***MEMO: Smith Sides with Bush and Against Vets***

August 26, 2008

MEMORANDUM

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Merkley for Oregon
RE: Smith Sides with Bush and Against Vets
DATE: August 26, 2008

SUMMATION:

Make no mistake: George Bush and Gordon Smith voted to send our troops to Iraq and to keep them there for the past five years.

And Smith sent our troops to war without proper body armor and supported extending tours of duty for reservists.

Then he opposed a tax deduction for their combat pay and voted to cut their health care when they returned home.

But at the same time, Gordon Smith managed to give millionaires a tax break and a pay raise to himself.

Working families are STILL PAYING for Gordon Smith's vote to send America to war.

BACKGROUND:

Though he likes to pretend otherwise, Gordon Smith has been a rubber stamp for George Bush on the Iraq war and our veterans have paid the price.

When Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, and Oregon’s entire Democratic Congressional delegation opposed the Iraq war, Gordon Smith sided with George Bush.

Gordon Smith sided with George Bush to send our troops to Iraq without the body armor they needed to keep them safe. He even voted with George Bush to extend tours of duty to reservists. [Senate vote #237, 10/11/02; Senate vote #376, 10/2/03; Senate vote #397, 10/17/03]

Smith was siding with Bush and siding against our veterans and men and women in uniform. He opposed a tax deduction for combat pay and voted to cut benefits for our men and women in uniform. [Senate vote #344, 11/17/05; Senate vote #81, 3/17/05]

Smith failed to provide for our troops, but found the money to give a tax cut to millionaires and a pay raise for himself. [Senate vote #196, 5/23/03; Senate vote #211, 7/29/05]

Smith loves to highlight one speech, but here are the facts:

• Smith has supported the agenda of George Bush 90% of the time. [CQ Member Profile]
• Prior to his “end of the rope” speech, Smith voted at least 17 times to support Bush's war in Iraq policy, supporting the Bush Administration's War in Iraq for more than five years. [Vote #232, 10/10/02; Vote #235, 10/10/02; Vote #236, 10/10/02; Vote # 237, 10/11/02; Vote #371, 10/1/03; Vote #379, 10/14/03; Vote #380, 10/14/03; Vote #389, 10/16/03; Vote #391, 10/17/03; Vote #392, 10/17/03; Vote #394, 10/17/03; Vote #399, 10/17/03; Vote #130, 6/17/04; Vote #322, 11/15/05; Vote #181, 6/22/06; Vote #182, 6/22/06; Vote #233, 9/6/06; Vote #243, 9/13/06]
• One month after six of his fellow Republicans lost reelection in the fall of 2006, Smith made his big speech.
• But following his big speech, Smith voted in favor of continuing the war at least 6 times. [Senate vote #44, 02/05/07; The Oregonian, 2/6/07; Senate vote #167, 5/16/07; Senate vote #181, 5/24/07; Senate vote #345, 09/20/07; Senate vote #362, 10/03/07; Senate vote #437, 12/18/07]

In 2004, Gordon Smith had harsh words for those who changed their position on Iraq:
People who cannot make up their minds should not be President of the United States.
[Congressional Record, 9/30/04]

Posted August 26, 2008
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