November 7th, 2009 • 1:51 pmHow To Become a Half-Term Wonder
The first quote I remember from presidential campaigns was Gerald Ford declaring that Jimmy Carter would soon become a “one-term wonder.” He said it with such confidence that it’s stuck with me all these years. That quote was triggered this morning because, in his first hour as a congresscritter, Bill Owens declared that he’d be a half-term wonder:
Congressman-elect Bill Owens was sworn in at noon today. Owens indicated in a press release that he was now in favor of the bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during his campaign.
According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill. Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.
This is terrible timing for Owens with Rep. Camp publicizing the fines that Pelosicare will impose on individuals, small businesses and families. Honestly, it’s political suicide. Breaking your biggest campaign promise less than an hour after getting sworn in isn’t something that people won’t notice. I’ll bet the proverbial ranch that Owens’ constituents will read him the riot act at his first townhall meeting in the district.
There won’t be a need for lobbyists and community organizers to fill a large gymnasium 10 times over. All it’ll take is a bulletin at a grocery store and a few tweets and you’ll have a packed gymnasium to read Rep. Owens the riot act. That’s if Rep. Owens has the spine to even hold a public event like that, which certainly isn’t a guarantee considering the spinelessness he’s shown thus far in his less than illustrative congressional career.
Whereas Michele Bachmann is a profile in courage standing up to the Tyrant By the Bay, aka Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Owens is a profile in spinelessness.
If Rep. Owens votes for Pelosicare, then I’d suggest he start locking in the price for a U-Haul trailer because he’ll be using their services within a year.
Technorati: Bill Owens, One-Term Wonder, Half-Term Wonder, Pelosicare, Townhall Meeting, Election 2010
Cross-posted at California Conservative
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I wonder can a bunch of voters in the his district sue the entire federal government that they were the victims of fraud since Owens had told them if elected he will vote against the public option.
It’s quite obvious that Owens and anyone supporting him clearly committed fraud to get this vote.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment by walter hanson • 07Nov2009 @ 2:45 pm
I believe that premise has already been rejected in the courts. The notion that a politician can be sued for lying would have a “chilling effect” on his free speech, and the fault in the matter clearly lies with any fool that would believe him. Caveat Emptor.
Besides, even if you won, he would pay you off with your own money.
Comment by J. Ewing • 08Nov2009 @ 8:49 am
Your quote from Ford is interesting.
He realized the chickens from the Nixon-Ford and oil embargo years would come home to roost during the Carter presidency, which happened, and that people would blame the person in office and not the causative past.
Ditto for Obama. Never mind a war done on borrowing. Just only look at the dishonest way Bushco imposed the Kyoto promises, while publicly saying otherwise because the hardship his administration caused and/or assisted would have been blamed on him if he’d been an honest man. And now he is in hiding, totally quiet, letting Cheney be the blusterer.
Now Copenhagen will be happening and there will be some lurid domestic thing going on - drawing out healthcare contentiousness plus who knows what else - while the future is being mapped by people wanting to plan on a global scale. Some distraction will be paraded by mainstream media.
But the major alternative to globalism is naked multi-party mercantilism, and the war threats and wrenching cycling of overcapacity worldwide that go with that are viewed as bigger concerns to orderliness than scaling down the living standards in the more prosperous nations to share the limited resources of the earth in a more stable way.
So, is the Tata auto a bigger threat to things than melting of the ice caps? Whichever way you answer, talking Tata, Toyota, and GM and Chrysler in terms of the citizens of this country and the major prosperous European nations being governed into taking lowered standards of living - that seems verboten. So the politicians and news organs on all sides of the US spectrum, and in Asia and Europe all lie a little or a lot.
But change is happening. Being better with limited resources of the earth, that IS hard to argue against in the abstract, but when it affects individual, family, and community affluence and greed, the lying starts. In DC. In the press. Among politicians on even the smaller stages. The corporations buy FOX and MSNBC coverage [Olberman being told to drop the Bill O'Reilly as worst person gig for example] and government support is bought via lobbying and long treasured revolving door rights once out of office.
Do you suppose Michele Bachmann will be offered a book contract once voted out? I could see that.
Comment by eric z. • 08Nov2009 @ 10:15 am
Michele isn’t getting defeated anytime soon, Eric, so just brace yourself for Michele having a long, productive career in the majority. Whether it’s Tarryl or whether it’s Dr. Reed, it’s kinda irrelevant. Tarryl’s been exposed as a anti-business liberal who doesn’t fit this district. Dr. Reed is a proponent of single-payer health care, which is less popular in the 6th District than toxic waste. If either candidate stays within 8 points in 2010, they should consider themselves lucky.
Comment by Gary Gross • 08Nov2009 @ 2:05 pm