© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
“Two kinds of newsmen cover stories: those who get the point and those who do not. Most miss the point.” – My news director, years ago
People are upset that all three representatives from New Mexico voted for the Waxman Markey “cap-and-trade” bill that passed the House 219 to 212. When I see stories about the anger of people in New Mexico it shows me that some of the news media are point-missers. They do not understand how the House of Representatives operates.
This is especially true in the case of District 2 Rep. Harry Teague, an oilman who voted against the interests of his constituents in supporting the bill. In fact, none of the three New Mexico representatives could go against Speaker of the House Pelosi, especially Harry Teague, because of the “Traficant” syndrome.
Representative James Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio’s 17th Congressional District, did not vote as the Democratic Leadership wanted in 2001 and therefore was stripped of all committee assignments and all other perks for his district. It was less a punishment for him as it was a message sent loud and clear to the rank-and-file representatives of both parties.
This cap-and-trade bill was a vote by the speaker of the House, and it was primarily on party lines because party lines are how Washington works. The eight Republicans who broke ranks and voted for the bill all live in very liberal districts. They will get some version of the Traficant Syndrome for their betrayal of party loyalty. This is especially so because they could have defeated it.
Reps. didn’t read the bill before voting
The entire media dialog about Teague voting for the bill misses the real point: Our three representatives joined the rest of the House members who voted for the bill without first reading it. When questions about reading it came up, Teague reportedly said, “I have staff people to do that for me.”
Really? But the staff did not read it either. How am I sure? For one thing, the 1,300-page bill includes 300 pages that are to be filled in with details later. They are placeholder pages that got a “yes” vote without anyone knowing what was going to be on those pages after they are filled in.
The point missed by the media is that Congress repeatedly votes to authorize things that have not been written. They say “yes” before the question is asked. Since part of the bill was not available to be read, the real question is not one of party allegiance as much as one of not objecting to giving a proxy vote to just one person, the speaker of the House. Is this the America we want?
Our Congressional delegation must vote for cap and trade, regardless of what is in the bill, because they are Democrats. The talk that this will benefit New Mexico is just that, talk.
It is like one day I was at a drive-in for lunch. I had a free coupon for a hamburger and was trying to factor that free hamburger into the cost of the meal. In exasperation the order box explained to me, “Sir, the hamburger costs less if you do not use the free coupon.”
That is how I feel. I know that cap and trade will only harm New Mexico but realize that our representatives answer to a higher calling than individual bills. New Mexico gets more from the feds than we give. We get something like two dollars for every dollar we send. Therefore, we cannot rock that federal boat.
So our representative will harm a sector of the economy that supports the public schools for fear that our federal bases and infrastructure could be taken in a Traficant moment.
What about Pearce, Skeen and Runnels?
With Steve Pearce jumping into the 2nd Congressional District race this week, we can ask if he ever went against the wishes of his constituents to support party leadership when he was a congressman. Yes, he did. The difference is that he openly said on my former radio talk show that on things the then-Republican president and his leadership felt strongly about he could not vote against them for the overall sake of southern New Mexico.
The media then painted him as a toady of the Republican leadership.
So, how did former Reps. Joe Skeen, a Republican, and Harold Runnels, a Democrat, who held that office between them for over 30 years, handle this issue? For the sake of the district they went with their party.
Still, I cannot think that Pearce, Skeen and Runnels ever pushed through not-read legislation with placeholders.
That is not to say that Harry or Steve cannot, behind closed doors, do personal lobbying for southern New Mexico. Steve worked very hard to bring the military issue of Concurrent Receipt to the forefront in response to one of the regulars on my talk radio show, retired Colonel Charlie Revie.
The media misses the point that neither Harry nor Steve can look their party leaders in the eyes and vote against them without risking some major implications for NM Congressional District 2. The issue now is Teague voting for very big things that no one has read. Let Harry explain why those votes were so important that he would go forward without anyone on his staff reading the entire bill.
And the media should have the good graces to not look surprised when these unread bills all come crashing down.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.