Kilroy Caves to Party Bosses, Delivers National Energy Tax Vote

Kilroy Caves to Party Bosses, Delivers National Energy Tax Vote
Arm Twisting and Horse Trading Win Mary Jo Kilroy’s Support

Washington- Ohio families already know that Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) sold them out when she supported Nancy Pelosi’s destructive National Energy Tax. According to a recent study, Kilroy voted to kill over 3,500 jobs in her Ohio congressional district (“How the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill Would Affect the States,” Heritage Foundation, 6/25/09)

Now, the details are becoming clear: all it took to win Kilroy’s vote was some arm twisting and horse trading from her party bosses in Washington:

“Pelosi took her case into the cloakroom where she held forth for more than two hours, meeting one-on-one with several dozen lawmakers while the bill was debated on the floor.”

[Rutgers University Political Science Professor Russ] Baker said the winning vote demonstrated Pelosi’s clout within her caucus. ‘She was clearly able to prevail on marginal members to take a tough vote.’” (Alan K. Ota, “Pelosi Used Personal Touch to Win Climate Vote,” CQ Politics, 6/29/09)

“Whatever favors Mary Jo Kilroy might have traded for her support for Nancy Pelosi’s National Energy Tax, they hardly make up for the higher energy costs and lost jobs that will plague Ohio as a result of their Kilroy’s Washington horse trading,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Mary Jo Kilroy owes her constituents an explanation as to why she continues to back an agenda that is nothing short of destructive to Ohio families.”

Fellow Ohio Congressman Charlie Wilson, who opposed the bill, revealed that Kilroy’s decision was a clear choice between siding with her party bosses and the people she purports to represent: “‘I had a lot of pressure on me to vote ‘yes’ with my party…This is a vote against the people I represent. I can’t do it.’” (Joselyn King, “Wilson: Arms Were Twisted,” Wheeling Intelligencer, 6/29/09)

Although Kilroy bought into Nancy Pelosi’s arm-twisting, one of her colleagues in the Senate took a firm stance against the National Energy Tax: “‘They don’t have my vote yet,” said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio.” (Lorraine Woellert and Simon Lomax, “Climate Plan Faces Challenge after Narrow U.S. House Victory,” Bloomberg, 6/29/09)

It seems that everyone but Mary Jo Kilroy knows that her priorities lie with her party bosses. How long will it be until Mary Jo Kilroy sells out Ohio families once again?