David Obey
| David Obey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| U.S. Representative from Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District From: April 1, 1969-present | |||
| Predecessor | Melvin Laird | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Joan Obey | ||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||
David Ross "Dave" Obey (pronounced Obie), born October 3, 1938 (age 85), a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin, is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which handles most of the spending of the federal government. Obie has a reputation for working well with his Republican colleagues, but having a prickly personality.
Obey was first elected to the House in 1969 from northeastern Wisconsin to replace conservative Republican Melvin R. Laird, who had resigned to become Secretary of Defense.
Long a liberal stalwart, Obie continues to believe in Keynesian economics and the virtues of taxing the rich for the benefit of the poor. In terms of liberal-conservative voting scores, he is in the middle of all Democratic Congressmen on social issues, and slightly to the left on economics and foreign policy. He opposes abortion and gun control, and has voted accordingly.
Funding Iraq war
On March 9, 2007, a video was posted on YouTube of Congressman Obey arguing with proponents of defunding the Iraq War about their position on how to end the war. He angrily referred to them as "idiot liberals" and said that they're "smoking something that ain't legal." Obey later apologized for the tone of his remarks, saying his immense frustration over the issue of the war simply "boiled over".[1]
References
- ↑ https://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obey-berates-woman-over-war-funding-later-apologizes-2007-03-09.html
