Posted on 09/17/2004 6:31:49 PM PDT by Fledermaus
Letters to the Editor
September 17, 2004
A painful decision To the Editor:
Much to the distress of many of my fellow Republicans, I must make the following observation - George W. Bush does not deserve reelection. Being that I am the Republican candidate for the 5th congressional district this statement carries an extremely high political price for me.
Iraq clearly was not the threat the White House made it out to be. He knew the evidence for Saddam's nuclear weapons program was extremely tenuous at best. Bush went to Iraq because he wanted to, not because he had to.
The President continues to claim his invasion to be a stabilizing force within the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. Conditions in Iraq are steadily spiraling downward. Civil war is inevitable. Despite all the good intentions, hard work and spilled blood from our military, chaos will spread throughout the Middle East.
Domestically his administration has done no better. He has cut taxes without reducing spending, thereby guaranteeing a tax increase on a future generation. His Medicare prescription drug bill cost much more than he claimed and in the end will net billions for the pharmaceutical industry while offering no real relief for senior citizens. The federal debt is skyrocketing. Good paying middle class job continue to be replaced with minimum wage jobs. His energy policy does not acknowledge the fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource that must be replaced by renewable resources. He continues to ignore the financial calamity facing the social security system.
I see no hope with John Kerry. I believe him to be a political opportunist whose policies are determined by the direction of the political winds.
I honestly don't know what I'm going to do on election day. The one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is that I will not vote for Bush.
Scott Knapp
But this guy is beyond a token, he's a total joke. If he were truly a Republican he'd at least do some research about the subjects he discusses and quit watching Dan Rather.
I need to counter several of his statements:
1) "Iraq clearly was not the threat the White House made it out to be".
This is a Republican? Everyone in the federal government has called Iraq a threat since it invaded Kuwait and we knew it would be a future threat even while giving it a nod to beat up on Iran. A 1991 war, 15 UN resolutions, a decade of no-fly zones, support for terrorism, involved in the 1993 WTC bombing, etc.
He then latches onto the nuclear program. Where does this come from? Has he been duped by the MSM and Joe Wilson who LIED about those "16 words" in the State of the Union address about seeking yellow-cake in Africa (a simple fact the left turns into Niger)?
2) "The President continues to claim his invasion to be a stabilizing force within the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth".
Ah, hey there idiot, your intelligence is a lot FARTHER from the truth. What, have you spent too many years smoking pot and have no memory? Was Germany "stabilized" in the 1940's after just 18 months? Japan? South Korea?
And Civil War is "inevitable". What kind of moron running for office uses terms this concrete?
This kind of short term thinking has no business in the Republican Party. We have enough already.
3) "Domestically his administration has done no better. He has cut taxes without reducing spending, thereby guaranteeing a tax increase on a future generation".
Okay, this guy must be a Democrat plant. Did the Tennessee GOP Party clear this moron or, as is usual with the 5th district, no real Republican bothered to even run?
He clearly doesn't understand the basic facts of the tax code and that taxes and spending are NOT linked. The government unfortunately thinks it does simply because they think they have to spend every single penny they collect.
But most real Republicans know Bush cut tax rates which increases overall taxable income and raises revenue. If "cutting taxes" were the same as "cutting prices" then, according to every Democrat and some economic squishy Republicans, Wal-Mart would have gone bankrupt years ago.
Also, the lowering of the capital gains tax rate increases the pool of taxable gains and generates growth. This alone was the biggest factor, along with modest reductions in the rate of program spending growth (government NEVER actually cuts, i.e. getting less than the year before) in increasing the revenues to the Treasury that allowed the CBO and all the pinhead Congressmen to "project" a surplus of $5 trillion. This "projection" gives them ammunition to use the ridiculous rhetoric of "Bush took a $5 trillion surplus and turned it into a $5 trillion deficit".
Like they wouldn't spend even more? Once the GOP loses the fiscal responsibility issue it's toast. But Bush isn't near as bad as his daddy or Nixon in this area.
4) "His Medicare prescription drug bill cost much more than he claimed and in the end will net billions for the pharmaceutical industry..."
This is too good to pass up. While he is penning this editorial it becomes obvious he's moving down the DNC talking points delivered to him and getting more and more rhetorical. And less and less factual.
Does he hate drug companies? What's wrong with earning money? For goodness sakes, movie studios make billions; potato chip makers earn billions; etc. Where does he think all these wonder drugs come from? Thin air? Where does he think they'll come from once the idea of profit is removed from healthcare? Fairies?
The rest of his letter is full of more ridiculous statements of his opinion that he believes are concrete facts.
-- "Good paying jobs continue to be replaced with minimum wage jobs" - total crock and not even close to factual. I can't believe this guy even lives in Nashville since the city alone proves him wrong.
