Letter to the editor: Rep. Daines should follow Jesus' lead

Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My comments in bold.
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Jerrold Johnson has made frequent appearances in the Chronicle, and because of his persistent logical shortcomings, in the pages of Mountain Man Trails as well.
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I’m told Steve Daines is a caring man, that he taught Bible Study Fellowship here in Bozeman and is a committed Christian. (Dr. Johnson begins by evaluating Daines' faith.) 

This puzzles me because as our congressman he has voted over 40 times to end the Affordable Care Act – ostensibly to “protect Montana families and lower medical costs.” (Daines has been in office for about a year. There is no possible way that he could have participated in all these votes, which stretch back to when ACA was passed. But more to the point, this persistent falsehood has taken on a life of its own by sheer repetition. How many times have we heard that the Republicans have voted to repeal the ACA 33 times, 37 times, 40 times? The fact is, there have been 4 or 5 successful votes in the House to repeal the entire bill. The balance of the votes have been to modify poorly written provisions. Some of these amendments were offered by Democrats. 

Prior to that, during the time leading up to the passage of ACA, every single modification of the bill offered by the Republicans was shot down. The intent by the Democrats was clear: The bill was going to be passed as-is, whether by hook or crook, deception, wee hours of the morning, promise anything to anyone [Bart Stupak, anyone?], whatever it took. Of course the Republicans opposed it, but that is completely irrelevant. The Republicans were [and are] powerless to affect the ACA. They don't have the Senate or the Presidency.)

This last according to his ad paid for by Americans for Prosperity (founded by the Koch brothers, oil billionaires who have spent millions to defeat the Care Act). I have yet to hear of his or any Republican’s compassion (A persistent meme for the Left. They believe opposing government programs is the same thing as being in favor of the problem. Sir, a government program is not synonymous with compassion. Government cannot be compassionate. People are compassionate. If you want to help people, sir, get out your checkbook and help. Stop expecting other people to pay for your compassion.)

for covering the millions of Americans suffering, medically and financially, without health care. (He hasn't heard of any, so there must not have been any. Is this correct, Dr. Johnson? If you awake from a coma, having been unaware of your surroundings, does that mean nothing happened? Your lack of awareness simply points to your ignorance. Many, many proposals have been offered over the years and decades and summarily shot down. The Left doesn't want alternatives. They never have. They want their way.) 

If he wants to offer a plan, perhaps he should push for universal Medicaid-Medicare, anything if he has a better idea. (So if Daines opposes ACA, he ought to support even more government? This is the pink unicorns world of the Leftist mind. The only choices we have are big government programs or even bigger government programs.)

He went to Congress to help create jobs, but voted to shut down the government, which cost jobs and cost the nation $24 billion. (This is a boilerplate accusation leveled by every single one of Daines' critics. It's like they go to some website and download a list of talking points, rearrange them into a letter, and send it off to the Chronicle. 

Complicating matters is the complete fiction of nearly everything Dr. Johnson says. First, because neither the President nor Congress would budge, they both are responsible for the government shutdown. Second, there is no evidence the shutdown cost anything. Third, this may be the first time someone from the Left has been concerned how much something costs.

The real problem with the shutdown is that no one noticed. It impacted no one, except for those artificially created situations at national parks. This is the terror of the Left, that government doesn't provide something and no one cares. In their governo-centric world, shutting down the government is tantamount to ending life as we know it.) 

He seems callous to the fact that one in six Americans is on the edge of hunger with 19 million children involved. (I sincerely doubt that Dr. Johnson has any evidence that Daines is callous. I'm almost sure that he did not talk to Daines, research him, or ascertain his charitable activities. In short, Dr. Johnson could not know Daines' heart. His sole measurement of Daines' callousness is how much Daines supports spending other peoples' money.) 

In voting against extension of jobless benefits he is hurting people who are unable to work because there are no jobs. (Dr. Johnson, why are there no jobs after 5 years of Obama's laser-like focus on the economy, 6 trillion of additional debt, bailouts, stimuli, and jobs programs? But then at the same time Obama claims to have created over 4 million jobs. I wish these guys would get their story straight.) Perhaps he’s not aware that many of these people are veterans, many of whom are injured, suffer PTSD or both.

If he truly is Christian, perhaps some empathy would help. (This ought to grate on any thinking person. He presumes to judge the propriety of Daines' religion, which is bad enough. But his benchmark is how willing Daines is to increase the size of government, increase spending of money it does not have, and ironically, do even more of what is keeping our economy in depression. This is insane.)

A start would be following Jesus’ lead in treatment of the sick, the poor and the disenfranchised, an ever growing segment of our population who have yet to benefit from the trickle down theory of Ronald Reagan perpetuated by the Republican Party. (I'm reeling. Reagan hasn't been in office for decades. Yet somehow it's Reagan's fault, despite the fact we've had two Democratic presidents in office since, including The One who would save us from the eeevil rich. Except for a brief time during the Bush administration, Democrats have controlled government. their economic policies have dominated the political process for 80 years. And economic inequality has skyrocketed since Obama assumed office. 

Yet Dr. Johnson would blame trickle down? Really? And by the way, Dr. Johnson has touted the compassion and efficacy of government programs throughout his letter. Therefore, he is in favor of trickle down himself, but only if the trickling comes from government. His assertions are truly astounding. It's amazing to me that someone could be so completely unaware.) 

Thirty years of the rich getting richer and the poor, poorer would suggest a change in direction would benefit us all. (Whaa? We've had "hope and change" for five years! We wait in vain for this "change in direction." 

Dr. Johnson, has Obama just assumed office? 

This is truly astonishing, but it's the way the Left thinks. Every problem requires a new solution, because there is no history, except of course for eeevil Republican history. Nothing has been done before. Today is a new day, requiring new programs, more spending, and bigger government, because there are no existing remedies in operation.

This is why there are 80+ government programs to alleviate hunger. This is why new gun control regulations are being proposed. This is why unemployment benefits are continually extended. Because yesterday's "government compassion" is so, well, yesterday. We need even more of what didn't work yesterday, because it will work today, and people are hurting and oppressed and trodden over. Something must be done!)

Jerrold E. Johnson

Bozeman