I've Seen The Enemy

To keep an eye on the “enemy” I signed up for my Congressman’s newsletter. Nick Lampson (D) is part of the conservative Blue Dog Democrat movement started in 1994 to give more conservative members of the party a unified voice. He was a congressman in Texas’s 9th congressional district from 1997 to 2005. He lost his seat after the big controversial redistricting and returned in 2007 after the Tom Delay (1985-2006) debacle. I’ve watched as he increasingly moves to the right on each of the major issues and I believe that he exemplifies the reason that Democrats will probably remain in power after the next election. It seems that more of them are moving to the right of Republicans (including McCain) although that certainly would not be difficult to do.

The entire newsletter can be read here and doesn’t even mention the fact that he is a Democrat. Here are a few excerpts;

I urged them (Democrat leadership) to allow debate and votes on legislation to increase domestic energy production…

I have consistently voted against proposals to raise taxes on domestic energy producers…

I have called on Speaker Pelosi to allow genuine debate and a vote on this issue…

I believe that we will not be able to accomplish anything, let alone lead our nation to energy independence, if we are unable to have a civil debate and are unwilling to allow all options on the table.

I’m Just Saying – do they really mean it or is it just a ploy to get/stay elected?