Bush bowed to Right, condemned the sick

July 19 is a monumental day in our history. President Bush cast his first veto since taking office in January 2001. Bush might have chosen a better bill to veto, such as the one containing more than 6,000 items of pork, which will waste billions of taxpayer dollars. This veto tells us clearly that Bush pays more attention to a few religious, fundamentalist supporters than he does to 72 percent of the American people and more than 60 percent of Congress. He chooses to save the “life” of embryos that have a finite shelf life in cold storage and will eventually be discarded instead of allowing them to be used to possibly help those who are afflicted with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal-cord injuries and many other ailments. His veto condemns millions of Americans to lives filled with pain and early death. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, voted with Bush, as he almost always does, against the measure. LoBiondo has voted with Bush for social program cuts, government interference in the Teri Schiavo case, exempting millions of workers from overtime pay and budget cuts to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and dike maintenance in the Gulf. The cuts to workplace safety and dike maintenance resulted in thousands of deaths and countless others uprooted from their homes. LoBiondo has clearly displayed time and again that his loyalty belongs to Bush and the Republican leaders in Congress. It is time to show him the same contempt he shows for us and vote for someone who better represents us in Washington. Like the Taco Bell commercial on TV, LoBiondo is “good to go.” Karen Padmore, Cape May Court House - Published in the Atlantic City Press, August 3, 2006