On behalf of all Progressives, Liberals, and Democrats who live in Red States or Congressional Districts with Republican representatives, I would like to offer an extremely humble and sincere apology to the rest of America. Our Republican Congressmen voted against relief for Sandy victims. Yet they now have the nerve to ask for help for the victims of Colorado's flooding. Don't get me wrong -- things are bad in the flooded areas. Flood victims will need a lot of help as they rebuild. Our Congressmen are right to ask for aid; they are doing their job and trying to take care of their constituents.
Their job, however, also includes representing the will of the people who elected them to office -- and the majority of Coloradans are not the kind of people who would turn their back on fellow Americans who need help. The majority of Coloradans, I have to believe, would have voted to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
I should probably explain that while Colorado, where I live, is considered a "progressive" state, geographically, most of the state is Red. Thus through the Magic Math of the U.S. House, we sent more Republicans to Congress than Dems (2 Dem Senators, 4 Reps in the House, 4 Dems in the House). Thus, Republicans have a "majority" even when they don't represent a majority of Colorado's or, for that matter America's, population. Conservatives are overrepresented in the U.S. Congress and have been since 2008. They use the cry of "The U.S. is a Republic!" (which it is) as an excuse to subvert Democracy and the will of the majority of Americans.
I would like to take special note of my own Congressional Representative, Cory Gardner. Congressman Gardner voted "No" for Sandy aid on January 15, 2013 . However, less than 2 weeks earlier (Jan. 4, 2013), he had voted "Yes" on a bill to pay Sandy insurance claims
Gardner was for it before he was against it. This kind of duplicity shows two important things about Gardner's character and the nature of the Tea Party mindset. First, it shows that he understands basic American virtues like "help your neighbor." Unfortunately, it also shows that he is willing to sacrifice those principles when it is politically expedient to do so. Gardner assumed that the people of CO-4 would want to help the people who were hurt by Sandy. And most of us would; there are good people in CO-4. However, as soon as partisan political pressure was applied, he threw those people and those principles under the bus.
In other words, Gardner -- like the rest of the Tea Party caucus -- is a gutless hypocrite. Not a leader. Not a humanitarian. Not anything. Just another politician who puts party ahead of people. Just like Lamborn, Coffman, and the rest of the Colorado Republican delegation. They are an embarrassment to our state.
This is a typical Tea Party hypocrisy. Cut food stamps, but give me my farm subsidy (a number of Colorado farmers receive money for NOT growing crops). Kill Obamacare, but keep your hands off my Social Security. Kill subsidies for solar and wind, but grant tax credits to oil companies.
And yet the voters of CO4 support this man, this party, and this hypocrisy. At what point will people simply say, "Enough is enough"?
Despite the actions of our Congressional delegation, please know that the people of Colorado and similar states are compassionate people who believe in helping others. We sincerely apologize for the lack of those traits in our Congressional delegation.