Democrats Are Bashing Glenn Nye

I'm not the only disillusioned supporter of freshman Congressman Glenn Nye (at left above) that feels betrayed by Nye's voting record - which so far has been the same or worse than former GOP Congresswoman Thelma Drake - who at least would give customized response letters as opposed to canned BS letters. Now Nye has been dressed down by state senator Yvonne Miller - a former Legends honoree for her opposition to the Marriage Amendment in 2006 - for his voting record that is more Republican than some Republicans. Similarly, Nye - who courted the LGBT vote while running for office - has been utterly missing in action on LGBT issues. The only thing that may help Nye win re-election is if his GOP opponent turns out to be far right Christianist, Scott Rigell. Here are some highlights from Crew on 42 on Nye's dressing down by Senator Miller:

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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — One of the built in benefits of covering African American politicians in America is the tell-it-like-it-is factor. This factor runs quite high. Games, hints and hedging? I don't think so. Bluntness is not a problem with this group.
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With Rep. Glenn Nye sitting five feet from her as she took the lectern and seated one person away as she waited to speak, State Sen. Yvonne Miller of Norfolk laid out the problem that is Glenn Nye. You see, Rep. Nye, a first term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is attempting to run for re-election. He is in what is essentially a swing seat. The district is politically split and was held by Republican Thelma Drake who he defeated in the Obama landslide. Nye has been manic is his determination to appear conservative, vote down the middle and carry the water of fiscal conservatives. Sometimes he's a Democrat and sometimes he is a Republican. Much of the time he's decided to be more R than D and it has given the Democrats in his district political heartburn.
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Five minutes after becoming a member of the U.S. House he signed up with the Blue Dogs. Nye voted against the health care reform bill and Cap and Trade. Why do I bring this up? Because Nye's self imposed dilemma is at the crux of what is deeply frustrating about the Democratic party: Democrats often decide to run against their own base, run to the center and wear the Democratic party pin as if it's a navy blue letter of shame or an albatross. With Nye's race this year we will discover if in fact you can be all things politically to all people.
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Sen. Yvonne Miller — who at 75 is the longest serving woman in the Virginia Senate — pointedly told all: "You can't out a Republican...," and, "If you are a Democrat running as a Republican the Democrats will not vote..." Miller's speech was clearly tailored for one person and one person only on the stage. That person was an increasingly uncomfortable looking Nye who politely but unenthusiasticly clapped as Sen. Miller pounded on. No one else sitting beside her was in need of this carefully and pointedly worded dissertation.
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[T]he bottom line he has nothing without his base which, like it or not, is Democratic. Irritating them while trying to woo people who will vote Republican anyway ain't gonna get it. Unless the anointed Republican to run against Nye, Scott Rigell, runs the worst campaign ever this is going to be a close one particularly in a year trending Republican.
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Nye is basically using the same strategy that Creigh Deeds tried and which resulted in his crushing defeat by Bob McDonnell. It seems Nye learned nothing from the Deeds debacle. I'll vote for Nye if its a choice between him and Rigell. If Rigell runs a stealth campaign like Taliban Bob McDonnell did, however, most voters will not undertand what an extremist Rigell is in fact.

Health Care Realities

I continue to believe that significant health care reform is a necessity if the USA is to come up to the standards of other developed countries in terms of the accessibility of basic preventive care for all Americans as well as coverage for when a catastrophic illness strikes. Currently, those without health care coverage often either receive no care or resort to Emergency Room treatment - the most expensive way to get what would otherwise be routine treatment. In short, inexpensive preventive care is forgone and when otherwise preventable illness sets in then vastly more expensive treatment is needed. The process is not cost effective and drives up overall costs exponentially. Paul Krugman looks at the reality of the the current mess and also the false claims of the GOP and some Blue Dog Democrats who seek to obstruct reform. Here are some highlights:

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The key thing you need to know about health care is that it depends crucially on insurance. You don’t know when or whether you’ll need treatment — but if you do, treatment can be extremely expensive, well beyond what most people can pay out of pocket. Triple coronary bypasses, not routine doctor’s visits, are where the real money is, so insurance is essential.

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Yet private markets for health insurance, left to their own devices, work very badly: insurers deny as many claims as possible, and they also try to avoid covering people who are likely to need care. Horror stories are legion: the insurance company that refused to pay for urgently needed cancer surgery because of questions about the patient’s acne treatment; the healthy young woman denied coverage because she briefly saw a psychologist after breaking up with her boyfriend.

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Which brings us to the current debate over reform. Right-wing opponents of reform would have you believe that President Obama is a wild-eyed socialist, attacking the free market. But unregulated markets don’t work for health care — never have, never will. To the extent we have a working health care system at all right now it’s only because the government covers the elderly, while a combination of regulation and tax subsidies makes it possible for many, but not all, nonelderly Americans to get decent private coverage.
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Now Mr. Obama basically proposes using additional regulation and subsidies to make decent insurance available to all of us. That’s not radical; it’s as American as, well, Medicare.