Thread: Rep. Eric Massa: I Will Vote Adamantly Against the Interests

Rep. Eric Massa: I Will Vote Adamantly Against the Interests of my District
Posted by Kim Priestap

Ed Morrissey says he doesn't have an issue with Rep. Massa voting against the will of his constituents because, he reminds us, President Bush implemented the surge in Iraq against the will of the American people. But there's something quite different between the two situations. Bush insisted on the surge even though the American people didn't want it because he knew it was in the nations' national security interests. Rep. Massa said plainly that he would vote for single payer health care even though doing so would be against his district's interests. Here's a partial transcript from the Washington Times:

PARTICIPANT: If there was eighty twenty in the room?
MASSA: If there was a single payer bill?

PARTICIPANT: And there was a single payer....

MASSA: I will vote for the single payer bill.

PARTICIPANT: Even if it meant you were being voted out of office?

MASSA: I will vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to be helpful.

(inaudible participants' comments regarding the "interests" of the district statement from Mr. Massa)

Massa: I will vote against their opinion if I actually believe it will help them.


Massa changed his language once he realized how awful voting "adamantly against the interests" of his district sounded, but that was the first thing that came out of his mouth, unfiltered. Voting against the interests of his district is exactly what he meant. Massa describes his district as being one of the most right wing in the nation. It probably is so because his constituents believe in independence, self reliance, and the entrepreneurial spirit. Massa seems to think he's helping to them by separating them from those principles by making them more dependent on the government, which a single payer system most certainly would do. Massa's condescension and arrogance toward his constituents betrays his leftist elitism of "I know what's best for you," an attitude of superiority that will certainly get him thrown out of office.


http://wizbangblog.com/

MASSA: I will vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to be helpful.

I hope the voters in his district vote just as adamantly for his opponent in 2010. They need to put Massa in the cold, cold ground politically.