:wtf:
http://www.openleft.com/diary/14131/blue-dogs-argue-for-increased-government-spending Blue Dogs Argue For Increased Government Spending
by: Chris Bowers
Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 15:02
The first descriptive term the Blue Dogs use to describe themselves on their website is "fiscally conservative." Calling themselves "fiscally conservative," is kind of hard to swallow, given that as a group between 60% and 90% of them voted for blank checks in Iraq in 2007, the Wall Street bailout in October, the stimulus bill in February, and the largest budget in history back in March. So, the Blue Dogs are fiscally conservative, except on every single major spending policy.
Another great example of Blue Dog fiscal conservatism comes from their letter to Speaker Pelosi on health care. In the letter, they actually argue it would be bad if the federal government saved costs by spending less to pay for health care:
In order to establish a level playing field, providers must be fairly reimbursed at negotiated rates and their participation must be voluntary. A "Medicare-like" public option would negatively impact hospitals, doctors and patients. Medicare reimbursement is on average 20 to 30 percent lower than private plans and this inequality is even greater in some parts of the country.
This is an outright negation of their primary public rationale for existence. The 40 Blue Dogs who signed this letter are actually arguing that the federal government should pay 20-30% more than current plans indicate for the exact same amount of the exact same services. They want the federal government to spend more and get nothing extra back in return.
Many of the Blue Dogs are simply not intellectually honest. Some others are not even really that intellectual, given how often they contradict themselves and repeat lobbyist talking points verbatim.If they were smart and intellectually honest, you might be able to point out to them it is impossible to start lowering the cost of health insurance unless some entity begins selling lower priced health insurance. The Blue Dog argument is that we can just keep paying everyone in the health care industry the same amount of money, and that somehow prices will go down anyway. That doesn't make any sense, but try explaining that to them.
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