I grew up in southwest Michigan, in a district that elected Fred Upton (R) in 1987. He’s been the Representative for Michigan’s 6th district ever since. Since I still have family and therefore an interest in the happenings in the district, I get regular emails from Rep. Upton. The latest one came this afternoon and there were some very dubious claims made.
The subject line reads ‘Holding Government Accountable’.
The email opens:
Dear Friend,
Mr. Upton, the people who subscribe to your email list are not your friends. They are your constituents, and they subscribe to your list because they want to know how you’re working on their behalf. We seem to be on the same page, though. We both want government held accountable. So let’s see what you have to say about that.
Unfortunately, 2014 was not a great year for government accountability. From the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups, uncovering a dysfunctional Veterans Administration, and the truth about Obamacare coming from one of the law’s chief architects – there is no doubt we have a lot of work to do.
It seems I have a lot work to do, trying to unravel that yarn ball of lies that Upton calls an opening paragraph. Bill Maher calls them
‘Zombie Lies’ because once they are stated by Fox News as fact the lie will never die. You will hear it uttered forevermore by Uncle Bob at Thanksgiving.
Let’s start with the old IRS targeting conservative groups lie. Even Darrell Issa had to release a report saying this wasn’t a real thing, yet here’s a U.S. Representative still repeating this in an official email from his office.
As for the VA; If Upton thinks this was just uncovered, I’ve got to ask what the hell he’s been doing for his entire career in congress. Dangerously long wait times were first discovered in 2003 under Bush, but VA issues have been around since its inception.
Finally, he brings up the newest lie about the Obamacare case which the Supreme Court will rule on soon. Even republicans admit this case is ridiculous.
The email goes on to talk about how his committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has public hearings. Real ground-breaking things, for sure.
So, sorry Mr. Upton, if I don’t buy your attempt to show how accountable you want to be. Someone who trots out tired old lies, and adds a new one to boot, cannot be serious about government accountability. If you were really accountable to anyone you wouldn’t continue to lie to your constituents.