Massachusetts! I always thought the people of that state were politically savvy. But the results are in. It is final. A majority of the voters elected Massachusetts the most idiotic state of the month, if not the year. I know that is harsh, but I have the facts to back it up. It is not just that they elected a right wing Republican to take Ted Kennedy’s senate seat that is so stupid; it is also the reasons they stated for doing this. The most frequent reason given was dissatisfaction over the economy. Did the voters forget that it was George W. Bush and the Republican Party that got us into the mess? Did they forget that the Republican Party’s unprecedented use of the anachronistic filibuster rule in the senate has made it almost impossible to pass any legislation to deal with the crises or pass any regulations to prevent it from happening again?
Many voters also said they were concerned about the deficit. Did they forget that George W. Bush started with a surplus and turned it into a huge deficit? The Republican candidate, Scott Brown, also promised tax relief. Did the voters forget who always gets the tax cuts when the Republicans rule. Did they forget that Reagan’s tax cuts for the wealthy did nothing for the middle class and created a deficit? Did they forget that George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy did nothing for the middle class and turned a surplus into a deficit?
One nimrod even told an interviewer that he voted for the Republican because he was tired of the partisanship. That is an Alice in blunderland statement. I don’t know what that idiot has been watching or hearing but it certainly is not anything resembling the news. Every time the Democrats have tried to work out compromises the Republicans have bargained in bad faith and have slapped the Democrats with the threat of a filibuster. Furthermore, the Republicans hypocritically criticized Obama for trying terrorists in civilian courts after praising Bush for getting terrorists convicted in those same courts. The Republicans even carped at something as none partisan as trying to get the Olympics in this country and for something as none partisan as accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. How can anyone object to partisan behavior and then vote for the party that is so obviously putting partisan concerns above the interests of this country? Doing that is downright delusional.
Another thing the voters complained about was the health care bill. I will admit that it is not what it should be, but who is to blame. It is the republicans who are putting the special interest ahead to the well being of the nation. Their lock step partisanship made them unanimous in their opposition to any meaningful reform. Massachusetts already has a good health care system, but they would still benefit from a robust federal health insurance option because such a system would be good for the economy. Large businesses often say that the high cost of health insurance for their employees makes it more difficult for them to compete. By lowering those costs we would be helping our industries and we would be giving the working men and women of this country more money to spend on goods and services. It would, in fact, improve the economy, and a healthy national economy would help Massachusetts.
One of the good things about not being a politician or a news person is that I can call stupidity, stupidity. What the voters of Massachusetts did was incredibly stupid. One has to wonder if a large number of people simply voted for the pretty boy. The people of California did that when electing an Insurance Commissioner who was later tried and convicted for being in bed with the insurance industry. Electing that man was also stupid, and I said so at the time.
My advice to Democrats is to be more partisan. Call the Republicans on their hypocrisy and their pandering to the special interests. They have made it clear that they are unwilling to compromise on anything anyhow. Ram the legislation through any way you can. Insist on party discipline. Opposition to a bill is acceptable obstruction is not. Lieberman, Nelson, Lincoln, and Landrieu must be punished for threatening to join the filibuster against health care. We simply cannot allow the precedent they have set to stand. Above all, get out there and campaign!
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