Apparently, Mr. DeLay is not happy. Of his gerrymandered districts, one of the most safe - went within spitting distance of doing Democratic last november. This apparently shocked the appointed owner out of his four-year nap long enough to put a stamp on an letter to the editor which clearly was written by someone less educated than himself.
The 10th Congressional District of Texas encompasses a wide area. It's hard to understand how you could accidentally arrive at the peculiar layout it has, unless your name happens to be Tom DeLay, and you're looking for a place to stick a couple lobbyist buddies who aren't particularly talented. Tom didn't much care; he wasn't interested in people who would represent their own constituents. Hell, they didn't even need to actually get elected, they just had to have an (R), and be Loyal Bushies. They were ballast, intended to serve someone else, to be placed in "district" carved out by looking at Arbitron ratings for the Rush Limbaugh show. Forget TX-10. He's CC-1 (Clear Channel, Inc.) - and has the father-in-law to prove it.
Michael McCaul is concerned that "the government" might be telling your doctor how to spot a widespread illnesss, suggesting cost-effective treatments - or even spotting ineffective or dangerous treatments. He knows "the government" can't be trusted with that responsibility. The only people who can are the pharmaceutical companies, drug reps, insurance lawyers, and other parties who have been so diligently keeping our health care costs down. When your kid has cancer, what's more important: Finding a treatment that works, or finding the treatment that gets a sponsored "lecture excursion" on the Riviera for the local sales consultant?
I'll give him credit: he doesn't actually come out and claim that Jocelyn Elders is going to personally pull the plug on your sainted grandmother and sell her body to the Taliban as a suicide-vest tailor's model, but he drops a hint about as subtle as a freight train. He also warns against the use of "fear-based politics". God Forbid.
...Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are bent on taking advantage of this crisis and manipulating the fears of American taxpayers to their own ends.
Rep. McCaul's committee assignments have given him a national responsibility for homeland security and scientific advancement. In this capacity, he has worked tirelessly to redirect the FBI from investigating unimportant trivia like mortage scams, fraudulent homebuilders, and predatory insurers. No sirree, he wanted "the government" investigating the Real Danger, which, by definition, comes from people who wear turbans or sandals, not people who wear wingtips and fly Gulfstreams.
Thank God you didn't push the FBI to ask Wachovia about those "Option ARM" loans, Mike. Or Countrywide about the NINJAs. It would have emboldened the Real Terrorists, we're certain.
By absolutely amazing coincidence, Rep. McCaul's top contributors include a major financial auditing firm, and players in the mortgage brokering and real-estate development markets. Thank heavens those particular industries have been so effective as policing themselves while the nation concentrated on the Real Threat.
In 2000 and 2001, our economy was absorbing the economic impact of two huge financial fraud cases - Enron and Worldcom - and others were brewing in the wings. The major markets tumbled time and time again. The major guardians of the free market - auditors like Deloitte and Anderson, were under scrutiny. That scrutiny could have easily expanded into areas where they had covered up risks or signed off on fraudulent statements. Auditing outfits, mortgage companies, builders, and even their media outlets could take a huge bath. How do you throw reporters, investigators, the FBI, and the voters off a trail of blood?
An uninterested observer might imply that Rep. McCaul is incompetent and does little to protect - or even understand - the interests of his home district. A cynic might think that he's the only part of the DeLay investment that has actually paid dividends: A re-elected congressman who doesn't even need a speechwriter, when there's a PR release from Roche, Pfizer, AIG, Bank of America, or Perry Homes. Hell, he only campaigned in '08 because it suddenly looked like his "thousand-year GOP district" might only last two years.
And here's the biggest insult to the fine people of Texas I've seen in years, right at the closing:
Michael McCaul, a Republican, represents the 10th Congressional District of Texas.
No Sir, you do not. Not by any possible meaning of the word. You're merely the guy we got stuck with because we weren't paying close enough attention.