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Kennedy casts key vote on budget bill
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Eric |
| Last Edited | Eric Nov 19, 2005 11:35am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - St. Paul Pioneer Press |
| News Date | Saturday, November 19, 2005 05:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Early Friday, the vote for the U.S. House budget bill was tied, 215-215. Then U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, the three-term Republican running for the U.S. Senate, cast his vote for the bill, putting it over the top.
The measure, which includes controversial trims in federal spending on food stamps, student loans, Medicaid and farm aid, passed 217-215 after a member from Texas added his approval.
The vote could become a campaign issue in next year's Senate race, and Democrats already were criticizing Kennedy on Friday for the vote.
In Washington, political pundits called Kennedy's vote "decisive."
But Kennedy Friday afternoon disputed that notion.
He said he planned to vote for the measure, which he called imperfect but good for Minnesota, when he walked onto the House floor early Friday. But his approval of the bill was not so assured when it was considered earlier.
Along with other House members, he had said he would not vote for the budget measure if it included provisions to allow drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWR. Those provisions were stripped from the final bill.
Still, Brian Melendez, chairman of the Minnesota DFL Party, said Kennedy's vote dealt a "crushing blow" to Minnesota.
"In a stunning betrayal of the interests of Minnesota families, Mark Kennedy has again fallen in line with the Republican leadership of President Bush,'' Melendez said in a news release.
Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who is running for the Senate, piled on. She said Kennedy's vote symbolized "fiscal irresponsibility and misplaced priorities." |
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