Ben Lujan Gets Specific Where Others Dawdle
Yesterday, we examined the indecisive approach taken by U.S. Representative Dina Titus and her 2010 challengers for the 3rd district seat in Nevada. Titus seemed incapable of taking a concrete stand for any particular program for health care reform, preferring to make vague statements about general principles that would be difficult for anyone to disagree with.
It would be easy to presume that such evasiveness is inherent to the political profession, and dismiss all members of Congress as being impossible to nail down. It would be easy, but it would also be inaccurate. The fact is that other members of Congress are willing to commit to particular programs, putting their political position at stake instead of waiting it out in order to play it safe.
Ben Lujan, for example, a new U.S. Representative from New Mexico, has strongly supported a public option as a central aspect of health care reform. He’s stayed with that position all summer long, no matter how loudly Republicans shouted at him. Lujan supported that position because it’s what his constituents want.
Lujan writes, plainly, “In his speech, the President emphasized choice, competition, and cost effectiveness–and I believe that those goals can best be achieved by a public option. This is what I have been saying throughout this process, and I am going to keep fighting to make sure that a public option is included.”
There’s no uncertainty about where Lujan stands. Can you say the same about your own member of the House of Representatives?
