Roscoe and Chris

Roscoe Bartlett

Entrenched  - Ineffective

And, throwing Mothers under the bus just before Their Big Day
(It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.)

You should know the lengths to which some members of Congress will go to play partisan politics in the nation's capital, including your representative from Maryland's 6th Congressional District.

Read the story and know how far millionaire Roscoe Bartlett will go to play ball with the right-wing to keep health care from children and seniors, destroy Social Security and keep America embroiled in an endless and costly war that fails to keep Americans safe.

Republicans (Including Roscoe Bartlett) Vote Against Moms;
No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.
On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.
"Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers. [Washington Post, 5.9.08]

(House Vote:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll275.xml )

Now, About Western Maryland's Del. Christopher Shank…

A "Key" Member of Republican "Leadership" in Annapolis

While we're reporting, take a little time to learn more about one of Maryland's Republican leaders in Annapolis. This evaluation comes from the newspaper that knows him best.
It's about a "leader" who criticized raising revenues for all of Maryland, voted against every bill that did so, and then turned around and proposed an "alternative" budget that was going to spend 85% of it. All without shame or a hint of irony.

Shank's grandstanding benefits Shank himself,
but not Washington County
Hagerstown Herald-Mail - Editorial - Our View
It's a tired phrase, one we're all too familiar with in Washington County politics: I'm not going to go along to get along.
The implication is that the politician is not going to sell out his principles for a mess of pottage. The reality of this "go along to get along" claptrap is that it serves as some sort of perverse justification for failure.
The latest to spout this phrase was Del. Chris Shank, who wrote on Thursday that he "absolutely and vigorously reject(s)" the idea of playing ball with the state's Democratic leadership, if he believes its policies are harmful to the state and to Washington County.
Shank does a lovely job of presenting one side of the equation, that being his apparent conviction to do all he can to be a thorn in the Democrats' sides.
What he does not address are the consequences.
He does not mention how his noisy posturing almost killed the University System of Maryland-Hagerstown campus, got funding for a new state police barracks moved to the back burner and threatened money for the Boonsboro library. Democrats say that the above happened because they were fed up with Shank's unending attacks…
…Shank needs to answer us this: What was the last fight he picked with state leadership and won? What "principle" has he actually been able to advance simply by making a lot of racket?
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=193325&format=html