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Rep. Tim Walberg today joined the chorus of Republicans who have condemned the liberal activist group MoveOn.org for a newspaper advertisement that criticized Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. He also scolded Democratic lawmakers with ties to MoveOn.

“I’m fearful there are many Democrats who agree with MoveOn.org, and I think … they ought to stand up very proudly and say, ‘We accepted resources from MoveOn.org for campaigns and continue to accept them because they speak for us,’” Walberg, R-Mich., said in an interview with Heading Right Radio. “I think a number of them could say that sincerely!

“They may not like MoveOn.org embarrassing them by calling General Petraeus, a dignified soldier of the first order, ‘General Betrayed Us,’ but that’s what MoveOn.org and their ilk are all about. They are not for America, they’re not for our freedoms. … They’re not for the America that we know and love, and the America that has benefited the entire world.”

In a separate interview with Hot Air, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., issued this warning: “I would suggest than any Democrat who takes money in this next election cycle from MoveOn.org, we’re gonna use that issue to let them know what types of people would support them financially. … It’s unconscionable that could happen.”

Plus more condemnation of MoveOn’s “trash” from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., during a floor speech:

Categories: Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Iraq, Tim Walberg, James Inhofe, Mitch McConnell

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Congress is set to begin its annual congressional break this weekend, but a dozen Republican senators being tagged as obstructionists may not find it to be a relaxing vacation.

Americans United for Change and the Campaign for America’s Future today announced plans for a campaign aimed at calling attention to the tactics of those senators in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. An online video titled “The Plot To Bury Progress,” featuring actor Jason Alexander (George Costanza of “Seinfeld” fame), is part of the effort.

The campaign targets Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as “Senate Obstruction Leader” and lists 10 specific “obstruction votes.” The broader numbers for the year: 43 “filibusters” in seven months and 31 vetoes threatened by President Bush between May 1 and Aug. 1.

“The Republican minority in the Congress is now planning to use this August recess to rail against the ‘do-nothing’ Congress,” Campaign for America’s Future co-Director Robert Borsage wrote on the group’s blog. “Already the House and Senate minority leaders are trotting out laugh lines about the ‘post-office Congress’ that does nothing but name post offices and launch divisive witch hunts against the administration.

“This is akin to someone mugging the postman and then complaining that the mail isn’t delivered on time. In fact, the Bush White House and Republican minority have pursued a systematic and openly admitted strategy of obstruction.”

Categories: Senate, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Producer's Picks, Mitch McConnell, 110th Congress, Republicans

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This week’s staged all-night session by Senate Democrats to draw attention to the war in Iraq proved to be for naught for one simple reason: They didn’t have the 60 votes necessary to force a vote on their legislation to change U.S. policy about the war.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., emphasized that point in a floor speech. “I think we can stipulate … [that] in the United States Senate, it takes 60 votes on controversial matters,” he said. “What is more controversial than the war in Iraq. Of course it’s going to take 60 votes.”

He added that “the only reason we stayed in all night was to provide a bit of theater on an extraordinarily important issue.”

Categories: Kentucky, Iraq, Mitch McConnell

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Democrats are pointing fingers at Republicans this week for blocking a vote to stop a U.S. troop surge in Iraq, and the liberal activist group MoveOn.org is helping carry the Democratic water with a new advertisement that attacks various GOP senators.

“Remember their faces, remember their names — the Republicans in the United States Senate,” the MoveOn ad says as it shows images of various GOP senators with the word “escalate” superimposed by their mouths. “They’re willing to send tens of thousands more troops to face danger in Iraq, but they don’t have the courage to face a vote. Tell your senators: Stop the escalation.”

The ad specifically mentions:

• Sam Brownback of Kansas, a potential 2008 presidential candidate;
• Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina;
• Judd Gregg of New Hampshire;
• Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky;
• Gordon Smith of Oregon;
• Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania;
• John Sununu of New Hampshire;
• George Voinovich of Ohio;
• And John Warner of Virginia.

MoveOn also produced separate videos aimed at specific senators — Brownback, Smith, Sununu and Warner.

Categories: Virginia, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Producer's Picks, Iraq, Sen. Sam Brownback, Elizabeth Dole, Judd Gregg, Gordon Smith, John Sununu, George Voinovich, John Warner, Sam Brownback

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Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; and Judd Gregg, R-N.H.:

Gregg:

Larry Craig, R-Idaho:

Categories: Idaho, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iraq, Harry Reid, Larry Craig, Judd Gregg, Mitch McConnell

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