DragonFlyEye and The Rural Patriot have both been doing an excellent job covering Randy Kuhl’s recent votes in the House. One of the things, I think, that separates our current crop of Western and Central New York Republican representatives (Reynolds, Kuhl, and Walsh) from the more traditionally moderate upstate Republican representavies of yore and soon-to-be yore (Amos Houghton and Sherwood Boehlert, say) is the new crop’s complete fealty to the Republican radical right. This is something, I’m afraid, that is lost on most voters — probably because it is not something that the media devotes much coverage to.
The truth is this: George Bush’s Republican party is not “your father’s Republican party” (as a friend of mine who recently left the Republican party and became a Demoratic party activist puts it). And Kuhl, Reynolds, and Walsh are not your father’s moderate upstate Republicans. More than anything, they’re slaves to Tom DeLay and George Bush. Here’s some statistics from the DCCC’s House of Scandal website that stand out:
Voting percentage with GOP caucus:
- Reynolds: 95%
- Kuhl: 93%
- Walsh: 91%
- Boehlert: 79%
Voting percentage with Tom DeLay:
- Reynolds: 94%
- Kuhl: 93%
- Walsh: 84%
- Boehlert: 76%
As you can see, Boehlert, while not perfect, is nowhere near as much of a Bushbot automaton as the others (and in fairness, Walsh isn’t quite as bad as Kuhl or Reynolds here).
I submit this hypothesis: there is no way that the Republican caucus, which is dominated by representatives from the south, southwest, and Rocky Mountain regions, is looking out for the best interests of Western New Yorkers over 90% of the time. It simply isn’s possible. Walsh, Kuhl, and Reynolds are putting party before district.
If you need any further proof, check out the results of the recent vote on the stem cell research bill (which had overwhelming support in this region): Reynolds, Kuhl, and Walsh voted “no”; Boehlert (and of course Slaughter) voted “yes”.
I rest my case.
Related posts:
Dang, TomT. I’m glad you came on board with RT, because, once again, you have not only written the post I wanted to, you did it better.
This is one of the reasons that people are, more and more, turning to blogs for news. Instead of the corporate press’ lines: “Tax cuts enacted”, “School taxes rise”, as unrelated events. The blogs connect the dots: “Massive tax cuts led to huge drops in federal funding for schools which led to communities having to raise money via higher property taxes.”
It is very sad that they are refusing to look at what is important to this area. This rings especially true to Walsh’s vote against this, as between Syracuse and Rochester, there are 8 research hospitals in Walsh’s district, and this vote would have vastly improved the research area of this region. Walsh has shown that he really doesn’t have the best interest at heart. I think it is time for residents of the 25th Congressional District to show Jim Walsh what the best interest of their district is, and show him the door.