Some Unsolicited Advice for Lindsey Graham et al

I am thinking that some of you folks or your staff in the US House and US Senate read conservative blogs. I know. I know. You have not asked me for any advice, but that brings me to my first bit of advice.

Nancy, Harry, and Barry are not asking you for any advice. Why do you couch your speeches as though you have some good advice for them? They didn't ask for it and don't want it. Instead, you ought to just spell out what you would do yourself as what is the best action on behalf of the people. You have been making these suggestions that Nancy, Harry, and Barry need to go slower and try a more modest change in the status quo. If that is your position, and not just what you are advising for Nancy, Harry, and Barry to do, then thanks for informing me so I can work at opposing you.

The second bit of advice I have for you is do a better job of refuting the suggestion that the GOP is just a Party of No that supports doing nothing to alter the status quo. This is difficult to refute in a thirty second sound bite, but it is necessary to refute it by explaining rules to people.

The first rule that needs to be explained is that all spending bills must originate in the US House. The US House has a Rules Committee that decides which bills may be introduced on the House Floor. This Rules Committee has not allowed any GOP bills on health insurance reform to be introduced on the House Floor. There are House GOP Reps who have bills to do something instead of nothing, but they are not permitted to introduce them. Now since the US Senate can't originate a spending bill, Harry is going to pick out of all of the US Senate health insurance reform work that he likes and drop it into an existing bill passed by the US House and awaiting US Senate action. This will be the vote to watch for in the US Senate.

The final bit of advice is just try and keep your personal opinions about conservative celebrities on radio, TV, and internet to yourself. Lindsey, I don't care if you agree with Glenn Beck or not. You need to to focus your attention on who you agree or disagree with who are also serving in the US Senate or in the US House. Those are people with the power to cast votes that can have serious consequences. The attacks on conservative celebrities who do not hold office is misguided and disturbs me. Of course someone like Rush can rally conservative solidarity, but this should be appreciated instead of complained about by GOP members of the US Senate and US House.

Some may ask why don't you give some advice to some former members like Bill Frist? It is not worth the effort for me. Folks like Bill Frist do not have the vote casting power any more. The battle I choose to engage is with the folks who currently possess the vote casting power.

I don't expect any of you folks to heed my advice that you did not ask me for. I do expect that voters in the upcoming election are more engaged in looking at what you are doing and how you present yourself than they have been in a long time.