Report from the GOP Whip Team bloggers' teleconference about military voting and Gitmo

Every couple of weeks Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the House Minority Chief Deputy Whip, hosts the Whip Team Blogger Conference.

There were two topics, the War Supplemental Bill, which currently includes $80 million to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and the Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act, which McCarthy co-wrote with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

Joining McCarthy was Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS). He spoke first, and talked about his amendment for that bill that will "forbid any federal money on any bill for the transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to America."

Tiahrt also mentioned the Chinese Muslims, the Uighurs, held at Gitmo, "who have no where else to go but the streets of America." They'll qualify for medicaid, food stamps, and cash.

The Kansan, who has visited Gitmo twice, dismisses the suggestion that the detainees could be held at Fort Leavenworth. Gitmo is set up to "separate the leaders from the foot soldiers." As for health care, Guantanamo Bay has extensive health care facilities for the detainees; at Leavenworth, prisoners have to be treated outside the base--providing a chance for an escape or a rescue attempt.

During the question and answer session, Tiahrt cautioned that "there are people on the internet and on the airwaves" planning rescue attempts of Gitmo detainees.

A fool's mission, in my opinion, but not so much so at Leavenworth. Which reminds me of the plot by some of the first World Trade Center bombers to spring Meir Kahane assassin El Sayyid Nosair from Attica State Prison in New York.

Tiahrt has also sponsored the No Welfare For Terrorists bill.

I asked a question that either candidate could have answered. I was curious about how they felt about a bill in Kansas that would allow Kansans serving in our military to vote by e-mail. A provision in that bill designed to prevent vote fraud is upsetting some Democrats--although the bill passed both chambers of the Kansas legislature. The governor, a Democrat, is expected to veto it.

Tiahrt answered that "the knowledge of what percentage of military personnel vote for Republicans versus Democrats is a key factor" as for why some Democrats in Kansas are blocking the e-mail voting bill. He says it's part of "a long history of the Democratic Party wanting to disenfranchise military voters." Bolstering his point, Tiahrt brought up the Florida election debacle in 2000, and similar maneuvering by the Democrats in the ongoing Minnesota US Senate recount.

McCarthy added that the same technology that is used to packages will apply to military voting if his bill becomes law.

Remember, these men and women are defending our freedom.

I don't believe this should be a partisan issue.

As for former Gitmo detainees, well, the recidivism rate with these guys is quite high.

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