The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that of the 219 U.S. Representatives who voted for the final health care reform legislation earlier this year, only 3 of them - Democrats Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, Steve Israel of New York and Dina Titus in Nevada, are running ads boasting of their support of such a measure.
And only 1 senator - the extremely vulnerable Russ Feingold, Democrat from Wisconsin, is doing so in his campaign.
Of course, there's only one Democratic member of Congress in the immediate Tampa Bay area. That would be Hillsborough County's Kathy Castor, who has not broadcast any television ads, but has been an outspoken supporter of the legislation throughout the year.
But when we looked at the Congresswoman's campaign website's home page, there's nary a word about health care . See below:
Our Champion to Protect Jobs and Fight Oil Drilling close to Florida beaches - Kathy Castor will hold BP accountable for the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. She is one of Florida's most effective advocates for tourism and the environment.
- Wall Street Reform - Representative Castor strongly supports Wall Street reform, which means holding Wall Street accountable; protecting jobs and savings; helping small business owners; fighting for consumer protection; and eliminating taxpayer bailouts. Kathy passed legislation to protect consumers from risky practices used by banks and credit card companies that contributed to the economic collapse. She is an outspoken advocate for greater transparency and you can count on her to stand up for you instead of the big banks. Castor also voted against the WallStreet Bailout under President Bush.
- Making College More Affordable - Kathy Castor helped pass landmark student aid reforms to invest in our colleges and universities. Congresswoman Castor worked to increase access to higher education by voting for the expansion of Pell grants and student loans.
- Veterans, Medicare and Social Security - Kathy will fight to strengthen the commitment to our older neighbors. Some Republican leaders in Congress seek to undermine our country's promise of security to older Americans. Kathy Castor will stand tall to turn back such harmful policies.
- Middle Class Tax Cuts - Kathy is on the side of middle class families. Congresswoman Castor voted to cut taxes for middle class families to boost our community and the local economy. Tax refunds for middle class families reached record levels this year!
There's nothing about the stimulus in there as well, though the Congresswoman has made numerous appearances over the last year in front of organizations that were the recipients of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
It's not hard to decipher. Both the stimulus and the health care bill, major pieces of legislation, may at one point be looked on favorably by Americans, but currently that's absolutely not the case. So it certainly isn't surprising that Democrats are being low-key about those votes.
