Mayor Frank Gilbert's Letter to Sen. Lincoln

Mayor Frank Gilbert of mighty Tull Arkansas is a sometimes contributor to Arkansas Watch.
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Dear Senator Lincoln:
I don’t agree with your vote today. I understand it, though. I understand that you have to protect your position in the Democrat Party’s leadership. I understand what you owe your party and the president. I understand why you were unwilling to take the heat from them that a “no” vote would have cost you.

I know that you believe you can spin your vote so that folks back home will overlook it. I saw you doing that before you cast the vote. Disingenuous is the best spin I can put on your performance. Your insinuation that the only way to have a discussion of health care was to force closure on this bill at this time was trite, contrived and I hope someone else wrote it for you because it made you look very partisan and a little silly.

Of course you and I both know it was a lie and we both know why you told it. Unfortunately only one of us is ashamed of you for it.

The Byzantine nature of politics these days will give you opportunities to make up for it. Now that you have placated the Powerful Folk that you deal with in Washington I hope you will find ways to protect those of us who are not so powerful here at home.

Before you voted you talked about the dangers of government run health and the public option. I know you understand the nightmare of publicly funded abortion that is being advanced by your vote today. I’m certain you are fully cognizant of the dramatic cuts that seniors will face if the current bill is adopted. It is just as certain that you know those cuts will never come about and that the whole idea is just a ruse to keep the Congressional Budget Office figures looking good. I’m sure you know what that kind of creative bookkeeping will do to long term debt and to future generations of taxpayers.

You have cast your first lot with your party and the Powerful Folk. I can only hope that in future votes you will be a strong voice ensuring that the public option will not inflict its potential harm on our health system. That you will work to ensure that my tax money is not used to provide abortion on demand. That you will help likeminded members of both parties in both House and Senate to make sure that health care reform doesn’t bankrupt our country or burden generations of taxpayers with untenable debt.

All I can do is hope. I have no way of affecting your votes on this matter. All any of us back here in Arkansas can do is hope and pray that your allegiances to party and power are not as strong as they appear today. That is all we can do until November 2, 2010.

Respectfully,


Mayor Frank Gilbert

Tull, AR 72015