The mighty Globe has examined the campaigns of Democrat Nicki Tsongas and Republican Jim Ogonowski and has concluded that Ms. Tsongas is the better candidate to build on the progressive leadership of former Congressman, Marty Meehan, whose resignation set the stage for next week’s special election in the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District. If progressive means liberal, and I assure you that it does, The Globe is correct. Nicki Tsongas is definitely singing from the lefty hymn book.
Ms. Tsongas is four-square behind the push to over turn President Bush’s recent veto of the bill that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance program. Jim Ogonowski is taking a more cautious approach as he is concerned about some of the provisions in the bill, such as the possibility that benefits might extend to the children of illegal aliens, or as the Globe calls them, undocumented immigrants. Not to worry says Nicki. Nor is she apparently concerned about the cost of this massive expansion of government health care. This giant step towards socialized medicine deserves a more thorough examination beyond the mantra, “it’s for the children.”
Tsongas is also said to have the most-clearly defined plan for reducing US involvement in Iraq. If the Fifth Congressional District ever decides to declare war on, say, Vermont, this brand of expertise should come in handy. In the meantime, she can join the congressional Greek chorus criticizing the President.
The Fifth is a blue district and perhaps any republican would face an uphill slog to election. At the same time, however, a serious discussion of the issue deserves more than an analysis of which candidate is more progressive.
Ms. Tsongas is four-square behind the push to over turn President Bush’s recent veto of the bill that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance program. Jim Ogonowski is taking a more cautious approach as he is concerned about some of the provisions in the bill, such as the possibility that benefits might extend to the children of illegal aliens, or as the Globe calls them, undocumented immigrants. Not to worry says Nicki. Nor is she apparently concerned about the cost of this massive expansion of government health care. This giant step towards socialized medicine deserves a more thorough examination beyond the mantra, “it’s for the children.”
Tsongas is also said to have the most-clearly defined plan for reducing US involvement in Iraq. If the Fifth Congressional District ever decides to declare war on, say, Vermont, this brand of expertise should come in handy. In the meantime, she can join the congressional Greek chorus criticizing the President.
The Fifth is a blue district and perhaps any republican would face an uphill slog to election. At the same time, however, a serious discussion of the issue deserves more than an analysis of which candidate is more progressive.
1 comment:
Once the shock of the Globe's endorsement wore off, I was left to ponder the moniker "Progressive", which as you correctly note, means "Liberal". Liberals no longer call themselves Liberal because they realized that the term has "become a dirty word".
What the Left forgets is that they made it so. Liberals/Progressives tend to blame their problems on outside forces. They lost an election because Republicans cheated, or the press was against them (oh, the irony) or because the electorate is peopled with ignorant yokels who will not see the light. In the case of the word "Liberal", the blame is assigned to the "Right Wing Noise Machine"; people like Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin who (gasp) talk about current events.
Rarely if ever will a Liberal/Progressive say publicly "I wonder if 40 years of Liberal policy disasters made "Liberal" a dirty word?" When you're on the Side Of The Children, self examination goes by the wayside.
In 40 more years, when "Progressive" is a dirty word, the search will be on for a new disguise, i mean label. Progressives may want to start thinking of ideas now.
Post a Comment