dicksmith being dishonest again (shocka!)

Everytime I go there it becomes more evident that dicksmith has no clue how the legislative system works. Take this hack job he wrote I guess yesterday:

We’ve all met some people in life who have absolutely no shame. Tom Marino, a Republican running against Rep. Chris Carney in PA-10, is one of those people. Marino has recently engaged in a series of political attacks that illustrate his lack of basic human decency.

For starters, earlier this month, Marino attacked Rep. Carney for not being on a list of co-sponsors for a certain bill in the House:

“Congressman Carney has a history of saying one thing in the district and doing another when he is in Washington, D.C. Despite playing coy on the pro-life issue at home, his record in D.C. speaks for itself,” said Tom Marino, a former U.S. Attorney from Lycoming County who will square off with Carney on Nov. 2 for the 10th Congressional District seat.

“His recent actions confirm what we have always known – Chris Carney is not pro-life and has no problem spending taxpayers’ money for abortions,” Marino added.

Now, I wouldn’t be a fan of Carney being on that bill, but that’s neither here nor there. What is pertinent is that Carney had a pretty damn good reason for not signing on as a co-sponsor:

When asked Tuesday why Carney, D-Dimock Township, wasn’t on the co-sponsor list, Carney’s spokesman Josh Drobnyk said, “This legislation was introduced Thursday afternoon, the day Congressman Carney returned home to be with his wife Jennifer, who is being treated for breast cancer and underwent surgery Friday. It is absolutely reprehensible that Tom Marino is attacking the congressman for spending time with his wife prior to her surgery. This sort of attack demonstrates the kind of character and values Marino and his campaign represent. Tom Marino needs a lesson in ethics and integrity and should get his facts in line once and for all.”

Yeah, see, that WOULD be a good reason were it to be the way the system works. Cosponsors don’t sign on right after the bill is dropped, generally they cosponsor well in advance of that, so they can be “original cosponsors.” But, you don’t need to be a 10 year federal lobbyist to noodle that one through, all you need to do is read the rest of the article that dick was citing to.

Jason Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Marino campaign, offered thoughts and prayers for the congressman’s wife and said that as a two-time cancer survivor himself, Marino fully understands the situation.

But he said the excuse doesn’t hold water with the lack of co-sponsorship. The first memo seeking co-sponsors was circulated July 22 by the office of U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Smith. Subsequently, two follow-up reminders were sent out to representatives asking for their support by the end of July 29 at the latest. Sagnip said the requests for co-sponsors went out to every member of the House.

I’m not saying dick needs to be a master of parliamentary and congressional procedure, but how about checking that target before squeezing off a round? You know, maybe come up with a votevets “rules of engagement” that doesn’t include the phrase “if it’s a Republican, let it fly whether it some wild assed accusation or not.”

Category: Politics