The conservative activist group FreedomWorks announced Friday that it will “key vote” the president’s request to use military force in Syria, and is urging members of Congress to oppose the measure. (“Key vote” means that the vote will be used in calculating FreedomWorks’ ratings for members of Congress.)
“Congress should be focusing on the red ink at home, not arbitrarily established red lines abroad,” FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe said in a statement, noting the overwhelming public opposition to the president’s proposal. “Congress ignores the will of the voters on this issue at their own peril.” Kibbe suggested that the present political dynamic — “insiders versus the rest of us” — was similar to that which brought about the initial defeat of the TARP bailout in 2008.
He stressed the potential financial implications of military involvement, arguing: “There is no guarantee that ‘limited’ military operations in Syria will lead to a ‘limited’ result. The costs of brinksmanship in an ongoing civil war are steep, and a collapse of state would fall in our laps. In other words, if we break it, we buy it.”
“America’s international credit is more important than President Obama’s rhetorical credibility,” Kibbe said. “We urge Congress to vote against military action abroad at the expense of American prosperity at home.”