A Lose-Lose Situation

I had to ponder yesterday's Spokesman Review editorial board's tepid endorsement of Cathy McMorris Rodgers for a bit. Essentially, it's an it's-not-like-we-have-a-choice choice. Daryl Romeyn's campaign is practically invisible since he has no backing of any sort. So the editorial board shrugs it's shoulders and puts lipstick on the pig.

McMorris Rodgers has been in office for nearly six years and her only reach-across-the-aisle accomplishment is setting humane disciplining standards for special needs children? In six years.

She may bemoan the toxic atmosphere in Congress but that hasn't stopped her from contributing to it. Last year she said she'd like to "see the documents" that verify President Barack Obama is an American citizen. After Barack Obama's first State of the Union address during which he gestured to House Minority Leader John Boehner and said, "Let's meet," McMorris Rodgers stood by Boehner while he proudly proclaimed, “I know who I am, I know what my principles are, I know what the principles of my members are and I’m not going to sacrifice my principles just by sitting down and negotiating.”

At her Spokane town hall meeting McMorris Rodgers fed right into the hate speech when asked what she thought about the mosque being built near Ground Zero in New York City.

"I believe it's a poor choice of location. As I view it, I think like many in America, it almost feels like a victory dance on the place where we were attacked on 9/11. And it's offensive to me."

Also during the same town hall meeting, a gentleman said he knew the Republicans had a plan but people just weren't aware of it. He asked her for specifics. She didn't provide a single one.

When it comes to budget reform, McMorris Rodgers and her fellow Republicans haven't identified any specifics. Instead they rely on the tried and true mantras of "reign in government spending", "earmark reform", "the system is broken" and "cut taxes". In late 2008, McMorris Rodgers was appointed chair of the House Republican Select Committee on Earmark Reform. The group was supposed to provide an earmark reform proposal by Feb 2009. Not only did they not create such a proposal, they never held a single meeting.

The Review board's endorsement ends with this:

Her message is to give Republicans another chance. It looks like they will get it, but she needs to do her part as a party leader to squelch the acrimony with Democrats and tea party activists before realistic solutions to some very big fiscal issues are resolved.

McMorris Rodgers is the easy call in this race, but her task will be formidable.

Yes, she is an easy call, but she has shown that she's not up to the formidable task of working with both sides of the aisle or getting things done. She's been a faithful follower of the party of "no". She's shown she is adept at repeating vapid talking points. She's all for scrapping Social Security except for current and near-current recipients. She's against financial institution reform that would reign in the abuse of and losses suffered by the American people. She wants to make permanent the tax cuts that have contributed just as heavily to our country's deficit as they have to the pockets of the very rich. She wants to repeal health care reform in the name of freedom, where presumably the uninsured have the freedom to go to the emergency room of their choice.

If representing our district consisted of sending out tweets and getting likes on Facebook and posting videos on YouTube, then McMorris Rodgers has been a stellar congresswoman and deserves our support. Doubling your Facebook followers is a formidable task. And about the only one she's up to.