"Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas is named specifically as a potential target of the organization's new agenda."
So he's the one.
Club For Growth yesterday sent out their first appeal to donate to a Democrat-- it was Henry Cuellar of Texas.
The pro-tax, pro-spend "Angry Left" is in a frenzy about a recent endorsement by the Club for Growth PAC in a congressional seat in Texas.
Before I explain what the Extreme Left is doing, let me get you up to date on what's going on.
The 28th district in Texas will be won by a Democrat -- the GOP isn't even fielding a candidate for this race. Therefore the winner of the March 7th Democratic primary (which is less than a month away) will almost certainly be the winner of the general election in November. The district's current officeholder is freshman Congressman Henry Cuellar (pronounced "QUAY-R"), a pro-growth Democrat who the Club's PAC endorsed last month.
He is running against ultra-liberal Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a former Congressman who lost this same seat to Cuellar in 2004. He's now back for a re-match.
Rodriguez got eight straight "F" grades from the National Taxpayers Union. In his final year in Congress, Rodriguez's NTU score was 11% -- even self-avowed socialist, Bernie Sanders, did better!
Rodriguez is a reliable NO vote on all the issues we care about. And he has received 100% scores from the AFL-CIO and the National Education Association, the biggest teachers' union. One union official recently said, "[Cuellar] is our No. 1 primary target in the United States."
What did Rep. Cuellar do to get organized labor and the Angry Left so upset?
He recently voted to extend the 15% tax rate on dividends and capital gains through 2010.
He supported a free trade agreement that was a top priority of the Club, President Bush, many leading business groups, and the American Farm Bureau.
He voted to repeal the Death Tax.
Liberal websites and bloggers have been pounding their readers to give money to Rodriguez and to help defeat the incumbent who they disdainfully call "Zell Cuellar" in honor of former US Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, they've raised over $100,000.
Please help us match them dollar for dollar.
Donate to Henry's Campaign
Here is some of the hot rhetoric that the Angry Left used to solicit money for Rodriguez:
"Cuellar is not a Democrat in any conceivable sense of the word. He is a Republican who is running as a Democrat because it is a Democratic District. In Revolutionary times he would have been hung as a spy."
"It's appalling that the Party has allowed [Cuellar] to run as a Democrat. Sure I know we need a Big Tent approach in some districts, but surely there's no tent big enough to accommodate an @$%# like Cuellar.
Even Rodriguez is letting his tongue fly out of control. He was quoted in a recent news report as saying "[Cuellar] has pissed off every single Democrat [in Washington]."
Donate to Henry's Campaign
As you know, the Club for Growth has a proud tradition of supporting ideas -- pro-economic growth ideas -- rather than blindly following any political party. That's why the Club's PAC has, on occasion, supported challengers to incumbents in Republican primaries.
And that same approach -- putting principles above political party -- brought us to our endorsement of Congressman Henry Cuellar in his March 7 primary.
The left wing of the Democratic Party is trying to defeat Rep. Cuellar precisely because he often votes in favor of pro-growth policies (similar to the tax cut policies that JFK promoted when he was president). We can't just sit by and let them get away unchallenged in their efforts to defeat Rep. Cuellar.
The only question here is which Democrat will serve in Congress next year -- one who has sided with the pro-economic growth agenda a significant number of times? Or one who will side with organized labor on every issue?
If you can't bring yourself to donate to a Democrat, we understand.
But please keep in mind that on many key pro-growth votes, there are plenty of so-called Republicans in Congress who won't support the policies we need to make our country prosper. Henry Cuellar has cast important votes to help some of those key policies pass. If one of Cuellar's opponents wins, our pro-growth cause will have one less friend in Congress.
The contrast between Cuellar and his opponents is as stark as any Democratic primary we've ever seen. We hope you will support Henry Cuellar's campaign today.
Donate to Henry's Campaign
If you prefer not to donate online, you can call us with your credit card ready at (800) 784-2741 or you can write a check. Please make it payable to Texans for Cuellar and send it to the address listed below.
Best Regards,
Pat