Freedom Line Blog

Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

Remember when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to put the American people at ease by stating “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it?”  

She was talking about ObamaCare, just prior to its final passage.  At the time, few people – including Pelosi and her Congressional colleagues – actually understood the consequences of passing the unpopular 2,000-plus-page bill.  But to Pelosi and her liberal majority, it was “very, very exciting.”  Never mind that it will actually raise health care costs, force people who like their insurance to get a new plan approved by government bureaucrats and limit access to care. Despite all the warnings and opposition from the American people, hindsight is 20/20, you know.

Well, now it appears that another member of the Congressional leadership has decided to follow Pelosi’s lead while announcing his own excitement about the prospect of passing yet another 2,000-page “reform” bill.

At 5:39 EST this morning – when most Americans were still asleep – key House and Senate lawmakers struck a deal on Financial Regulatory Reform, legislation that gives the federal government broad powers over the nation’s financial sector.   As Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) aptly noted, “it deals with every single aspect of our lives.” 

What does that mean for the average American family out there?  Well, according to Mr. Dodd, “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.” 

Huh?  When the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a chief architect of this legislation admits that he doesn’t know – indeed, that “no one will know” – the  consequences of a bill that he largely wrote and that “deals with every single aspect of our lives,” shouldn’t that be reason enough to oppose it?

This week has been awash in Democratic retirements.  In just two days, senior Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) have announced that they won’t be facing voters this November.

In addition, Governor Bill Ritter (D-CO) announced his retirement after just one term in Denver.

All three politicians had uphill reelection prospects and polls now show Republicans with a 44% to 35% advantage in the Generic Congressional Ballot.

For taxpayers and free trade advocates, Dorgan’s retirement comes as a welcome surprise.  He was one of the loudest and most obnoxious free trade opponents in the Senate and even authored the book “Take this Job and Ship It,” a screed against free trade and competition.

Thankfully, the book’s Amazon sales rank is a lowly 143,535, so few will miss his writing or his voting record.