Foster Calls on Bush to Stop Playing Politics with Troop Pay Raise
Jim Oberweis supports "the President on almost everything" -- does that include shortchanging our troops?
Geneva, IL– As George W. Bush visits Chicagoland today, businessman and scientist Bill Foster criticized the President for playing politics with a much-needed pay raise for military personnel in the current defense authorization bill. Foster called on Jim Oberweis – one of his Republican candidates in IL-14 – to join him in demanding that Bush stop trying to employ the "pocket veto" for such critical legislation.
"Jim Oberweis supports President Bush on 'almost everything,' including his Iraq policies. I'd like to know if stonewalling a pay raise and funding for our troops is one of those policies he supports," Foster said.
Oberweis has said that he would have voted to authorize the War in Iraq [Chicago Sun Times, 1/30/04]. He has also postulated that American troops may need to remain in Iraq for ten years, calling it "the right approach." [Chicago Daily Herald, 8/26/07] Oberweis, who is locked in a bitter Republican primary with State Senator Chris Lauzen, has been an ardent supporter of Bush, noting that "I've supported the President on almost everything." [Springfield Journal Register, 3/7/04].
Congress passed the defense appropriations bill by veto-proof margins. Bush has indicated that he would not sign it while Congress is out of session, effectively vetoing the bill.
"Engaging in petty bickering at the expense of our military – that's exactly what's wrong in Washington. Jim Oberweis has stood with the President on all his other Iraq policies, so people deserve an explanation about whether he supports President Bush now.”