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Schaffer blasts Udall for missing vote on summer break

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 30, 2008 at 8:25 p.m.
Updated July 31, 2008 at 1:03 a.m.

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Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer

Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer

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Rep. Mark Udall learned Wednesday there are some political promises he shouldn't make.

Like pledging to oppose sending Congress on its summer break - and then missing the vote altogether.

Wednesday, the House voted 213-212 to adjourn this week.

The vote came two days after Udall vowed, in a televised debate, to oppose recessing unless the House first took up a crucial energy bill.

Udall, who spent Tuesday campaigning in Colorado, had just landed in Washington on Wednesday afternoon when he got word that the adjournment vote was imminent.

He phoned House leaders, asking them to delay the vote, but they didn't.

Udall was racing up the Capitol steps when voting closed. He was one of 10 members absent for the tally.

Tara Trujillo, press secretary for Udall's Senate campaign, said that the Eldorado Springs Democrat was "extremely upset" that he was not allowed to cast a ballot.

But Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Republican Senate nominee Bob Schaffer, said that Udall not only broke a promise, but that his non-vote was worse than had he voted in favor of the adjournment resolution.

"It's one thing to vote wrong, but to not even show up for the vote? Even by 'U-turn Udall's' standards, that's extraordinary," Wadhams said.

The adjournment resolution became an issue Monday when Udall and Schaffer, a former congressman from Fort Collins, argued over the solution for rising gas prices. Schaffer said that House Republicans are backing a bill that calls for more domestic drilling and renewable fuels but that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not let it come up for a vote.

Schaffer challenged Udall to vote against sending Congress off to its monthlong summer break unless the bill were brought to the floor, and Udall agreed.

On Wednesday, the five-term congressman expressed great frustration that he could not cast his vote - presumably the swing vote in the 213-212 tally that would have postponed the recess. He wrote a letter to Pelosi calling the decision to ignore his delay request "disturbing."

"There's no question that Mark Udall is angry on how this was handled because he knows that our country is worse off under our current energy policy written by President Bush and Bob Schaffer," Trujillo said.

Udall also missed three votes on successful bills Tuesday while he was in Colorado. He did return in time to vote for a bill that would have cut down on the manipulation of oil prices by increasing oversight of commodities markets. That measure failed when only 61 Republicans supported it.

sealovere@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438

Comments

  • July 30, 2008

    9:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HolierThanThou writes:

    Why did the chicken cross the road?

    To deposit Bob Schaffer's campaign for Senate on the other side. Let's review Bob Schaffer's career:

    1. Lobbyist and convicted bag man Jack Abramoff buys Bob Schaffer a nice vacation at the slave-labor colony in the Mariana Islands.
    http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_887...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaBL4X...
    Naturally, if someone bought YOU an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation to the South Pacific there's no way you'd remember his name, right?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-DZsj...

    2. Bob Schaffer's boss Alan Cranberg makes lucrative oil deals with Kurdish Iraq that destabilize the country and require the US military to remain there to protect the prospects of Aspect Energy.

    Bob Schaffer is an avowed abortion opponent except when it comes to forced abortions on women working in brutal conditions. A federal investigation found that pregnant workers were forced to get abortions or lose their jobs. Some were forced into the sex trade.

    After his Abramoff junket, Bob Schaffer savaged witnesses in Congressional hearings. These were simple working peasants who came to tell Congress about the brutal conditions where people were crammed into barracks that were surrounded by razor wire to keep the workers from escaping. Workers were tricked into believing they were coming to America, forced to work 12 hour day, and deprived of their meager pay if they failed to meet ridiculous quotas. That is slavery. Bob Schaffer calls the Mariana Islands a model for the entire nation. Does he mean us?

    Leave it to Jack Abramoff and Bob Schaffer to find a way around the Emancipation Proclamation.

    Is this the kind of man Colorado wants in the Senate?

    Bob Schaffer actually gets worse.

    How long does America want to be fighting in Iraq?

    Evidently, conservatives are not familiar with a legal concept called conflict of interest.

    Bob Schaffer is a corporate socialist. He expects US taxpayers to fund security indefinitely for the risky business of Aspect Energy in Iraq's Kurdish areas.

    These are the same Kurds who are committing terrorist acts against our Turkish ally. They believe that if they can carve out a Kurdish homeland from war-torn Iraq, why not do likewise in Turkey? So, the Turks are raiding deep into Northern Iraq to hunt down terrorists who are bombing and killing scores of people in cities like Istanbul.

    If you love terrorism then vote for Bob Schaffer. He'll be sure that there will be no end to hypocrisy, brutality, and fear in your lifetime.

  • July 30, 2008

    9:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ecoscience writes:

    Holierthanthou, that is all crap.

    Especially the Kurdish Oil deal criticism. Those people had been under severe economic sanctions for more than 10 years, and their economy needed the help very badly.

    It did not "destabilize" Iraq, it motivated the leadership in Baghdad to get their act together and get some laws passed.

    And the Mariannas Islands nonsense is not even wth commenting on. Slave labor colony? Maybe you need to take a trip there and see for yourself.

