In October of this year, Mary Landrieu (D-LA) stood on the Senate floor and told her constituents that her upcoming election should be a referendum on her vote for ObamaCare. Talking about voters and ObamaCare, the embattled Senator said:
“We did not wake up one morning and declare this the law. The people of the United States declared this through us as their Representatives. If they do not like it, they can unelect us. Believe me, they will have a great chance because I am up for reelection right now. They will be able to do that. But that is the way you do it.
I am going to run for reelection. I am standing in this election as a supporter of the Affordable Care Act–not because it is a perfect law but because it is much better for all the people I represent than what we had before–the wealthiest people, the middle-class people, and the poor people.”
I’m pretty sure that she regrets making such a declaration, since it turns out that in Louisiana, a July 2013 poll indicates that 60% of voters are less likely to vote for Landrieu based on her “deciding vote in support of ObamaCare.” In fact, her regret appeared quite obvious as the noose of Obamacare got tighter around her neck after the October launch. In a desperate move that would make “John Kerry” proud—“I actually voted for the (bill) before I voted against it”—she joined other Democrats who may lose their job due to Obamacare by offering a fix to the flaws they created. Namely, that people who like their current coverage are not able to keep it, which, as we all know, is contrary to the promise made by Obama and Landrieu.
Unfortunately for Landrieu and Company, her “fix” doesn’t stand a chance with Obama’s mouthpiece in the Senate, Harry “we don’t need no stinkin’ filibuster” Reid. He has already shot down numerous attempts to modify Obamacare, including hers. Besides, as we have already seen with the solution proposed by the Physician-in-Chief—which carries many similarities to the Landrieu bill—it would do very little, if anything, to correct the problem.
The damage being done by Obamacare goes beyond those losing their coverage.
It has endangered entitlements instead of working to save, protect, and preserve them. The truth is Mary Landrieu’s deciding vote for ObamaCare eliminates $717 billion from Medicare – including nearly $10 billion directly from Louisiana. This also includes $154 billion from Medicare Advantage – which will hurt seniors. According to the Wall Street Journal, doctors are already being cut from Medicare Advantage plans because of the Administration’s cuts to the program, and the New York Daily News reported that, “due to reductions in funding under the law, the Medicare Advantage programs, in which Medicare provides money for private insurers to cover seniors, have quietly started to cancel the contracts of providers to save money.”
In addition, there is the long-term nightmare that Obamacare will ultimately end up as Harry Reid has prophesied, a single-payer system. This is something that Landrieu denies, despite on-the-record quotes from Reid and Obama that say otherwise.
Mary Landrieu has a long record of contradictory behavior in the Senate:
- She once supported amending the Constitution to implement term limits to 12 years for Senators (she’s currently in her 17th year).
- She’s reversed herself on the Balanced Budget Amendment after promising to support it when she first ran and has voted for every big-spending boondoggle to come out of Washington under this administration (she votes with Obama 95% of the time). Any claims to support a balanced budget and reduce debt, both in principle and in action, have long since been abandoned.
- Landrieu supported welfare reform as a candidate but has turned her back on the reform as a Senator, and has flip-flopped on multiple immigration issues, even opposing safeguards to ensure illegal immigrants don’t receive taxpayer-funded government benefits.
- And perhaps Landrieu’s biggest flip-flop of them all—and the most ironic—is her transformation from opposing health care mandates as a candidate 1996 to being the deciding vote in the U.S. Senate for ObamaCare—a vote that she said she takes 100% responsibility for.
Given her track record of politically convenient Washington double-speak, I would normally be leading the call for voters to ignore anything that Mary Landrieu has to say. But I must correct that erroneous advice.
“If they do not like it (Obamacare), they can unelect us.” – Mary Landrieu
I think it’s time for Louisiana voters to heed the words of Mary Landrieu.
What others had to say:
2 comments for “It’s time for Louisiana voters to heed the words of Mary Landrieu”