April 6^th

 

Today we’ll look at our local Congressional Representative Dr. Dan Benishek. “Dr. Dan” as he refers to himself in his publicity efforts, is a third term Congressman from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Before taking up politics he was a surgeon employed in various places and for a considerable time as a physician working for the Veteran’s Administration.

When Dr. Dan was initially campaigning for his Congressional seat he claimed that he would not serve more than three terms in Congress. Now, however, he has changed his mind and plans to seek a fourth term. He claims that there is much legislative work he still wants to do. He isn’t specific about exactly what that is although he has ranted continuously against “Obama Care;” if he plans to stay in Congress until that’s repealed he may be there for a while.

One of his favorite complaints is the many failures of the Veteran’s Administration. Certainly the administration of that agency is a disgrace and Dr. Dan, as a physician, claims he has the expertise to do something about it. Perhaps so; but Dr. Dan also claims to have been employed as a VA physician for many years; what effort did he make to change things while he was there?  Physicians usually have considerable clout, particularly surgeons. Did Dr. Dan really have to wait until he was in Congress to realize the VA’s shortcomings and try to change them?

Then there is the Farm Bill which he voted for; this piece of pork provided, for the first time, subsidies for peanut growers and rice farmers. It also cut the funds available for food stamps, cut them by a lot. I’m not familiar with any peanut growers or rice farmers in Dr. Dan’s district; but there are a lot of people in his district who rely on food stamps. I wonder if Dr. Dan knows any of these folks.

Dr. Dan (who is usually pictured in a white lab coat) is a social conservative as well as a fiscal conservative. He is convinced that life begins at conception and is opposed to abortion. In fact he supported a bill to outlaw any information about abortion in sex education classes. This means that fifteen-year-old kids will get their knowledge about abortion from what reliable source?  There isn’t much doubt that a fertilized ovum is alive; all cells in the body are alive except those being sloughed off. The critical issue is whether this fertilized cell is a human being. If it is then I guess all acorns are oak trees!

Maybe it’s time Dr. Dan retired.  Florida is said to be just delightful this time of year.