Bold faced politics

I will start this post with a disclosure: I am no fan of US Representative David Obey. I grew up in household that received Obey's congressional newsletter, and I disliked his politics from the get go. So, given that, I was intrigued by this filler piece in the Appleton Post-Crescent entitled "Obey wants to broaden discussion of end of life issues." With a little careful reading, one gets a feel for Obey the politician.

Let's start first with this, found at the very end of the article:

But Obey said end-of-life issues have been politicized by House Republican leaders so that thoughtful consideration won’t occur.

“The problem is that we are not going to get that kind of debate because this issue has been almost sacrilegiously polarized and politicized,” he said.

Fair enough. That's a pretty standard Democratic talking point. Now, let's go to the top of the article, where Obey is quoted as saying the following:

“We need a healthy non-ideological discussion of all of the questions surrounding this issue,” Obey, D-Wausau, said Friday. “And I would welcome a debate that broadens the question and takes into account the fact that the largest moral question we face in health care is the fact that 40-million-plus people have no health insurance.”

Whoa, hold up Congressman. The Republicans are politicizing this? And you aren't by wanting to tie this to socialized health care? Feel free to lie to me, just don't smirk while you do it.

Well, based on the first quote above, at least we know that Obey believes that this is a legitimate federal issue. Right?

The Wausau congressman, who had returned to Wisconsin on March 21 to conduct community forums on Social Security, said he urged colleagues not to vote on the bill because he considered it an intrusion.

“When I am at death’s door or heaven’s gate or however you put it, I want those decisions to be made by me and my family and not my friendly local politician,” he said.

Dave Obey, a politician's politician, fluent from both the left and right sides of his mouth. In this article, he tells you that he was opposed to Congress intruding into Terri Schaivo's case. But it should intrude on your end of life decision. Additionally, he lets us know that Republicans should be blamed for politicizing all of this. But he's willing to tack the most political issue of all onto it-socialized health.

Ah, the memories of living in Obey's district just come flooding back.