Republicans & slavery

We all know politics is a dirty business. It is seldom, however, that I am personally offended by the daily actions of our elected leaders in Congress.

Sure, they spend our tax money ineffectively and work relatively few days of the year compared to the average American, but after all, we are the ones who vote them into office term after term.

On Monday, after making some not-so-smart comments that have the GOP outraged, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, longtime Democratic Senator from Nevada, might not be a shoe-in come next re-election.

This is a good thing. Regardless of one’s political persuasion, no person who can make such ridiculous statements as Reid deserves to represent any United States citizen. Reid compared “Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago.”

In addition to this, he tagged on the notion of not supporting women’s suffrage, as if that helped his cause.
I’m not denying that there were Senators and Representatives in our past that vehemently opposed civil rights and women’s suffrage legislation.

But to classify these people as solely Republican, and to compare a rash, overly expensive health care bill that our country cannot afford right now with people’s freedom and liberty is simply unfathomable.

Just to remind Senator Reid, it was Republican President Eisenhower who proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first legislation on the issue since the Reconstruction era.

More so, to stereotype and say that the Conservative mindset regarding these issues hasn’t changed in some years makes Reid look like some desperate Senate leader trying to get a highly-flawed bill passed.

Oh wait.

We’re used to political mudslinging, remember? It’s just been a while since we’ve heard such a low blow.

“To suggest that passing this horrible bill is anything akin to ridding our country of slavery is terribly offensive and calls into question Mr. Reid’s suitability to lead,” GOP Chairman Michael Steele said.

As a Republican, I want a health care system that is going to work – without bankrupting our nation and without taxing its citizens to the high heavens. I want a responsible Congress that doesn’t make rash decisions.

And I want my elected leaders not to be insulted because they call into question or oppose parts of a bill that many of their constituents also question and oppose.

In fact, the latest Rasmussen survey finds that “only 41 percent of U.S. voters favor the health care plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats.”

And, what about those Democrats in Congress who are not happy with the current legislation either? Would they be included with those Republicans who, according to Reid, are on the wrong side of history?

Perhaps – just maybe – there are reasons beyond halting “progress” that have caused many Republicans oppose the current legislation, Senator Reid.

No wonder our Congress has such a low approval rating.