Kathy Castor's Vote Against SCHIP

What does Kathy Castor have in common with Adam Putnam, Tom Feeney, and Gus Bilirakis? They all voted against the second SCHIP bill. Bitch Ph.D and FishOutofWater encouraging readers to put pressure on nay voters to break the Bush veto. I'm urging my readers to contact Castor's office and make her change her vote when this comes on the floor. Her email is Kathy.Castor@mail.house.gov.

I'm discouraged by this. Was Castor really worried about pressure the cigar lobby was mounting against the cigaratte tax? She doesn't have a formible opponent. (Tim Fasano is a gift. Katherine Harris could beat him.) If so, that was a major miscalculation on her part. This makes her look bad nationally.

I'm disappointed by Castor's vote. She stood up to the stupidity on the Hillsborough County Commission. She got her House seat for standing up to Ronda Storms. Not by backing down to special interests. If that was to way to get elected to Congress than Tom Scott would wouldn't be on the Tampa City Council.

Progressives, contact Castor's office and make her change her vote. This veto must be overridden.

Update: Kenneth Quinnell disagrees with my assessment of Castor's vote. He links to a Buzz post. It essentially states Castor was uncomfortable with the cigar tax.

That included provisions to cut bureaucratic barriers to enrolling kids in the program, something Castor had insisted on. She said the Senate version also relied too heavily on cigar taxes for funding. The bill would have set policy for five years. If the president vetoes it as promised, and the House is unable to override it, then Congress will have a chance at crafting a better bill later, she said.

I stand by my post.