Ed Markey resisted the blandishments of the House Democratic leadership when they were trolling for votes for Sequestration in August, 2011. When push came to shove, Ed voted no; he voted against the Sequester. His conservative opponent in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate primary, Stephen Lynch, of course, went with the herd-- with Hoyer, Israel, Crowley AND Boehner, Cantor, Ryan-- to vote for Sequestration.
It's part of a pattern and we've seen it more recently when Alan Grayson and Mark Takano asked their colleagues to sign a letter to President Obama assuring him that “we will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits-- including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need.” Ed Markey signed onto the letter. Lynch of course, didn't. [UPDATE: the day after we posted this page, Stephen Lynch became the first and only conservative to sign the Grayson-Takano letter. He hasn't figured out a way to go back in time and change his vote in favor of the Sequester though. Lets keep hammering away!]
As Grayson explained, "With the Norquist pledge, the Republicans have lined up on the side of millionaires, billionaires and multinational corporations. With our No Cuts pledge, we are lined up on the side of seniors, sick people, and poor people. We are comforting the afflicted, and they are comforting the comfortable."
We need more leaders like Alan Grayson, Mark Takano and Ed Markey. If you can, please consider contributing to their election campaigns.