| I'm referring, of course, to the amount of time it took freshman Republican Chris Lee to shed that "moderate" label and go to bat for the Republican base. It's sad when we have to define Republican "moderates" as ones who don't cater to the lunacy of the birthers, in between lying about healthcare and national security.
In the last month Lee has been on the attack over energy, cap and trade, and healthcare, just to name a few. The good news is, he's getting called on some of it.
Today there's an interesting article in the Buffalo News which mentions him and his recent $22,500 taxpayer-funded scare-tactic flyer. From the article:
Speaking of extreme stuff, residents of New York's 26th congressional district got some in their mailbox the week of July 27.
Paid for by taxpayers at a cost of $22,500, the "Special Report from Congressman Chris Lee" includes several dire claims about the Democratic health proposals.
Most notably, the newsletter said Lee, R-Clarence, is working to stop "a government takeover" of health care that would "create a government-run, taxpayer-funded health care plan that independent analysts say would result in as many as 120 million Americans losing their current coverage."
Lee's office attributed that figure to a study conducted by the Lewin Group, which said that if a new government-run health care plan were widely available, 131.2 million would join it ... including 119.1 million people who would switch over from a private health plan.
On in simpler terms, that 120 million Americans would be getting better health coverage, at cheaper prices. But that's only scary if you're an insurance conglomerate executive... or one of their paid lapdogs in Congress... so they have to lie about it.
In truth, one would expect that any congressman really representing our area would recognize the value of a public option. What's being discussed is very much akin to Medicare, and virtually everyone out here knows the value of Medicare.
Not that Chris Lee's in any danger of finding that out, of course: besides being a millionaire with government-paid health insurance already, he's taken the congressional recess as an opportunity to flee the country rather than listen to his consituents. He's on a special-interest funded junket in Israel, where his group is undermining the foreign policy of the last two administrations. |
