Rep. Peter King yesterday accused House Democrats of “sabotaging” a 9/11 health bill, and said the deaths of heroic police and firefighters are “on their hands.”
“Rather than face a tough vote, they’re willing to let cops and firefighters die,” King (R-LI) said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The fact is, cops and firefighters are dying, and it is on their [Democrats’] hands.”
The $7.4 billion bill, which would give health benefits to 9/11 first responders, was defeated last Friday in a 255-159 vote, after Democrats raised the threshold to pass it from the usual majority 218 votes to 290, or a two-thirds majority, to avoid the addition of amendments.
“I’m saying to Anthony Weiner and the Democrats, unless you want to have cops and firefighters die, bring this bill back up in September and require a simple majority,” King said.
Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) went on a tirade on the House floor after the vote, blaming King for the defeat because he delivered just 12 GOP votes.
“While Anthony was helping this bill through two committees and was part of the team that lined up the support of 98 percent of the Democrats, Rep. King failed miserably in his one job — getting Republicans to support the bill,” Weiner spokesman Dave Arnold said. “If he spent less time whining about procedure and more time fighting for the bill, it would have passed.”
(Source: NY Post)
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5 Responses
How about 7.4 Trillion? They anyway seem to be dealing with Monopoly money!
I’m not sure I quite understand how the 243 Democrats who voted for the bill are more to blame than the 155 Republicans. But maybe I just don’t get politics.
Mr. King,
How many Republicans voted FOR the bill?
2,
A lesson in politics for you:
The liberals have the majority in the House & Senate which means they have just about COMPLETE control. Granted they have been blaming the GOP for things not being passed but that is a complete lie. Even if each & every Republican voted against bills, the bill should pass the House just by simple numbers alone. The TRUE reason bills don’t pass is because the liberals just don’t have enough votes. The Republicans could walk out of the building & things could pass.
In this case, Weiner & the Socialist Liberal Democrat Workers Party YM’SH wanted to try & score political points with people who don’t know too much about the truth & Rep King would let them have none of it. That caused Weiner to act like a three year old.
This bill was brought to the floor needing a two-thirds majority to win and had a procedural rule that nothing in the bill could be debated and cut out. The Republicans wanted a bill that they could cut out some waste and a simple majority would be needed. The Democrats refused. So in essence they want to look good that they voted for something even though they knew it would lose because of their rules. They run the house. Peter King voted for it despite the waste and objective items in it because he is for the first responders and cares for them.
Vote Wiener out!