Posted on 07/23/2009 2:03:26 PM PDT by Graybeard58
From the tone of the flurry of news releases, you'd think he cured cancer, built a perpetual-motion machine in his basement and brought peace to the Middle East. No, what Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., claimed to have accomplished Wednesday was far more grand. He and 12 fellow Democrats outvoted 10 hapless Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee and started America down the road to universal health care.
Before the celebrations begin in earnest, we must note Sen. Dodd's bill calls for a paltry $600 billion in new spending, compared with $1.5 trillion proposed by the House. Rest assured, the House is offering a more honest portrayal of the cost of the program the Democrats have in mind. Sen. Dodd's committee holds out a fantasy of spending restraint that will be snatched away in a heartbeat, should this madness ever come to fruition.
Connecticut residents already know better than to buy a used car, or anything else, from Sen. Dodd. The rest of America is just beginning to learn that hard lesson. Take, for example, his much-ballyhooed credit-card reform.
Again, to hear Sen. Dodd tell it, those predatory credit-card companies were being defanged, declawed and emasculated by the Senate's heroic consumer advocates. But somebody forgot to tell the predators of their plight. "Two of the biggest issuers (of credit cards) in the nation, Bank of America and Chase, say they're switching some fixed-rate cards to variable rates to manage costs in light of the sweeping new reforms to the credit-card industry," The Associated Press summarized the other day.
This is certain to increase costs to consumers who carry balances on their cards. And what is Sen. Dodd doing about it? We checked his Web site. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. He already milked this issue for all it's worth and has moved on. The last time it's mentioned on his Web site is May 26; the AP story on the industry's predictable reaction to the new regulations appeared on the front page of this newspaper July 11.
If Sen. Dodd truly cared about his constituents in Connecticut and Americans in general, he still wouldbe hounding the credit-card predators rather than skittering off to tame the health-insurance monster. But he's a political dilettante, and that's what political dilettantes do.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
He's lost without the other half of the waitress samich.
Thanks for the ping Graybeard.
DEMOCRATS + SPENDING RESTRAINT = FANTASY AND/OR A HUGE LIE!!
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