On one hand, the teabagger base doesn’t like anything they imagine President Obama would like to do.

From Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):

Congresswoman Hartzler issues statement following conference call on Syria

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-4) has issued the following statement regarding her conference call with citizens of the Fourth District who expressed their views on the situation in Syria:

“I pledged that I would listen to the thoughts and concerns of the citizens of Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District regarding this important issue. I have previously stated that I have concerns about the President’s plan to strike Syria, and have yet to be convinced that military action against the Assad regime is in the interests of the United States. Our conference call has further solidified my deep reservations as 97% of participants expressed opposition to our involvement. I thank all the citizens of our district who called in or who have expressed their feelings through telephone calls, emails, letters, and faxes to our offices in Washington and throughout the district. I value the input and will consider all the comments my office has received as I have the opportunity to cast MO-4’s vote in this critical time.”

[….]

[emphasis in original]

From Ezra Klein:

….There’s no peaceful, productive relationship with Congress for this vote to disrupt. The White House can’t get anything past House Republicans now. Neither a “yes” nor a “no” vote on Syria won’t change that. The downstream consequences of a congressional rebuff are, effectively, zero. It’s a few bad news cycles, and then all Washington will be talking about is the October debt limit….

….Indeed, a lengthy involvement in Syria could harm the White House’s other priorities. As Matt Yglesias at Slate notes, it’s going to be a lot harder for the White House to hold the line against the GOP’s attempts to cancel sequestration’s defense cuts (and only the defense cuts) when the military is actually dropping bombs in a foreign land….

Gee, leverage on defense sequestration. And then there’s the AIPAC voting block in the district.

Decisions, decisions.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): Syriously (September 3, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): What about that Syria thing? (September 1, 2013)

President Obama: calling on Congress to debate and vote on use of military force in Syria (August 31, 2013)

A little over a year ago, from the republican Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Boehner: I got ’98 percent’ of what I wanted in debt deal

By Daniel Strauss – 08/02/11 08:27 AM ET

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he got “98 percent” of what he wanted in the final deal to raise the debt ceiling.

“When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I’m pretty happy,” Boehner said in an interview with CBS News on Monday evening….

….The measure passed the House Monday 269-161, with 174 Republicans backing the bill. Sixty-six Republicans voted against the plan….

[emphasis added]

This evening Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) was the host of an event in Warrensburg on the subject of sequestration in the defense budget. At least one member of Congress, Randy Forbes (r) from Virginia, who was scheduled to appear could not do so due to a “conflict”. Representative Joe Wilson (r) from South Carolina joined Representative Hartzler on the stage and participated with opening remarks and in answering the submitted questions. Yes, that Joe Wilson.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) (left) and Representative Joe Wilson (r) (right).

Today, via Twitter:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

“I voted no on #sequestration. I believe its wrong to threaten our national security in that way.” 5:30 PM – 18 Sep 12

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

Honored to have Rep. Joe Wilson speaking. Community leaders also addressing #defense cuts. 4:53 PM – 18 Sep 12

There were a number of “community leaders” who spoke on stage to the two Congresspersons lamenting the negative economic impact on local economies if sequestration cuts in the defense budget were to proceed.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

#sequestration slated to raise unemployment by another percent. #MO would lose over 33k jobs. 4:45 PM – 18 Sep 12

Who knew that the defense budget was a stimulus plan for local economies?

The event was held in Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. There were approximately 80 people who attended the event, including an Associated Press reporter, the editors of the Sedalia and Warrensburg papers, and two bloggers. The hall can seat approximately 1100 people.