Dear Representatives Gary Beard, John LaBruzzo, Mike Powell, Matthew Schneider, and Steve Scalise, I felt it appropriate to name you for two reasons. One, I want to thank you and congratulate you for your courageous vote. At possible detriment to yourselves by originally opposing HB 1028, you stood for responsibility and did the fiscal conservative movement proud. Two, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the political capital gained from this single vote. Because there were so few of you, you are now at the center of well-deserved attention from numerous sources, from online sources to traditional print media. Hopefully, your gain will encourage your fellow lawmakers to act more responsibly in the future. As more circumstances surrounding HB 1028’s passage come to light, the majority of people will continue to label the state legislature as a bunch of crooks and vermin. To an extent, they’re right. Like any crooks or vermin, as soon as light strikes, they’ll flee from anywhere they’ve been or deny any wrongdoing. But not you. You can proudly point to your record on this issue and let it speak for you. I find this whole ordeal sad for several reasons. Ignoring your 5 votes, there was unanimous bipartisan support for the measure to pass (passing something 87-5 is about as “bipartisan” as it gets). Now officials are using every trick in the book to deny responsibility. According to an AP report, lawmakers said they were “unsure” how the bill changed health insurance options. Great. Now instead of just appearing greedy, your colleagues are also liars or idiots. I forget … why do they think they deserve more benefits? When damage control was in full effect, “officials” from the Democrat and Republican parties both denounced the spending measure and asked Blanco to veto it.
Who, indeed, tried to steal the cookie from the cookie jar? The irony of “bipartisan support” isn’t lost on anyone here. Shame, shame, shame. Of course, I can sympathize with those lawmakers. Healthcare is one of the most expensive costs to any business or family nowadays. And who doesn’t want more benefits on someone else’s paycheck? The thing is, everyone can’t vote to give themselves more money and more benefits, especially on someone else’s hard earned check. We have our own bills to pay, our own mouths to feed. And instead of addressing the problem of affordable healthcare membership (which is among the lowest in the country…why do they think they need more benefits?), they voted to give themselves healthcare, and a collective “screw you” to the taxpayers. But, you probably already understood that, considering how you voted. Perhaps I wouldn’t be so incensed over the issue if I needed more than one hand to count the people who originally voted against this bill. Or maybe it’s the fact that the Legislative Fiscal Office couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give an estimate of what the bill would cost Louisiana taxpayers (of course, it’s not like that would have stopped them). Or possibly, it’s a number of other things wrong with the entire life of this bill and everything surrounding it. Anyway, it’s nice to know that there are still a few good politicians out there. However, it is a little disconcerting to know how few of you there are. You should kick back and relax. It must be fun to see folks rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic that was HB 1028. Continue to keep up the good work.
—–Contact Jonathan Lo at [email protected]