LET BLUE DOGS LIE

Blue Dog Democrats are supposedly the conservative answer to the Democratic Party. They like to say they break from the liberal wing and represent a more centrist appeal. They come from conservative leaning districts where they have to pretend they’re not Democrats so they can compete in an election. Simple pandering, but with a twist that fools a lot of folks.

Let’s say the Democratic National Committee wants to pick up a seat in a district which traditionally votes for Republicans. So we have something like the 2006 elections coming where the Dems justifiably smell blood so they target a Republican seat. Drag out the Blue Dogs. Don’t have one in the local kennel? Then become one…make one. Tell everyone you’re a Conservative Democrat. Go for the gold and win.
Now the electorate, sufficiently persuaded, elects a Democrat.

Let’s examine where Blue Dogs lie. Their official Web site offers us their agenda which supposedly is a more conservative agenda than their “liberal” brethren. Here are some of their positions:

- Opposed to abortion
- Opposed to gay marriage
- Opposed to gun control
- Opposed to child pornography (who isn’t?)

Then they get right back into their leftist groove.

- On climate warming: The sky is falling and we lowly humans are pulling it down. Citing the usual “any dopes in liberal universities who call themselves scientists,” regardless of their credentials, who will be used as a weigh-in on the debate – make that proof – that we are killing a whole planet in this whole universe.

- On loss of manufacturing jobs: So what? The economy matures; we can’t stay in the industrial age forever. Should we have remained farmers after the agricultural age? Aren’t we better off with farm conglomerates growing, processing and improving the quality, and lowering the price of, your food? We need people to engineer those processes. People are better educated now and have moved into an urban environment where the manned assembly line is and was. We have machines now to do the assembly work. Time to move into information, service, science, engineering, whatever the most demanding fields are. It’s called progress. A lot of people just don’t like progress until they can look back at it.

- On failing public schools: Who wants that? But the Blue Dogs want to increase the number of minorities graduating from college by granting in-state tuition rates to undocumented aliens. What the hell? My Michigan, American born children can’t get that in Arizona, why should law breaking illegal aliens who aren’t paying taxes, won’t assimilate to American culture or even speak the language have it? And why should I have to pay for it? Why should you have to pay for it? We (you and I who are gainfully employed and legal) have to pay for whole extra Spanish speaking curriculum and education departments to host illegal aliens who are helping themselves to benefits we don’t get!?

- On the high cost of prescription drugs: Screw with the very drug industry that cures our ills and keeps us alive. Drive it out of America where they can pay taxes elsewhere and charge us even more. Then we can slap tariffs on their wonder drugs to hike the prices even further. And run jobs out of the country and lower the quality of our healthcare to save a couple of bucks. Research is by far the most costly ingredient in your life saving medicine. Do you really want to cripple it or run it out of our Country?

- On hidden banking fees: More regulation. We don’t need another law, we need you to read your bank statements and contracts and be responsible for yourselves. If enough people descent, banks will be forced to clean up their act. This concept is called capitalism.

- On the war on poverty: They’re letting John Edwards define this one. That means absolutely nothing will be done, but Edwards may win an academy award for convincing some idiots that he actually walks that talk.

- On Labor Unions: They’re apparently all for the right to organize, but not for the right to work. Both laws should be in play.

- And they’d like to prohibit gambling over television and internet. How about taxing it and letting adults be stupid?

JD