The Vitter Amendment

We’re in the midst of a political civil war. The Republicans threw all their marbles in to stop health care and the major battle was lost, barely. It has only caused their angst and blood pressure to skyrocket and the best they can do now is hope for a miracle or cause as much collateral damage as possible. The next battle is the Senate where the Democrats have the votes to pass health care reform and it will be law as long as there are no changes in the Senate otherwise its back to the House for even more entertainment.

What the Republicans can do is hamstring the procedure in the Senate and pile on hundreds of Amendments which have to all be voted down by the Democrats no matter what it says. The long term objective is to use these ‘no’ votes as campaign fodder for November.

To show they have no shame they have chosen Sen. David Vitter from Louisiana to present an Amendment that would ban convicted sex offenders from being able to get a prescription for Viagra which is an eminently sensible idea. For those not in the know, Sen. Vitter was caught up in the “D.C. Madam” scandal a few years ago. It was also revealed that he spent a lot of his spare time consorting with professional women in New Orleans where they definitely like to party. So much so that he had a nickname, “Vitter the last name rhymes with Vitter and begins with an S”. I have to add that this has never been proven although a couple of ladies did bear witness, unofficially.

For more background sleaze

Sen. Vitter was also a sponsor in the Senate of Abstinence Only campaigns which used a lot of taxpayer money to accomplish absolutely nothing. Vitter apologized to his wife, his fellow Senators, to his constituents and to God. Like a good repentant Christian he was forgiven.

Contrast that with Elliot Spitzer, the former Governor of New York who was caught up in a high priced call girl ring of his own. Prior to being Governor he was the Attorney General for New York and did an excellent job going after corporate crime on Wall Street and elsewhere. He too, begged for forgiveness and while his wife forgave, him the people of New York did not. It’s a pity because he is smart, dedicated and personable and could one day have run for President. I wonder what Spitzer rhymes with. I’d rather not think about it.