via Jane Hamsher:
I get emails:
"Some folks in a position to have an
informed opinion think that Peter Welch is going to go with Barney
Frank and vote in favor of the war supplemental
I thought Vermont had a peace movement."
Comes from a friend who's been up on the Hill lobbying.
And if you missed it, here's Todd's LTE, touching on that very subject, published on June 7, 2009:
Thank Welch's support for Afghan exit plan
Despite
my misgivings about some of candidate Obama's policy stances --
Afghanistan in particular -- I worked hard for him last year, being
deployed as a deputy field organizer by the campaign to New Hampshire.
Sadly, of all the promises he made before the election, the one
President Obama chooses to pursue the most vigorously is escalating the
disastrous war in Afghanistan, just as President Johnson did when he
inherited Vietnam.
Our
increased troop presence is further inciting Taliban and al-Qaida,
which continues to destabilize not only Afghanistan, but nuclear-armed
Pakistan, as well. As has been noted before, hope is not a strategy,
and our troops cannot defeat an ideology, which a RAND Corp. study
definitively demonstrated last year. At a time of economic crisis and
dire domestic needs, pursuing a losing war is an unthinkable waste of
our money.
It's
long past time to put pressure on the president to rethink the failed
war that his predecessor launched. Thankfully, Rep. Peter Welch not
only voted against the recent supplemental funding bill, he also is a
co-sponsor of HR.2404, which calls for an Afghanistan exit strategy.
I urge all my fellow Vermonters to call
or write the congressman to thank him for his stand against escalation,
and to contact Sens. Leahy and Sanders on this issue, as well.
We cannot afford to waste more blood and treasure in the land where empires go to die.
TODD PRITSKY
Fletcher
Please let our elected official know that we are paying attention and we appreciated his vote against the supplemental and would appreciate future votes against it, as well. Todd's got some great talking points to help when calling the Congressman's office.
On a more personal note, Congressman Peter Welch, at the request of Todd and myself, was kind enough to call the US Embassy in Israel urging the people in charge of aid to Gaza to let the delegation in. His legislative assistant, Cal was our liason in this matter.
We are greatly appreciative of this.
Green Mountain Code Pink encourages all citizens of Vermont to begin the important step of building a relationship with Peter and his staff.
Welch's phones: 202 225-4115, (888) 605-7270 (toll free in Vermont), (802) 652-2450
-ericka
