Will John Barrow Get Away With His Subversion Of Health Care Reform For Working Families?

On Labor Day we featured a guest post from a union millwright (AFL-CIO Local 256 in Savannah) who was fed up with his congressman's shameless tap-dancing around another in a long series of crucial issues where the district's elected Democrat creeps over to the Republican side of the aisle to vote. That would be reactionary Blue Dog John Barrow. The following day, yesterday, The Hill released a list of 23 mostly corporately-owned Democrats who have pledged to vote with the GOP against family-friendly health care reform. It didn't surprise anyone who pays attention to find Barrow on that list.

Barrow has taken a hefty $368,965 from the Medical-Industrial Complex and their lobbyists and another $82,450 from the Insurance Industry. He's counting on their to help him finance his 2010 re-election bid and has made it perfectly clear-- from his actions if not her weasely words-- that families in GA-12 take a back seat to big campaign donors.

In the past labor unions have contributed $774,700 to Barrow. This year, however, working men and women in Savannah, Augusta, Videlia, Statesboro and Milledgeville-- from Taliaferro County down to Toombs and across Chatham-- have come to realize that they've been played. And they're not going to take it any longer. GA-12 is a Democratic district. Obama may have lost Georgia 52-47% but he won in the congressional district 54-45%. His early, wrong-headed endorsement of Barrow allowed Barrow to win his primary battle against state Senator Regina Thomas and then beat his Republican opponent in the general election 66-34%. Without overwhelming support from working families, progressives, and African-Americans, Barrow wouldn't have won. But immediately after being re-elected he plopped himself down in the middle of the House Republicans and voted with them far more frequently on substantive issues than he did with the Democrats.

He's been making a play for angry white Republicans in Georgia but he's got GA-12 mixed up with the KKK-oriented, cracker-barrel district represented by Paul Broun where he lived until last year. With Barrow telling the House whips to count him as a definite "no" on health care reform, we contacted Senator Thomas to ask her about the rumors that union activists in Georgia are urging her to run again. She told us she's been discussing it with her family and supporters, We asked her to give us her own ideas about health care reform. As usual, this tough, forthright woman, who has long called herself "a public servant" rather than any kind of honorific due a public officeholder, did not hold back:

The Public option is crucial to any legislation that affects the public. This district has 114,000 uninsured individuals and according to the study put out by Rep. Barrow's own committee the bill he refused to back would entitle 94,000 of them to gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. These are my neighbors and friends, people I've served and grown up with here in GA-12. To vote for legislation that does not include some form of public option will not get America where we need to be in health-care reform. The system is broken because the public had no input in how things are now. It's always been big business first. Voting for legislation that does not include this component is "business as usual"-- which is why we are where we are in this Country concerning health-care and so many other issues. I am of the opinion that if you represent people, you must meet publicly with those that you represent, hear what they have to say, know how the changes will effect them and work towards the goal of putting others first and not yourself. If this bill passes almost 3,000 senior citizens here in the 12th will avoid the Donut Hole in Medicare Part D and over 2,000 families annually will have a fighting chance to avoid bankruptcy brought on solely by unaffordable health care costs.

I'm more interested in what happens with small businesses here in the 12th than I am with Insurance Industry giants. Here in this district 13,800 small businesses, the backbone of our local economy, would receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees. Big business can take care of themselves-- but who will look out for the little people, the working class and the small entrepreneurs-- those whose shoulders we stand on, those who have worked hard for little of nothing, still to be trampled on by those who would rather deceive you than to tell you the truth. Given the opportunity to meet with those whom one represents is what democracy is all about. Good bad or indifferent the public has the right to know and to be involved and to have their say. To do less than that is truly unAmerican.

This sure sounds like we're going to have a fighting grassroots progressive running against one of the worst Blue Dogs in America.