Votes against Key Domestic Priorities for North Carolinians

Last night North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole voted to slash billions for vital domestic priorities in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill. Dole voted for a motion that would have cut $9 billion from the appropriations bill that funds research on cancer, diabetes, and heart disease as well as programs such as Head Start, Pell Grants and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“Elizabeth Dole is willing to give George Bush a blank check to spend billions of dollars in Iraq, but refuses to meet our commitments to provide quality healthcare and education here at home,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “With this vote, Dole proved once again that her misplaced priorities are out of step with North Carolinians.”

Dole Tried to Slash $9 Billion in Funding for Education, Health Care, other Domestic Priorities. Last night, 40 Senate Republicans, including Elizabeth Dole, voted to slash $9 billion in funding for essential priorities in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, such as No Child Left Behind funding, research for medical cures, child care assistance for working families, and Pell Grants. [Vote 390, 10/23/07; CQ Today, 10/23/07; Los Angeles Times, 2/6/07; Education Week, 2/12/07]

Bush Budget Illustrates Dole’s Priorities. The motion would have brought the bill closer to the level proposed by President Bush earlier this year. That budget would have shortchanged disabled children and local taxpayers by cutting special education funding, sticking local governments with an additional $291 million in costs. It would have slashed $1 billion from job training programs. It would have kicked 30,000 children out of Head Start, reduced medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health, and cut numerous other critical programs. [Democratic Policy Committee, 10/17/07, Senate Appropriations Committee analysis, 6/20/07.]

Dole Gives a Blank Check for the War in Iraq but Votes to Slash Funding for Health Care, Education, and Child Care. Dole is not always so intent on pinching pennies. She has consistently voted against changing course in Iraq, instead giving President Bush a blank check to spend nearly half a trillion dollars on a failed strategy in Iraq. [Vote 346, 9/21/07; Vote 252, 7/18/07; Vote 147, 4/26/07; Vote 126, 3/29/07,Vote 116, 3/27/07; Vote 75, 3/15/07; NPR, 7/17/07]