  • July 30, 2008

    10:19 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Darwin writes:

    Congress getting another vacation? This time for the month of August. In addition to working only 3-4 days a week (sometimes less), now their umpteenth vacation for the year. What a racket. Oh well, maybe it is better that they are not "working", than they won't be screwing things up. Sigh.

  • July 30, 2008

    10:19 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    glock27 writes:

    Udall is out of touch with most Coloradoans. He is opposed to domestic oil production and no doubt is using "missed the vote" as an excuse to honor his public promise.

    I think we see here where his priorities are: campaigning is more important than representing his constituents.

    It is time for this guy to find gainful employment outside government.

  • July 30, 2008

    10:27 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HolierThanThou writes:

    Try reading the articles. The Denver Post even had pictures of him para-sailing with the wife there. You think he did any real investigating? Not according the Jack Abramoff who's bragged about his connections in Congress including Bob Schaffer and how he made them give up the idea of legislating better conditions for the people there.

    Even the Bush administration has a policy against developing oil in the Kurdish region before the Iraqis have time to sort out how the wealth will be distributed to their people. If oil companies had been run by liberals, their executives would be getting waterboarded in Guantanamo right now. But, no... Oil companies are run by political conservatives so Bob Schaffer and Aspect Energy get a free pass to violate policy.

    But personally, I am most disgusted with Bob Schaffer's attitude towards people who work for a living. Tricking "guest workers" into believing that they're going to America and then shipping them to a slave-labor camp is mighty low. Turning teenage girls into prostitutes gets my blood boiling.

    Bob Schaffer has no moral compass. The best he can do is pander to yours.

    If those were white girls being forced into sex slavery, political conservatives would be asking for a declaration of war from Congress. But they come from China and the Philippines.

    The other problem is with the endemic bribery of Congress. Bob Schaffer accepted a $13,000 vacation to the Mariana Islands and then did the bidding of Jack Abramoff in Congress. I honestly don't know if I should be more disgusted with this bribe or that he could be bought so cheap.

    Bob Schaffer has always been for sale to the highest bidder. How much are you willing to bid?

    Evidently, he'll come cheap if you are putting politically powerless folks into a terrible situation. He'll sell his presence, his vote, and his touted "morality". American values of rewarding work, honest pay for honest labor, liberty, justice, and service to the people are clearly not his stock in trade.

    Bob Schaffer doesn't belong in the Senate. He belongs in prison alongside other psychotics who have no feelings for people. These are men who have no conscience. They don't care how much suffering and misery they inflict on others for their own personal gratification. That's the kind of man Bob Schaffer is.

  • July 30, 2008

    10:31 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    Of course tricky Dicky didn't happen to notice that his boy John McCain has been missing from the senate for three months. I wonder if he backs up to the pay window.

  • July 30, 2008

    10:45 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HolierThanThou writes:

    Let's take a quick look at oil prices. Suppose we drill for oil in Alaska, specifically ANWR. That oil must be pumped down the Alaska pipeline some 800 miles. The pipeline is now operating past its design life. It can also be shut down by a drunk with a rifle. How easy would it be for terrorists to shut it down permanently after oil companies invest billions of dollars developing ANWR?

    Oil companies have thousands of undeveloped leases in low risk areas. Why have they not prospected there?

    The answer is that they've planned all along to scalp the American public on gasoline. The price of oil should be high. Tax conservatism provides subsidies to offshore American jobs to China and India. Demand for oil from these countries is pushing the price up. But the big dramatic jump of the past year is from illegal price-fixing by way of market speculation.

    Offshoring American jobs has put the US economy in a tailspin. The value of the dollar is falling and this also drives up the price of oil.

    Given Bob Schaffer's history of representing the interests of big oil over those of the American people and trampling the basic human rights of working people, what indicators are there that he will suddenly sprout a conscience and do right by us?

    We could do much better than Bob Schaffer. The dude is a complete slime. Anyone who has ever met him and asked him to do something for average Americans knows that.

    I don't believe that Udall is perfect. Nobody is. But I'll bet the ranch that we will be able to talk to him about our problems that he'll work for the people as best he can.

  • July 30, 2008

    11:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Jonah writes:

    Thank you, HolierThanThou, for providing facts and information instead of empty attacks like Schaffer's supporters. I have another fact about Schaffer: He does not believe in Free Speech. He thinks that public servants should be fired for their political beliefs, if they are different than his own. Should we have a senator who does not believe in the Right of Free Speech or the Constitution? Colorado deserves better than this Ohio slave to Big Oil.

  • July 30, 2008

    11:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    olsonmt writes:

    Holier and Jonah (ironic names for atheists and socialists but I digress), do you guys seriously believe the crap you write? You know what, I think I just figured you out. You are probably children of religious convservatives and their message just didn't take. So instead of being reasonable left-of-center pragmatists you went crazy and literally jumped off the left edge of the political spectrum. You knew that would really piss off your parents and maybe get some badly needed attention. I for one get sick of seeing Holier's mindless rants agains Republicans every single day in every single post. Holier, get a blog. Go early and claim your site at Tent State U. Go piss in your water gun. Please, go do anything... anything put copying and pasting your comments all over these pages. Thou is a fool.

