Federal government: September 2009 Archives

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http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2009/guide/38405-1.html?page=4

"Roll Call", the newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, recently listed U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, as a member of the "obscure caucus." Roll Call uses that designation for congress members, Republican or Democrat, who aren't well-known to the general public.

I suspect that's just fine with Platts. As Roll Call notes, the designation is more about soptlight-shunners than nobodies -- "workhorses, not showhorses." And whether they like him or not, few people would describe Platts' style as flashy or self-aggrandizing.

Of course, you could argue that Platts does seek the spotlight in one respect. He always makes a point of grabbing an aisle seat that gets him on TV during presidential addresses.

He was eminently visible shaking hands with Barack Obama before the presidential inauguration. He did the same thing at Obama's address on health care. When I watched the speech with my Dad, I got to point at the screen and say "Hey! I know that guy!"

Personally, I don't see any contradiction there. I'm under the impression that Platts just gets a charge out of actually being there in the room during presidential addresses, and shaking hands with the president.

I certainly can't criticize him for that. I think half the reason I'm still in the field of journalism after two decades is because I still get a kick out of walking into a store or passing a box on the street, and seeing my name there on the front page.

The folks on the news desk forwarded me an e-mail today from a local resident. He raises a pretty interesting point.

I recently interviewed local Congressman Todd Platts, who told me he disapproves of the people shouting about proposed health care changes at public meetings, and he believes differences of opinion on the issue should be voiced in a "mannerly, respectful way."

Yet Platts, like his fellow Republicans, voted against a House resolution rebuking U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson for his now famous (infamous?) shout of "You lie!" during President Obama's address on health care.

Yeah, you could argue that it's contradictory. But I'm willing to cut Platts some slack on this one.

To use an analogy, I could honestly say that I disapprove of a colleague's snide comment to another co-worker during an office meeting. Yet I could still believe the colleague who made the comment doesn't deserve an official letter of reprimand from the boss -- particularly if he already apologized, as Wilson has done repeatedly.

So what do you think? Am I being too lenient? Feel free to weigh in with comments.

I just got this press release from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. It's kinda weird.

I'm not exactly sure what the nature of President Obama's offense is. The implication seems to be that he grossly insulted the hard-working men and women of our great Commonwealth by failing to stop by a monster truck show or something while he was in town for a Specter fundraiser.

And is it me, or is it a bit early to be talking about "last ditch" efforts in Specter's attempts to get re-elected NEXT FREAKIN YEAR?