Why these "non-rerunning" announcements are NOT a good thing...

According to the Washington post , now Chris Dodd is getting ready to announce he won't run for re-election?

Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.

I know a lot of people are saying these step-downs are a good thing, but I'm still of the mind, that all these Democrats stepping down are NOT a good thing for those of us who were demanding that Congress quit passing these mammoth bills in the middle of the night to give control of our various systems over to the US govt.

As i said when I noted that Claire McCaskill has stated that she would forgo re-election if she gets these various socialist programs passed against the will of the people.   If these individual Democratic Senators and Representatives are willing to not run for re-election, then they don't have to answer to ANYONE for their votes. 

Read that again.   

"they don't have to answer to ANYONE for their votes".

These Senators and Represenatives KNOW that the general American public was opposed to TARP I.  They were opposed to the GM/Chrysler bailouts.   They were opposed to Freddie Mac and Fannie May being given UNLIMITED government resources (yeah, you guys do remember that one recently right?).  They are opposed to ObamaCare.


What has been the American public's driving force when it comes to fighting the passage of these bills?

"You vote for {Insert mammoth program here} and we will vote you out of office!"  The Congressmen/Senators may (even if just for a moment) have a second thought about losing their cushy government position, as they get thrown out of office, so they back down (if even in a small amount), or they agree to a watered down (albeit still bad) version of the original plan.

What happens now?

The American Public informs Senator/Congressmen X, saying 'If you vote for {Insert mammoth program here}, we'll vote you out of office.".   Now what?   The Congressmen/Senator can now say "I'm not running for office".   

Uhoh... Where's the consequences for their votes now? 

THERE ISN'T ONE!

These individuals still get all their perks of their soon-to-be former govt. position... they're exempted from any laws they've passed.. and the rest of us are screwed, with absolutely no recourse.  

Let's not forget, i9t's a lot easier to get something passed in Congress than to get it revoked/removed.

That means they can vote however they want, whatever way they want, and public-be-damned.  (this is one of my primary arguments against imposing term limits on Congress.)   They're not coming back, so what the hell, let's get the rest of our socialist agenda pushed through...

Illegal Immigrant Amensty?   Yep, I'm voting for it...
Cap-n-Trade?  Yep, I'm voting for it...
There's that nasty reconciliation vote for ObamaCare.. Yep, gotta get that through before I step down..

And there's absolutely nothing you can do to me to stop me!  Because I won't have to answer to you this time around...

Before we start celebrating this as a "plus" for conservatives, just remember, A)   there is no consequences for their vote.. and B)  Democrats could put in a completely "new" liberal and say "see, no baggage!  I won't vote for {socialist agenda item} like {insert Sen/Rep name here}" and the general uniformed independant voter will bite hook, line, and sinker... (and even the few outraged Democrats voters will go for it, as they can say "I was opposed to Big Govt Senator, but I think this new Democrat will be betterm and I don't have to cross party lines".)

So again, these retirements are NOT a good thing for conservatives...