Obey's Intelligence . . . vote

Yesterday Dave Obey joined 55 of his fellow left-wing out of touch Democrat colleagues to vote against the following amendment:

The Supreme Court has unequivocally recognized that the Constitution vests the President with the authority to protect national security information as head of the Executive Branch and as Commander-in-Chief;

The Supreme Court has recognized a compelling government interest in withholding national security information from unauthorized persons;

The Supreme Court has recognized that secrecy agreements for government employees are a reasonable means for protecting this vital interest;

The Supreme Court has noted that “It should be obvious that no one has a ‘right’ to a security clearance”;

Unauthorized disclosures are most damaging when they have the potential to compromise intelligence sources and methods and ongoing intelligence operations;

Potential unauthorized disclosures of classified information have impeded relationships with foreign intelligence services and the effectiveness of the Global War on Terrorism;

Media Corporations and Journalists have improperly profited financially from publishing purported unauthorized disclosures of classified information;

Therefore, it is the Sense of Congress that the President should utilize his constitutional authority to the fullest practicable extent, where appropriate, to classify and protect national security information, and to take effective action against persons who commit unauthorized disclosures of classified information contrary to law and voluntary secrecy agreements.

After voting against that amendment to the Intelligence Authorization bill, an amendment that basically disapproves leaking classified information, he voted against authorizing funding for our intelligence operations overall. (Roll Call Vote 108)

We'd offer some sort of explanation, but it's really inexplicable. By these votes, Obey is against protecting classified information and he's against our entire intelligence gathering operation (and this isn't the first time he's voted that way). Makes us sleep well at night knowing Obey apparently doesn't support this critical line of defense against future terrorist attacks.