Congratulations on your decision to delay the vote on HR3200, the so-called “Healthcare Reform Bill.” In doing so, you have given yourselves an opportunity to save the people of the United States from a plunge into poverty and despair that might not ever be reversed. (You Blue Dogs who did not cave-in to Speaker Pelosi’s fervent pressure tactics can skip ahead several paragraphs because the next few words are solely for those four of you who wilted under the heat).
While the vote may have been delayed a month or so, your demonstrated intent to support this bill in any shape or form has put you on the brink. We’re not talking about mundane legislation that nobody cares about who doesn’t spend their days watching C-SPAN. This bill represents a fundamental, and possibly irreversible, shift in this entire country’s way of life. It solves nothing, and creates a bureaucratic nightmare that will ultimately cost Americans a price we cannot pay.
In spite of the nebulous and deliberately vague language, we do understand a few things about this legislation. We understand it is not about ‘reform,’ any more than it is about ‘health care.’ This lengthy insult to the intelligence is a mechanism by which an extreme-Left arm of the Democratic Party hopes to slowly and inexorably subjugate the people of our country. If we become utterly dependent on the Government for our very survival, we will be, ultimately, at its mercy. That result is not tolerable to any sane or rational person.
Please understand this important point: you are playing politics, using life and death as bargaining chips, and it has to stop, here and now.
I’m not asking you to join me in a debate on the merits of this bill. If I thought you knew enough about the document to speak with authority, it might be a different matter. But I see no evidence of that you are, and its parallel to other, more recent legislative debacles brings an odor that still stinks in my nostrils. We have seen the effect of Congressional negligence, most notably in the wretched Stimulus Package and Waxman-led Energy bills that are yet being forced upon us because few of you were willing to actually read and become familiar with their contents before casting a cowardly ‘yes’ vote to the applause of Speaker Pelosi and Al Gore’s accountant.
You and your colleagues who revel in the distinction of being vigilant watchdogs in a party of fiscal irresponsibility are called “Blue Dogs.” Your notoriety and current star status is predicated on the notion you’re courageous and resolute – that you’ll stand up against the tide of liberal Democrat absolutism in the name of common sense and service to the people. Unfortunately, many of you decided that weight was too great to bear, and you folded like a card table the moment your Commissar, Speaker Pelosi, put a hand on you. Any confidence we may have had was diluted and ultimately nullified. In case you’ve forgotten, trust for elected officials is not in great supply just now.
I do not appeal to your sense of duty and decency because I know you are bereft of both. Asking you to do what you were sent to Washington to do (accurately and diligently represent the wishes of the people who employ you) is somehow beyond your capacity. Instead, I will speak in those terms that I do know you will understand and appreciate.
Here’s something else we understand; nothing is more precious to you (aside from your families, one presumes) than winning and holding political power. The term ‘politician’ is now the prominent pejorative among our people, justly ranking you below thieves, murderers, television evangelists and lawyers. Not an easy thing to do, but you have arrived. This Congress is the most hated and reviled in living memory. That means two things: the trust of the people in your districts is fading by the minute, which further means your jobs are not worth a plug nickel.
Since you are apparently incapable of standing up for this country by defeating an obviously insane plan to transform America into a socialist pit of misery and failure, then perhaps you will be more interested in doing so for that most cherished of possessions: your career.
Your tenure in the House is in serious jeopardy for what you’ve already done (we remember your role as a collective majority in the creation of our current financial condition via the practice of mandating toxic loans to people who could not accept the burden). Please be assured of this crucial point: If you vote in favor of this bill, you will be removed from office in 2010. I cannot threaten you with this future event, but I am more than happy to acquaint you with its certainty.
Blue Dogs were supposed to look out for us. Blue Dogs were supposed to provide a voice of reason among the clatter of shameless, greasy, Marxist politicians.
You were supposed to be better than this. However, that doesn’t matter much anymore. Imagine instead what will become of your career in the aftermath of the town hall meetings you will face upon your return to your districts. You know what that means, but more to the point, WE know what to do if you betray our country again.
It’s time to stand up to a tyrannical apparatus, bent on destroying this nation. If you cannot (or will not) stand up for us, your successor no doubt will.
R. Davies