Lead GOP Opponent To White House Ports Deal Punished

[kpete]

Lead GOP Opponent To White House Ports Deal Punished... No Plane For Official Iraq Trip

No Iraq Trip for Legislator Who Opposed Deal on Ports

By CARL HULSE
Published: March 4, 2006
WASHINGTON, March 3 — Representative Peter T. King's prominent opposition to a proposal to allow a Dubai company to take over some terminal operations at American ports may have earned him some punishment from the Bush administration: He has been grounded.

Michael Temchine for The New York Times
Representative Peter T. King, in his office on Wednesday.
Mr. King, the New York Republican who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, confirmed Friday that a few days after he first threatened legislation to hold up the port deal, the Pentagon informed him that it could not provide an aircraft for his planned March Congressional delegation to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

A Feb. 22 e-mail notice to Mr. King's office said the legislative affairs branch of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office had determined "they do not have any aircraft to support" the official trip to Baghdad and other points. "Please advise if the CODEL will now pursue commercial air," it concluded, referring to the Congressional trip. Mr. King said he did not know if the paucity of aircraft was related to his leading role in the port dispute, but he was suspicious.

"It is very coincidental," said Mr. King, who talked reluctantly when pressed about the canceled trip, which had first been unintentionally disclosed by another lawmaker. Mr. King said that he did not intend to make an issue out of it or allow it to affect his stance in the port dispute.

............

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/politics/04king.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
via:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/03/04/lead-gop-opponent-to-whit_n_16742.html

[Cooley Hurd]

1. I hope they fuck with every repug in the House...

It'll make the decision on impeachment all the easier.:thumbsup:

[BuyingThyme]

2. Yes, more incestuous ratfucking.

That's the road to democracy.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. I think you missed my point...

If they piss off enough republicans in the house, that'll make it easier for those house repugs to start impeachment proceedings.

The alternative is 3 more years of Bush, and I'm not sure the country can survive it.

[BuyingThyme]

6. No, I get the point.

[formercia]

3. Many USG and Contactor aircraft fly to Iraq every day

and many have seats available for passengers on official business, so the Pentagon's argument is bull.

It's retaliation, pure and simple.

[Greeby]

4. How they gonna punish him? Make his district use paper ballots?

Would be appropriate :evilgrin:

[MADem]

7. Personally, I think they SHOULD use comair

Half the time, they gin up a limp excuse to drag these guys on milair, and even though they say it is an already authorized trip, they've made it go because someone asked.

Let 'em go commercial, and enjoy spiraling their asses down into Baghdad International on a commercial aircraft, which is a not-uncommon method of arrival at all. Keep the barf bag handy!

[salin]

8. Let the battles begin...

I have been predicting this for months... going to be ugly season on the Hill for GOP who have the choice of pursuing their own relection agendas which include bucking the very unpopular president vs the rovian powerplays to preserve unity for bushco. Day after day there have got to be an increasing number of GOP congressfolks looking at the calendar and decrying the length left of the bush reign - as it increasingly makes it likely to be the possible end of their own political career.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. This should be illegal as hell.

Whoever made that decision in the Pentagon should be fired.