Politics Cantwell/McGavick Debate: A Question for Cantwell
posted by on October 6 at 14:04 PM
On Tuesday October 17 at 9pm, GOP challenger Mike McGavick will face off against incumbent Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell in a KING 5 televised debate.
I’d like to suggest one question for Cantwell:
Please explain, specifically, how the Levin amendment (Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI) mandates a timely withdrawal from Iraq.
Cantwell has scored points with her base by calling for withdrawal from Iraq. She’s basically paraphrasing and puffing up her June vote for the Levin Amendment.
However, as I pointed out in this article, the Levin Amendment is mushy and meaningless:
Here’s what the Levin amendment does: nothing. It doesn’t spell out a plan for getting Iraqi forces up to speed. It doesn’t set a timeline for withdrawal. The Levin amendment’s only concrete dictate, that “the president should… submit to Congress a plan by the end of 2006 with estimated dates for the continued phased redeployment… from Iraq…” is neutered not only by the words “should” and “estimated,” but by the concluding line: “with the understanding that unexpected contingencies may arise.”Senator Levin’s own press release stated: “The amendment… doesn’t establish a timetable for redeployment and it does not call for a precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.”
I had a chance to sit down and interview Cantwell last week back in D.C. , and I asked her to explain exactly how the Levin amendment mandated troop withdrawal. Here’s that conversation. You’ll see, she does not answer the question:
Cantwell: We want accountability out of the administration on whether 2006 is going to be the year that these guys [the Iraqis] stand up, take over their own government, and start to take charge of their own security. And we want to make sure that happens and we’re writing that into legislation. In 2006 with theLevin Amendment, we tried to strengthen that.Josh: And how does it strengthen it exactly?
Cantwell: Because it basically says we need to make sure that these things are being recognized that aren’t getting addressed. The notion of this whole international effort, the fact that the administration wasn’t making the milestones toward getting the troops actually trained, getting the progress done. So we wanted to reinforce that in the Levin language.
……so, I hope Robert Mak, or whoever the moderator is, asks it again.
Any other questions for Cantwell?
I think you mean the week after next.
The Burner / Reichert debate is next Tuesday though.
If Roe Vs. Wade were overturned, would you vote for a law to make it illegal to cross state lines to get an abortion?
Would you vote for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion?
The torture bill had 36 senators voting against it. Did you really think you couldn't get five more to maintain a filibuster over the radical redefinition of the balance of powers?
I've got a few questions for the Senator myself. Will she vote to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act? Will she vote to cancel the treaties that keep us locked in this free-trade death spiral that is destroying the American Middle Class? Will she reopen the investigation of what the Bush administration knew about the 9/11 plot, before it happened, and what they've covered up?
And when is any Democratic Senator going to call for the breakup of the media monopolies using the Sherman Anti-Trust act?
I laugh that you're still willing to try and sabotage Maria Cantwell's campaign over a vote on the Iraq War she made over 3 years ago, a vote where dissenting from the status quo would have done her no real good.
(Yes, I was being facetious)
I laugh that he's trying to sabotage her on the war when he basically agrees with her position.
First, I would ask her about her relationship with lobbyist Ron Dotzauer, and/or what her biggest personal regret is either before, or after becoming Senator.
Second, I would ask her why she has been relying so heavily on her official Senate staff when she has millions to spare in her campaign coffers. Why are taxpayers paying for her re-election bid?
Comments Closed
In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 14 days old).