Gordon Smith breaks his promise, but doubletalks to Oregonians
Kari Chisholm
Tuesday, BlueOregon's Jonathan Singer pointed out that Senator Gordon Smith told The Hill (the newspaper of Capitol Hill) that protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was no longer important.
Recognizing the new political reality, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who said he has voted against drilling in the Arctic several times, intends to vote for the reconciliation package and its drilling provision.Smith said drilling in the reserve “is not the lightning rod it once was.”
“That’s a fact,” he said. “Even in Oregon.”
On Wednesday, Thom Hartmann at KPOJ, the progressive talk station that's #1 in the Portland market, spent an hour on the topic - with irate callers flooding the lines.
Today, the Oregonian allowed Gordon Smith to sanitize his comments - cleaned up for public consumption at home.
Smith opposed drilling when it was offered as a stand-alone measure, and he voted against it in committee last week. But he said he favors other parts of the budget package, including protections for Medicaid recipients he negotiated."There are too many other vital interests to our country, particularly to the disadvantaged, that simply must not be abandoned," Smith said in an interview. He added he couldn't in good conscience vote against the package just because he disagreed with a single provision.
That's outrageous. If the Oregonian is going to be the newspaper of record in the Pacific Northwest, then it should call Senator Smith on the carpet - not let him get away with doubletalk.
He shouldn't be allowed to say one thing in Washington DC, and another thing at home.
The Oregonian did, of course, include a strong rebuke from the Oregon Sierra Club:
"I think it is an integrity issue that really insults the trust of those who believed he really would protect the Arctic," said Paul Shively, a Sierra Club representative in Portland.For Smith to justify his vote for the budget-cutting reconciliation bill by weighing drilling against Medicaid was "somewhat disingenuous," Shively said. "He's not keeping his word to the nation and to Oregon."
And just so we're all keeping score here: Back in March, Senator Smith cast the tie-breaking vote to allow drilling in the Wildlife Reserve.
On Thursday, Smith recalled that he faced a similar choice in the March budget bill. He could either vote in favor of what he considered an otherwise acceptable budget plan or reject the entire package because of the drilling provision. He voted yes, and the budget passed 51-49.
That's right: When the chips were down, he completely failed to use his vote to muscle the GOP majority into removing the drilling provision.
Gordon Smith may say he's against drilling in ANWR, but his walk don't match his talk.
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Oct 28, '05
By the time he's up for re-election gas will probably be in the $4 a gallon neighborhood.
At that point, switching his ANWR vote will look like the smartest move he's made since taking office.
Oct 28, '05
At $4 or even at $6/gallon drilling the Arctic won't make a bit of difference to the American gasoline purchaser. Exxon will still be making record profits squeezing production to raise costs and selling to the highest bidder what they allow through the bottleneck.
The Gwichin people and the Caribou herd will be, like our constitution, collateral damage.
Oct 28, '05
At $4 or even at $6/gallon drilling the Arctic won't make a bit of difference to the American gasoline purchaser. Exxon will still be making record profits squeezing production to raise costs and selling to the highest bidder what they allow through the bottleneck.
The Gwichin people and the Caribou herd will be, like our constitution, collateral damage.
Oct 28, '05
Lest we forget that this issue was featured prominently in Smith's 2002 campaign ads showing his "independent streak" for Oregon.
Text: “And he opposed the White House and stopped oil drilling in Alaska.”
Hogwash.
His symbolic votes on this are meaningless and pathetic. I wish the Oregonian would stop giving him the stroke -- or even one better, write another piece like the one they titled "Gordon Smith's personal compass" exposing what his "personal compass" really is... throw-away votes for good headlines and campaign TV ads.
Kari's right, when the chips are down, this guy's AWOL for Oregonians.
Oct 28, '05
All of the current scientific evidence says that drilling in the Anwar will not make any difference. This is not enough oil there to last 3 months of US consumption. Not to mention that it will take YEARS for this oil to be properly processed so that it can be used.
Republicans are addicted to oil like some drug addicts are addicted to meth. It is time to find alternatives, benefit our farmers by investing in biofuels.
Oct 28, '05
Any oil retrieved from ANWR will go directly on to the world market, not directly to US consumers. This is a drop in the bucket and Gordon Smith's change of heart is a stab in the back to Oregonians. Come on Kitzhaber, take a stand and help Oregon rid itself of this blot.
Oct 28, '05
As Smith crashes and burns in his single-seat, single-engine, flimsy-winged, All-About-Gordie political flight of betrayal and treason, maybe The Oregonian is going to be attached to him, under the crash, and destroyed in the wreckage.
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