Dear Ms. McMorris Rodgers:
Your most recent letter and request for funds arrived in today’s mail. In it you assert that “unrepentant liberals” are intent on destroying journalism, denying your party legislative success, and threatening the very foundations of democracy. Wow! But wait, that’s not all. Their news outlets, and you say most media are theirs, print and broadcast “fraudulent news.” Well, as you also say, it’s not going to happen on your watch – a watch that has been going on for ten years. You are superb at watching. Doing is another matter, but watching, that you do better than anyone.
You have said, and say again, that you and Trump are tight, with a proud record of astounding successes for which you are given little credit. What are they? By your own account, you’ve taken first steps to get rid of Obamacare and put health care back to where it used to be. That it would remove many thousands of your rural constituents from health care coverage is apparently something to be celebrated. Equally apparent, the senate, troublesome folks that they are, failed to go along. Tsk tsk.
You’ve passed medical liability reform, which you claim is the single biggest driver of health care costs. I assume you mean the “Protect Access to Care Act,” which limits plaintiffs to a maximum recovery of $250,000 in actions against services provided through Medicare and Medicaid. Tort reform has merits, especially for ObGyn practitioners, but few observers have noted health care costs being driven mostly by the cost of physicians’ liability insurance. We thought it also had something to do with lack of ability to negotiate drug costs, the distortions caused by fee for service billing, excessive use of E.R.s by the uninsured, and the like.
You’ve taken pride in rolling back hundreds (really, hundreds?) of Obama era regulations that protected consumers and the environment, on the grounds that they have stifled job creation and innovation: that in the face of eight years of intense job creation and innovation. My goodness.
And, you’ve repealed parts of Dodd-Frank, that silly law holding banks accountable for their actions. You say it will help community banks do more business. Ah, it’s music to old J.P. Morgan’s ears. He would be so proud of you. Remember how he claimed to have engineered both panics and recoveries, making money on both ends?
Here we are, with you as our m.c., in this great big fifth congressional district of Washington that stretches hundreds of miles in every direction, nearly all of it rural, much of it poor by the usual standards. On our behalf, and proudly so, you have supported policies that would impoverish more, enrich few, and put all at greater risk. With consummate skill, you’ve sold them as blessings to those most in need of blessings. Outstanding! Well played! Oddly enough, you will probably get reelected because there are enough voters who truly believe you represent their best interests, there are enough voters who have become discouraged about voting at all, and there are not enough voters who pay attention to the issues to recognize how much damage you have tried to inflict on your constituents – so far with limited success. May it continue to be so.