James W. DeMented

Ever since giving up my dearest Upstarts after finishing the ol' undergrad., I have felt the blogging itch. Though blabbing to open-eared Facebook friends and the random passers by was something I was reluctant to start, I now find myself compelled. I've become "that" person. And now, with the health care reform debate raging, I feel that it is time. Enter Senator Jim DeMint. Good ol' boy extraordinaire. Adamantly opposed to the public option that would so greatly help millions of Americans, he spouts his libertarian ethos: health care reform is "a government takeover" and we should stop it in favor of "real reform." What would real reform look like to Senator DeMint?

As MSNBC's Rachel Maddow put it oh-so-well in her "Parable of the Pizza Order" last night, in the game of ordering the pizza (read health care reform), conservatives really don't want pizza (read health care reform) at all. Jim DeMint wants no pizza. He does not want Tito's. He does not want Pizza City. He doesn't even want Papa John's. And this comes as no surprise when you take a close look at DeMint's campaign contributors. According to The Center for Responsive Politics, of his top 20 main contributors, 10 are either directly part of the health care professions or insurance sector, contributing a substantial $429,514 to his campaign. Among those contributors are Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, UnitedHealth Group, and coming in at numero uno: Club for Growth, who has launched a $1.2 million tv ad campaign of misinformation in response to the health care debate.

Regardless of your personal opinions surrounding the public option and the face of this bill, it is all too apparent that the politicians who so vehemently oppose it speak not based on the needs and wants of their constituents, but on those of the people with the moolah. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, South Carolinians are in dire need of this legislation. Senator DeMint will be making two appearances in the Upstate Thursday, August 20; he will be at Tommy's Ham House in Greenville at 8 AM and at The Beacon in Spartanburg at noon. So I urge you, whatever your stance, to go and make yourself heard. To have a public discourse on the matter there needs to be an actual discourse. Hope to see you there!