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January 29, 2009

Kratovil Out of Sight, Not of Mind

Rep. Frank Kratovil of Maryland's Eastern Shore beat a hasty retreat from Washington just minutes after drawing major attention to himself for the first time as a member of Congress.
The freshman Democrat was one of just 11 Democrats (out of 255) to vote against the administration's $819 billion economic stimulus measure, which is designed to fight the recession with massive federal spending and tax cuts.
Every Republican in the House also opposed the measure, allowing Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio to crow that opposition to the House version of President Barack Obama's package was bipartisan, unlike the purely Democratic support for the measure.
Kratovil's departure, which put him safely out of reach of the public and the press, was previously scheduled.
The First District congressman, who took office earlier this month, is on an his first official trip as a new member of the House Armed Services Committee. A committee spokeswoman says its policy is to provide no public information about official trips until all of the travellers are safely back from overseas.
Kratovil's office confirms that he left on a committee trip and that he'll be back on Tuesday, February 3.
At that point, there will be more details about the journey, and the congressman will likely get an earful from constituents, pro and con, about his first big vote.
In a prepared statement released after last night's vote, Kratovil said the package had too little immediate economic stimulus for such a large price tag. He left open the possibility of voting in favor of the measure after it returns to the House, probably next month, following expected approval by the Senate and further massaging by a House-Senate conference committee.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is already targeting Kratovil for defeat in 2010, sent out a press release several hours before the vote, highlighting a $355 million in the $819 billion package for health education, including programs to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
The Republicans wanted to know if Kratovil would support such liberal, wasteful Washington spending. At this point, the answer is "no."

Posted by Paul West at 10:11 AM | | Comments (3)
        

Comments

...and my faith in him is restored...for now..

Amazing, Kratovil voted just like Wayne would have. He had absolutely no choice. Even though I did not vote for hime, I am glad he voted against the bloated worthless bill.

There is a middle ground that most people fall into and Frank Kratovil just proved that he represents those people.

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About the bloggers
Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

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