Is Ron Wyden a "right winger" who is "not true to Democratic values?"

[WheelWalker]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/100219313

You tell me what you think, please.

[jannyk]

2. No. Wyden is way Left of Center.

[WheelWalker]

3. +1

[housewolf]

4. Certainlly not up until now

He's been one of the most reliable progressives/liberals in the Congress

Can't speak as to what he's up to now.

[trueblue2007]

5. THE PLAN HE CAME UP WITH ... WITH RYAN IS HORRIBLE

say NO to Wyden linking Medicare with that JERK Paul Ryan. the plan STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN. (In The Wall Street Journal, Senator Ron Wyden & Congressman Paul Ryan introduce a plan to allow private plans to directly compete with traditional Medicare to lower costs & spur innovation.) insurance companies will NEVER offer better plans than Medicare. Seniors and the rest of us will be hurt by this worse than medicare plan. THANKS RON FOR STABBING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE BACK. I won't suppor you AGAIN Sen Wyden if you go down this road.

[cascadiance]

6. Yep, he shouldn't be hanging out with this other brother of the Koch brothers...

[cascadiance]

8. I wonder if his recent operation for prostate cancer has anything to do with this...

He got it right after the 2010 election a year ago as noted here... He had surprised people then with the announcement of this surgery. I wonder if there's something else health-wise that's lingering in the background with him now that is making him more "buyable" by the private health insurers...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/ron-wyden-prostate-cancer_n_797969.html

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/wyden-to-be-released-from-hospital-today/

[WheelWalker]

9. Yikes,

I thought you were probably referring to "chemo-brain". I would hope he will come to explain this move as a rational tactic; certainly his record on behalf of us geezers is long and honorable up to now.

[Ken Burch]

11. Then again, he was an active opponent of the "public option"

as early as 2009, so I don't think it's that.

I wonder if it's some weird, late-career squeamishness about getting called "socialist" or something? That sometimes hits liberal politicians and makes them start dialing their liberalism back big-time. It's strange that that should come up with Wyden, since he was solidly re-elected in 2010 and has no reason to think he faces any serious threat of defeat if he stands for another term in 2016. The Oregon GOP simply isn't producing candidates who are electable in statewide races anymore.

[0rganism]

10. on many issues, he's well to the left of mainstream "Democratic values"

Medicare just doesn't happen to be one of them

[Ken Burch]

12. It's odd that that would be the case

Since, as a founder of the Oregon Gray Panthers, Wyden started is activist career organizing seniors to defend Medicare against right-wing attack.

[0rganism]

13. Beyond odd, really

He seems like a truly caring, intelligent progressive 99% of the time. Then every once in a while he just pops something like this out that goes against everything you might have thought he believed in.

I'm thinking maybe the Bavarian Illuminati hit him with their orbital mind-control lasers. I've also heard that he may have a post-senate job lined up at an east-coast insurance company, so he's decided to give up on America's future and just plan ahead for his own. Still, that's not enough to rule out the lasers...