Who are my Senators working for?

In the Kansas City Star today, I checked out the feature "How They Voted", listing the votes of the federal legislators in the Kansas City area. This week's results demonstrate just how awful Senators Bond, Talent, Brownback and Roberts are. They voted in rigid lockstep with each other.

Undeterred by the wild violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions, they went on record to approve of the Pentagon's policy of using "private contractors" for interrogations in Iraq. Who in Missouri or Kansas does this serve? The families of soldiers who are now much more likely to face torture and death if captured by hostile forces, because of this misguided policy?

Next, they voted to spend $36.6 million dollars to support development of tactical nuclear weapons. I guess Bush is having a tough time bankrupting our country without another arms race . . .

Next, our 4 Senators showed the true grit to stand against some of their Republican colleagues and vote against expanding hate crimes legislation to protect Missourians and Kansans from crimes based on sexual orientation, disability and gender. Despite the best efforts from our Senators, it is now illegal to exercise your first amendment rights by killing a lesbian in a wheelchair. I'm sure that Senators Bond, Talent, Brownback and Roberts regret that Missourians and Kansans now cannot engage in hate crimes against those people.

Obviously feeling their oats in opposing the radically left-wing Republican party, they next opposed the President, by voting to enlarge the army by 20,000 troops, in opposition to the Bush Administration. In this vote, they were joined by 89 other senators (only 4 opposed) in acknowledging that the Bush administration's disastrous policy of trying to win this war "on the cheap" simply isn't working.

Missourians and Kansans who choose to engage in war-profiteering should be comforted by their next vote, in which our senators refused to establish war profiteering as a federal crime!!!! Who are they protecting?? Taxpayers? Soldiers? Or war-profiteers like Halliburton, who line their pockets with campaign contributions? You decide.

Their final vote was against requiring Star Wars missile defense to pass operational defense before full depoloyment. Hey, Senators Bond and Talent - remember when our state was known as the "Show-Me State"?? Or did those military contractors "show you" enough money to buy your votes?

This is just a random week, but one in which the local Senators demonstrated who they are working for, and it isn't Missouri or Kansas.