Crush Liberalism

There are a number of so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats who voted for cap-and-trade, against the interests and wishes of their conservative districts.  Turns out that their vote was for naught, as cap-and-tax will never be passed into law.  The Senate has shown no interest in taking it up, meaning that Blue Dog “yes” votes left them hanging out to dry.

Many Blue Dogs learned their lesson from that fiasco and voted “no” on the House’s socialized medicine bill this weekend.  However, a few did not.  Excerpt:

Other than Perriello [(D-VA)] — who was the target of 12 consecutive postvote GOP e-mails accusing him of breaking his promises — a handful of members immediately stood out for casting especially tough votes.

Three of them are junior legislators from highly competitive Ohio districts: first-term Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy and Steve Driehaus, and Rep. Zack Space, a second-term Democrat from a district that backed GOP presidential candidate John McCain in 2008.

Kilroy, who is facing a 2010 rematch against the Republican she narrowly defeated by 2,300 votes last year, took to the House floor Saturday morning to declare her support for the bill.

“This is a moral issue,” Kilroy said, in a speech that noted her own trials with multiple sclerosis.

Driehaus, like Kilroy a freshman Democrat who is facing a rematch with his 2008 opponent, former GOP Rep. Steve Chabot, voted for the health care bill only after it was stripped of funding for abortion.

“This isn’t about politics,” Driehaus told POLITICO before stepping into the chamber to cast his vote. “It’s about doing what’s right for the American people. I haven’t thought a minute politically what this might mean.  (That’s good, because you’re not going to be worrying about political calculations henceforth! – Ed.)  This is about doing the right thing.”

For Perriello, Kilroy, Driehaus and Space, the health care bill represented their second exceptionally tough vote this year — the other was on the cap-and-trade bill — meaning they’ve essentially doubled down on the ambitious national Democratic agenda.

New York Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, who was sworn into office earlier this week after winning a closely watched special election, may also find that he sinks or swims with the national party next year.

Winning narrowly in what was originally a three-way contest, Owens voted for Saturday’s bill after holding an ambiguous position regarding a public option. It didn’t take the National Republican Congressional Committee long to pounce, saying his vote “could be the quickest broken promise in the history of Congress.”

If Sen. Lieberman is to be believed, the Senate will not be passing the House’s socialized medicine plan, or any other plan that puts the feds in the business of selling health insurance.  If that’s the case, then the Blue Dogs who voted to thumb their noses at their constituents in order to appease Nancy Pelosi learned nothing from the cap-and-tax vote and will be undoubtedly booted in 2010, a year in which the left’s political climate was already cloudy at best.

The left’s disdain for Blue Dog districts’ constituents were summed up thusly:

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, didn’t seem worried.

“Their constituents voted for them to make big decisions for the country,” Van Hollen said after the vote.

No, sir, they did not.  These elitists were sent to represent the wishes of their districts, and their districts do not overflow with San Fran Nan types.

Let this also serve as a lesson to all of you who voted for Democrats in red districts because you believed them when they told you “You can trust us!  We’re not liberals!”: Democrats lie.  They are and always will be Democrats first.  They do not care about your wishes.  They only want to further the left’s agenda for as long as you’ll leave them in there to do it.

Elections have consequences, and this last election’s consequences are heading towards destroying this once-great nation.