Fear As A Primary Motivator

Along with many of my fellow conservatives, I have not been especially thrilled with the actions of the Republicans who currently control Congress. There is a laundry list of issues on which the stances of GOP members in "The People's House" as well as "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body" have proved disappointing. But, as this excerpt from a MoveOn.org e-mail titled "What Winning Would Mean" shows, things could be a hell of a lot worse:

Last week Debra from New York City e-mailed and asked me to write more about the difference between Republican control and Democratic control of Congress. I thought for a day or so and decided that the best way to describe this was by talking about the people who will lead when Democrats win control of the House.

Taking just the House of Representatives, here is a small slice of who will be leading:

* Nancy Pelosi--a progressive--becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.

* John Murtha--a veteran and anti-war champion--would become chair of the House subcommittee on defense appropriations. He would be in charge of the budget for the war in Iraq.

* John Conyers--who forced a national debate on the Downing Street Memos--would be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

* Henry Waxman would be chairman of the Government Reform committee--he has a bulls-eye on war profiteers like Halliburton.

* Barney Frank--who has led efforts to rein in out-of-control CEO pay--would be in charge of the Financial Services Committee.

* David Obey--who led opposition to the Republican budget--would be chair of the House Appropriations committee--protecting Medicaid, food stamps, veteran's benefits, student loans and more.

* Charles Rangel--who predicted the Medicare debacle--would be chair of the House Ways and Means committee--protecting Social Security.

* George Miller--a big advocate for working people--would be chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and could bring a vote to raise the minimum wage.

That is just a sample--six of these eight are either members or founders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Put aside for a minute any disappointment you might have in the Democrats overall--these leaders are what we'll get if we win in November. They are champions on issues we all care about.

Be afraid, be very afraid.