Gus Bilirakis - Another Shameful Vote

Veterans and Greeks - Thumbs Up!
Poor Children and Gays - Thumbs Down!

First the S-CHIP bill (NO to healthcare for poor children), and now Gus Bilirakis joins the hateful, homophobic caucus and votes a big NO on H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007.

Something to ponder--
What would Gus say to a gay Greek veteran about government healthcare or employment discrimination?

Hmmm.....

Where's Gus Bilirakis?

From Greek News :

"Accompanied by US Regional Coordinator for SAE Theodore Spyropoulos, Tamvakis also met with US House of Representatives members John Sarbanes, Gus Bilirakis and Zachary Space to discuss the promotion of Greece's national issues in the US Congress and the strengthening of relations between the Greek expatriates and the motherland."

S-CHIP? Healthcare for poor children? Ending the war? Holding the Bush administration accountable for lies and incompetence?

Gus Bilirakis in the News

In order to do our jobs here at GusWatch, we are signed up for "Google Alerts." For those of you not familiar with Google Alerts, they are a way to be notified, via email, whenever a certain name or phrase appears in the news. Google Alerts for Gus Bilirakis usually come into my email box, on average, three days a week. On those days, I may get three or four alerts of the same story when it is published in different media outlets or on blogs.

For the past two weeks, Gus Bilirakis has been in the local news for hosting a couple of workshops on identity theft. Good for him.

But much more common are stories like the one I got today. I would say 60-75% of the coverage of Gus is on Greek-related issues. Here is the link to the latest, along with an excerpt:

"Friday a Kiev issue of the Kommersant daily reported that Denisenko met with Republican Senators George Voinovich and Sam Brownback, and Gus Bilirakis, the head of the support group to the Greek Orthodox Church in the House of Representatives."

A few thoughts came to mind as I read this:

1. "...head of the support group to the Greek Orthodox Church in the House of Representatives." WTF? Support group for a church in Congress? Is this the best use of Gus' time in Washington?
2. If Gus Bilirakis puts that much time and energy into supporting the Greek Orthodox Church in Congress, shouldn't his votes reflect his religious values? If so, then why did he vote against giving more poor children healtchare through the S-CHIP program?
3. Is this another example of Gus pandering to one of his two big constituencies (Greeks and veterans) while ignoring the rest of us?

Gus Bilirakis: No Healthcare for Poor Children

Gus Bilirakis shows his real values again. He'd rather spend American tax dollars on a pointless war in Iraq than on healthcare for poor children in our country. Gus Bilirakis voted "NO" on the bipartisan S-Chip bill when it came up for another vote.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=1009&chamber=H&congress=1101&tally=1

Will he have the political courage to change his vote and override a veto this time? Don't count on it.

Gus Bilirakis & GOP family values: Trapped in the men's room

GOP Values:

Don't think of sick children.
We torture but it's okay as long as we say that we don't use or condone torture.
War is patriotic but our kids make other choices.

Gus Bilirakis Puts Politics and Ideology over Children

Today the St. Pete Times weighs in on the SCHIP bill:

This is about ideology and politics, not money. Bush would limit the capacity of a successful program and instead push tax credits to pay for health care, which won't work and has little support in Congress. The low-income families who need SCHIP the most are not going to get their child into the doctor with tax credits.

In the Tampa Bay area, a veteran and a freshman sided with sound policy over partisan politics. Reps. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Rocks Beach and Vern Buchanan of Sarasota were among 45 Republicans who voted for the bill, but that's not enough to help Democrats override a Bush veto. If only Republicans Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville and Adam Putnam of Bartow had been as open-minded and could see the light.

Worth Mentioning Again (and Again and Again)

There is no clearer indication of Republican idiocy and immorality than Tuesday's vote against the SCHIPS bill. How on earth do you vote against health insurance for poor children? If there were ever any doubt about which is more important to Gus Bilirakis and his fellow GOP House members: continuing to follow White House marching orders or thinking about the needs of their constituents, then let's remove that doubt once and for all. Gus and his cronies have followed George Bush over the cliff.

Let's hope that Gus' Democratic opponent hammers him with this every single hour of every single day until November 2008. For this, Gus must pay dearly.

(Several Democrats, including Kathy Castor, also sold us out on this one. If they don't come around and vote to override Bush's promised veto, then let's make sure they suffer the same fate as the Republicans. If we can't count on their support for this, then what good are they?)

Gus Bilirakis: Poor Children Not Worth a Few Days of War in Iraq

We here at GusWatch have long questioned the priorities of Gus Bilirakis, but with his "nay" vote yesterday on expanding healthcare for poor children through the SCHIPS program, Gus has removed all doubt. His concern for the health and welfare of American citizens begins and ends with wounded and ailing veterans, a big voting block in District 9.

Gus, who heard "encouraging news" in the pathetic shilling of General Petraeus before Congress a couple of weeks ago, would rather continue pouring money down Bush's Iraqi shithole than take care of America's uninsured poor children. Has there ever been a more disgusting example of pandering: pandering to failed Republican policies on healthcare, to Bush's attempt to salvage his legacy, and to laughable claims of Republican fiscal responsibility?

From Congressman Rahm Emanuel:

"This week, the President asked for $200 billion more for the war in Iraq. In the same week, the White House said the bipartisan plan to give 10 million children health care included ‘excessive spending’ and threatened to veto the plan. For this President who helped rack up three trillion dollars in new debt, it is not about the spending, it is about priorities and the President has made his clear.”

Gus has shown us once again what his priorities are. He stands first and foremost with George Bush, and not with American families. Remember that on Election Day 2008.