Donny Come Lately

November 6, 2009: Just like many a prisoner on death row in their final hours, Alaska's lone Congressman has found religion. Or in this case, the gospel of fiscal responsibility.

Yesterday in Washington D.C., Young attended a rally against the Health Care legislation proposed by Congressional Democrats. While it's not hard to find reasons to oppose this legislation, Young's comments embody why this country is in such a mess and why 52% of Americans in a recent Rasmusson poll say that our best days are behind us.

During the rally, Young, who has served 35 years in Congress, including 12 years in the majority from 1994-2006 as a powerful committee chair with the power to curtail government spending, prattled on about the huge debt the country is rapidly accumulating.

According to the Anchorage Daily News article written by Erika Bolstad, "This country's in bad shape right now," Young said after the rally, a sentiment echoed by many in the crowd. "That's because we're not producing, we're buying oil from abroad, we've got these pie-in-the-sky policy changes that may work someday, but let's do it in a gradual way, but no, they want to do it right now. We have a high unemployment rate and we have this huge debt. I don't think we can continue what we're doing and survive in the long run."

While many might try to reason this away, Congressman Young did not just show up at the party. In fact he's been partying for decades at taxpayers expense.

Between 1994 and 2006, with Young in the majority and the ability to stop runaway spending as a member of the Republican leadership, he refused to. In fact he didn't seem to give a damn about the "huge debt" that rose from $4.6 trillion to over $9 trillion while he was in control of spending.

Too bad Young wasn't concerned about the "huge debt" in 2005 when he crowed that as chairman of the House Transportation Committee he stuffed the appropriations bill "like a turkey." This included the infamous Coconut Road money that would have benefited a campaign donor that no one, including Chairman Young, has offered taxpayers any answer about how it got into the bill after the bill had been approved.

A stuffed turkey indeed.

What is amazing about Young's insincere comments yesterday is his concern about the financial condition of the country. In 2005, the country was engaged in two expensive wars, deficits were accumulating faster than snow on the Chugach mountains in December but yet Young seemed completely unconcerned about who was going to pay for his runaway spending.

Now who's the turkey that's getting stuffed?

Taxpayers, that's who.

And while Young plays the populist about defeating health care reforms, Medicare, the government's health care program for seniors, is projected to be bankrupt by 2017.

At 76, Young has been on Medicare for twelve years, including eight years he was in leadership. So why didn't he do anything to help put the program on stable fiscal course? Because with Young's Congressional position, he hasn't had to worry about finding a primary care physician that most Alaskans on Medicare currently do.

In addition, while collecting a government paycheck for the last three decades, Young has never had to worry like my company and many other Alaskan small businesses about affording health care coverage for our employees. Premiums have skyrocketed over the past few years and there is no end in sight.  

Only Young would have the nerve to stand up and rail against runaway government spending after he helped push American taxpayers over the cliff.

Donny come lately or dead man walking. Take your pick.