Un-American Activities By Democrats

A guest column by Robert Romano, senior news editor at Americans for Limited Government, on the unraveling of the Democratic Party as it runs smack into something called Democracy.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the elected elite have resorted to threats and name-calling, Romano argues, because a majority of Americans oppose a government-run health care program.

Nancy Pelosi Reconvenes House Un-American Activities Committee

By Robert Romano

It is nothing short of a complete political meltdown. Congressional reaction to their own constituents' opposition to ObamaCare has transformed into a theater of the absurd. And there will be a stiff political price to be paid.

For years, it has become increasingly clear that Congress largely ignores the people they serve. But now it is apparent they actually disdain them, as well. And would like very much if they simply went away. Only, they won't. So the elected elite is now resorting to ugly threats and name-calling

To put the icing on the cake, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer yesterday leveled the charge that those protesting ObamaCare at town halls nationwide are somehow "simply un-American." That's right, the position of the ruling class is that they — and they alone — have the right to debate public policy.

In the pages of USA Today, Pelosi and Hoyer wrote, "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."

This is quite simply disgraceful. So much for the patriotic duty to dissent. So much for "open covenants openly arrived at." Instead, Congress is attempting to intimidate and silence dissent by the American people.

That the American people have dared to challenge the single-most radical changes ever proposed to the American health care system is wholly unsurprising. What is surprising is that Pelosi and her ilk have so little respect for those who believe it is their voices that have been drowned out by a political elite and their media handmaidens.

What, exactly, were the members of Congress expecting? That constituents would be throwing rose petals at their feet when they returned home for August recess touting a $1.5 trillion monstrosity that threatens to ration health care into scarcity?

And yet, Congressman Steve Kagen (WI-CD8) said residents attending a Green Bay town hall meeting were "uncivilized." Congressman Baron Hill (IN-CD9) said he wants to "control" his town halls: "What I don't want to do is create an opportunity for the people who are political terrorists to blow up the meeting and not try to answer thoughtful questions."

Actually, it is Congressman Hill — and all Congressmen for that matter — who should be answering questions.

"Political terrorists"? "Un-American"? These are American citizens — folks who in many cases fought for their right to boldly state their opposition to Congress' plans to run their lives from afar.

The very flawed argument being leveled by Congress is that by passionately expressing displeasure with their government — a constitutionally-guaranteed right — that ObamaCare opponents are somehow infringing on the prerogatives of Washington's high-handed and mighty

There are 535 elected members of Congress. Over 500 thousand elected officials in the entire country at the national, state, county, and local level. 2 major political parties. And dozens of minor political parties. And they have instant access to over 1,300 television stations, over 12,000 radio stations, over 1,400 newspapers, and millions upon millions of Web pages.

In short, nobody's voices are being "drowned out," except for those of the American people's — who overwhelmingly oppose the radical nationalization of health care. According to Rasmussen Reports, just thirty-two percent of voters nationwide favor a single-payer health care system where the federal government provides coverage for everyone. Fifty-seven percent are opposed to a single-payer plan.

The fact is, Congress has rightly been given an earful by their constituents, who do not want government bureaucrats rationing health care and making medical decisions for them.

Voicing dissent to an unaccountable government Hell-bent on taking over the nation's entire health care system is not "un-American." It is the very essence of what America is all about. And Pelosi, Hoyer, Kagen, Hill, et. al., owe the American people an abject apology.

Robert Romano is the ALG Senior News Editor. For more columns, visit NetRightNation.com