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ADT Home Security in Virginia

Rick Boucher Ad Defines "Non Sequitur"

by: lowkell

Wed Sep 01, 2010 at 18:04:26 PM EDT


According to Merriam Webster, "non sequitur" can be defined as "a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said." Well, Merriam Webster's got nothing on Rick Boucher, who provides a perfect, video definition of "non sequitur" in this ad.

So, let's get this straight: Rick Boucher has Southwest Virginia values, and "that's why he voted against the health care law" and is "a leader in the bipartisan effort to balance the budget." There's just one problem with that reasoning, namely that the health care law and increased federal spending both disproportionately help relatively low-income, net-recipient-of-federal-money areas like Southwest Virginia. Also, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics illustrates, Southwest Virginia has among the highest unemployment rates (11.3% in Radford City, 11.6% in Smyth County, 11.4% in Grayson County, 11.2% in Patrick County, etc.) in the Commonwealth. How would cutting back on federal spending or making it harder for people to get health care coverage improve conditions in this region?  It wouldn't; hence, the non sequitur.  

lowkell :: Rick Boucher Ad Defines "Non Sequitur"
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Non sequitur (0.00 / 0)
Boucher's argument is that the Federal Health care plan would ultimately result in the closing of rural hospitals in SW Va.  Whether that's true or not, that's the argument and while that's not said in the ad, again, that's his reasoning.  And sure I was disappointed that he didn't vote for the health care plan, but in what will be his closest race in probably 10 years or more, a vote supporing it would have perhaps resulted in his losing this race.  No doubt he knew the bill would pass, so he was given a "pass" to vote NO, to save his seat.  It's just practical raw politics and nothing more.

I find it very hard to believe (0.00 / 0)
that healthcare reform will really "result in the closing of rural hospitals."  Sounds to me like Boucher just wanted a semi-plausible excuse to justify voting "no" on legislation he almost certainly agreed with on the merits, but needed to vote "no" for "raw politics and nothing more." At one level, I can respect that. At another level, I just see it as cynical and dishonest. Ah, politics...

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[ Parent ]
True (4.00 / 1)
I also on one level can respect Rick Boucher voting "for raw politics and nothing more." After all, if Boucher felt that a majority of his constituents were opposed to the health care bill, then a "no" vote would be an example of representative democracy at work. On another level, I long for politicians with the courage to take a principled stand when constituents don't understand their own best interests and then dare to vote principle and try to educate constituents (example: Tom Perriello).  

[ Parent ]
He Does Represent His Constituency (0.00 / 0)
and has that duty and responsibility.

But I'd rather have a Kaine who says he'll follow the will of the people, though he disagrees with, say, the death penalty (albeit the law is an easier standard than the will of the people).

I am not seeing that kind of straight forwardness with the electorate in this case.  


[ Parent ]
Disagree. (0.00 / 0)
"Representing" doesn't mean blindly following the passions of the moment, whether something's popular or not.  In this case, supporting health care reform would be truly "representing" the 9th CD, as it would be standing up for what's best for the vast majority (99% or so) of people who live in that district.  

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[ Parent ]
Several rural Senators and Congressman said, during the health insurance/pharma give away, (0.00 / 0)
that the biggest challenge to good health care for their citizens was the inadequate Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements for rural docs and hospitals causing docs to relocate to suburbia and hospitals to lose money. The infamous "Nebraska pay-off" was driven by this issue.  The hir bill did not change that dynamic.

[ Parent ]
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The purpose of Blue Virginia is to cover Virginia politics from a progressive and Democratic perspective. This is a group blog and a community blog. We invite everyone to comment here, but please be aware that profanity, personal attacks, bigotry, insults, rudeness, frequent unsupported or off-point statements, and "trolling" (NOTE: that includes outright lies, whether about climate science, or what other people said, or whatever) are not permitted and, if continued, will lead to banning. For more on trolling, see the Daily Kos FAQs. Also note that diaries may be deleted if they do not contain at least 2 solid paragraphs of original text; if not, please use the comments section of a relevant diary. For more on writing diaries, click here. Thanks, and enjoy!

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