So, once upon a time the House of Representatives took up the “Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act.” Come, I will conceal nothing from you: it is a bill designed to reduce some of the – well deserved – anger felt towards the national parties by ending a particular subsidy. To wit: the bill takes about 126 million dollars (over ten years) that would normally be given to Republican/Democratic party conventions and instead assigns the money to pediatric disease research. The DNC & RNC aren’t happy about this, of course – but let’s face it: there’s a reason why this sailed through Congress and the President will be happy to sign the bill into law next week. All in all, a moment of rare sensible behavior from our politicians…
Well. Everybody who isn’t a liberal Democrat, of course. The Nay votes on this have a certain basic familiarity about them: lots and lots and lots of progressive names on that. I was a little surprised about that, actually, given that the Senate version passed unanimously by voice vote; but then I remembered that even the safest Senator isn’t as safe as, say, a Nancy Pelosi or a Henry Waxman. Still. You’d think that they wouldn’t snub sick kids like this: I mean, it was obviously going to pass anyway, so why not do the right thing for a change and proclaim to the world that money was better spent on pediatric research than on party supplies?
…Oh, right, they don’t actually believe that. Well, I guess that they get points for honesty.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: A source close to the Richard Tisei campaign told me that this was ‘nonsensical,’ and that I should expect to see this in a campaign ad. Presumably this would be directed against John Tierney (MA-06), who is after all both a no vote, and the guy that Tisei is hoping* to run against in the general. Tisei came really close to beating John Tierney in 2012 – he might have pulled it off in any other state – and the party is more or less spoiling for a rematch in 2014.
*Read that as ‘probably will be the GOP nominee, at this point:’ but that’s why we have primaries. Tisei is currently skipping the state convention, on the grounds that the state party is supporting traditional marriage and Tisei is gay (and now married); I would be a little surprised if he doesn’t get a primary contender at some point. Whether it’ll be a serious primary contender is, of course, another issue… one that I as a matter of policy will decline to speculate upon.