CHAIRMAN KA'AUWAI RESPONDS TO RETIREMENT OF STIMULUS ARCHITECT REP. DAVID OBEY  

HONOLULU--Chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party Jonah Ka'auwai responded to the announcement by U.S. Rep. David Obey that he would not seek reelection this November:

“Today, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, the author of $862 billon failed stimulus, has announced he will retire from Congress.  Clearly an entrenched Congressman like Obey who has been in Congress for over 40 years is afraid to face his constituents because his hallmark bill failed to keep the national unemployment rate under 8 percent, like he promised.  Which poses the question: Why do Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa still support the so-called stimulus that failed to create real jobs and only drove our country deeper into debt?”

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POLITICO: David Obey won't seek reelection

Bone-tired and facing a tough political landscape at home, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey announced Wednesday that he won’t seek reelection, ending a 41-year House career stamped by his unique talent and tempestuousness.

Rarely does a committee chairman of such power just walk away, and Obey’s decision is a blow to Democrats and marks the passing of one of the last major leaders of the 1970’s reforms that reshaped the modern House.

“I am ready to turn the page, and frankly, I think that my district is ready for someone new to make a fresh start,” Obey said in an afternoon press conference in his committee’s meeting room.

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