  • July 31, 2008

    7 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    JohnHKennedy writes:

    "Udall learned...there are
    some political promises he shouldn't make."

    Like the "Oath Of Office" where Udall swore with his hand on a bible to "protect the Constitution". But he can't be a Congressman or Senator if he doesn't take the Oath, so whats a Washington Insider to do?

    Why, of course, just take the oath and then "pretend" that the Constitution doesn't matter, that hundreds of crimes against it by Bush and Cheney didn't happen, that 4,124 US Soldiers weren't murdered for Bush's WMD Lies, that Trillions of Voter's Tax Dollars weren't wasted by the WMD Lies, that our Economy wasn't ruined by WMD Lies, that we're not paying ruinous Gas Prices for the WMD Lies, that our taxes will not go up because of the WMD Lies,
    "pretend" that Bush didn't do any of it.

    The House Judiciary Committee held a 6 hour preliminary Impeachment Hearing last Friday where many of the most knowledgeable experts on Constitutional Law spoke at length on Bush's Crimes against Our Constitution. Was Udall there? Or was he out campaigning for His Big Promotion?

    As long as Udall gets his promotion to the Senate where he can vote as Republican Lite, protecting the Constitution now doesn't matter. Regardless of what he does the rest of his life, his failure to support impeachment now, when it does matter, will haunt him. Voters will be helped to remember. There are more elections to come and he wants to be President.

    Udall seems to have difficulty being true to promises he's made, "Like pledging to oppose sending Congress on its summer break - and then missing the vote altogether."

    Udall's vote would have been the "swing vote in the 213-212 tally that would have postponed the recess". Udall has a problem with oaths, pledges and promises. We should all remember that on Election Day.

    John H Kennedy, Denver, 43 yr Denver voter
    Impeach Colorado Coalition http://ImpeachCo.com

    ..

  • July 31, 2008

    9:31 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Jonah writes:

    Olsonmt, sounds more like you are conducting self-analysis to me. Good luck with your therapy.

  • July 31, 2008

    10:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    olsonmt writes:

    Brilliant retort, Jonah. Ha HA Barely worth a comment.

  • August 1, 2008

    6:32 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Rossputin writes:

    "HolierThanThou",

    You should be called "Misinforming Thou".

    I have written several articles and will be writing a few more based on many hours of research and interviews with main figures in the Marianas story. The bottom line is that most of what the Denver Post reported was a lie, as is your comment.

    You can read my articles at:http://rossputin.com/blog/?s=schaf...

    (I suggest you start at the end.)

    Regarding your comment:

    1) Schaffer was not there on vacation. He was working. Of the nearly 5 days on the island, he had 3 hours of relaxation at the end (and only because someone convinced him to take a slightly later flight home...no vacation time was in the plan.)

    2) Abramoff did NOT pay for the trip.

    3) Aspect Energy's CEO is not "Alan Cranberg"

    4) The deal with Aspect made in Kurdish Iraq is not "destabilizing" anything. It is in a part of Iraq where there is very little if any US military presence. Also, the Kurdish government would simply have made the same deal with another (probably foreign) company. Would you prefer that a French company got the contract?

    5) Having spoken to others who visited the CNMI looking for "forced abortions", including religious organizations who went through church groups and other social organizations digging as deep as they could, as well as speaking with the governor, I can find no evidence of "forced abortions". It's just as Schaffer stated when he returned. Do you seriously expect people to believe that someone you say is "an avowed abortion opponent" would turn a blind eye to a "forced abortion"? It would have been a bit of a political triumph for Schaffer to find one and do something about it.

    The only "evidence" there ever was of a forced abortion was a questionable report by one person whose abortion, if she had one, was in China, not the CNMI.

    As far as "savaging witnesses in Congress", my upcoming articles will detail the corruption which was going on in the Clinton Administration's Interior Department...corruption with the Clinton-appointed Inspector General called the "most egregious" illegal political behavior he'd seen in 30 years of law enforcement. He recommended prosecutions, but the Janet Reno Justice Department let the criminal acts slide...as they did with every criminal act in the Clinton Administration. For example, Interior Department officials wrote draft press releases for the DNC, trying to defeat Republicans who opposed the federal government overruling the CNMI's self-government.

    Regarding "slavery", it should be noted that the complaint from workiers most often heard...not just by Schaffer, but by others who visited the islands...was that they were not getting enough overtime work! Hardly the complaint of "slaves".

    So, HolierThanThou, you're spouting all the union-led talking points about Schaffer, but they're all lies.

  • August 4, 2008

    8:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    scotem writes:

    The adjournment vote was scheduled for Friday, Udall did everything he could to make it. Too bad Pelosi wouldn't let him vote so we could be discussing the true causes and solutions for high gas prices. Blaming the democrats for high gas prices when ExxonMobile just recorded the highest corporate profits in human history is as absurd as blaming teachers for students academic performance. Oh, wait, you righties already do that too. Do you blame your dentist when you get a cavity too?