-- "His energy polilcy does not acknowledge the fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource that must be replaced by renewable resources" - Huh? Like the renewable hot air coming out of his mouth? So, it's now a FACT that fossil fuels are finite? Wow. I didn't know things stopped dying. I guess all that oil seeping out of cracks in the Earth's crust at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico are just finite molecules just dying for a whirl in the warm water!!
-- "He continues to ignore the financial calamity facing the Social Security system" - This proves he's not a Republican. Simply because Bush has been the ONLY Presidential candidate brave enough to "touch the third rail". And it's obvious that Mr. Knapp has yet no clue again when it comes to the fact the Social Security system is in financial ruin because it's a pyramid ponzi scheme that is destined to fail once the benefits are promised to garner political clout and the taxes to get that money are at a level that can't be raised without riots in the streets.
Bush's idea of, over time again since the system took time to get to this point, slowly allowing those of a certain age and younger can pay less to Soc Sec while still forcing them to keep the difference in a private account that is safe and diversified. It's a weaning pure and simple. As more and more workers get access to IRA's, 401-K's, etc. they well start to get more educated and will DEMAND their 6.2% for Soc Sec get invested since the government rate of return is non-existent. And if their employer (or the self-employed) didn't have to match that 6.2% it's more money to use for extra pay or investment in growth and hiring more people.
He finishes up by saying, "I don't know what I'm going to do on election day. The one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is that I will not vote for Bush".
Yeah, that's the way to get Republican support in the 5th district of Tennessee that NEVER gives the GOP even 20% of the vote. What a fool!
I sympathize, yet again, with my close friends in the 5th district. At least here in the 7th district (used to be the 6th but Steve Gill almost beat Bart Gordon in 1994 and so the Dem controlled state legislature drew new lines in 2000 so Bart wouldn't have to deal with us) we are represented by Marsha Blackburn!
Is there a conservative independent or third party?
he may not know what HE is doing on election day, but I bet the Republicans in the 5th district do ! And it ain't voting for HIM.
And the one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty, Mr. RINO, is that you will be thrashed by your rat opponent.
Can TX 'write in' a candidate?? Find someone.. get the word out, and write him in.. If you can win the district anyway, you CAN send a message to that twerp. Just a thought.
Not in that district or even the entire state as far as I know. The 5th district is overwhelmingly Democrat - mostly because it covers all of metro Nashville and is the seat of state and county government.
The Tennessee GOP sucks, sorry to say. They need to get on the ball after Sundquist and this year's congressional candidates. Ugh!
Given the 5th District that's a given no matter what. But geez, this guy must have been the only person on the primary ballot!
Write in is a great idea!
This guy actually sounds flakier than JF'n, if that's possible. Can't understand why this guy even considers himself a Republican. You can be sure he won't be getting any cash from the RNC.
Amen! One of the worst state GOP parties around. It's all social and based in Nashville and clueless.
They candidates are usually more individualistic (Fred Thompson, Bill Frist, even Lamar!) and never really "need" the party.
Sundquist was a total embarrassment. I was ashamed. But that's another difference in the two parties...Democrats will stick with their stinker to the death while we GOP folks are willing to throw our bums out.
Sundquist couldn't shove his income tax down our throats!!! So it helped get Bredesen elected - we can force him into accountability also and, so far, he's been fiscally conservative and willing to shake up the bureaucracy...if just a little.
But I'll still vote against him when he's up for reelection! lol
Is the 5th. district the Nashville district? If so, then it doesn't matter who the Republican nominee is.
I'd like to hear a little about the 4th. district, where Congressman Lincoln Davis is facing a rematch against Tullahoma Councilwoman Janice Bowling.
I hope she wins this time. Wasn't it a squeaker in 2002? And yes, the 5th district is Nashville.
But this guy is the worst even for that district!
I would be third partying in that race. Especially when he said he might vote for Kerry.
In earlier years when the district also comprised Cheatham and Robertson counties it was largely old-time yellow dog democrats like my grandparents who kept sending them to Congress. Now it is a coalition of inner-city blacks, northeastern transplants, and yuppie wannabes who control the vote. True native Nashvillians are a rarity. Hell, now I live in Sumner County and wouldn't move back to Nashville on a bet.
I'm in the 5th district (So LA Times, when you want to discover my identity, there you go) . I'll skip over this particular race. He doesn't stand a chance, anyway.
The Davis/Bowling race in 2002 was moderately close. Davis won by 52% to 46%.
Isn't Davis a Conservative Democrat. I know he Co-Sponsered the Marriage Amendment (one of only 4 democrats to do so.) And Gets and A rating from the NRA, he is also supposed to be Pro-life.
How does Bowling rate on those issues?
Janice Bowling is a strong conservative on the social issues.
I hear you...I live in Franklin!
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