Cal Carson?letters to the editor
As a Republican and a fiscal conservative I was against bailouts from the start. But, as the last three months have passed I”ve had a growing sense of shock and dismay at the runaway spending of the executive and legislative branches at both the federal and state levels of our government and the blatant hypocrisy and corruption of the Democratic party. Let”s all take an honest look at some of the low points.
One month before the collapse of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Rep. Barney Franks (House Banking Committee) is on tape stating that the two institutions were absolutely sound. After their collapse Franks then ran a TV ad in his home state telling people how he was really looking out for them. It turns out those same institutions were huge contributors to Mr. Franks” campaign. And, let”s not forget Chris Dodd (House Banking Committee). Dodd received what can only be called a sweetheart mortgage from one of those institutions. When questioned about it he claimed he wasn”t aware that he had received preferential treatment. The man sits on the House Banking Committee; he”s either lying or he”s incompetent. And, let”s not forget the A.I.G. bonus scandal, with all the feigned outrage from both sides of the aisle. It was Dodd who stuck in the provision that guaranteed those bonuses would be paid and then denied knowledge of the provision. By the way Freddie, Fanny and A.I.G. were major contributors to his campaign.
Now, lets move on to President Obama”s cabinet selections. The most aggrieving was his selection of Tim Geithner for treasury secretary. The man in charge of the I.R.S. didn”t even pay his own taxes. And, of course, he wasn”t the only selection with tax issues ? a short list of those includes Bill Richardson Governor of New Mexico (by the way he”s under investigation for corruption), Tom Daschle and others, unnamed for the sake of brevity, who bowed out due to tax issues? Meanwhile, Vice President Joe (I can”t get my foot out of my mouth) Biden is telling America that it”s a patriotic duty to pay higher taxes.
Then, closer to home, we have Nancy Pelosi and her truth committee. Careful Nancy, you might get what you wish for. Does anybody really believe her version of the intelligence briefings given to the House Intelligence Committee about enhanced interrogation techniques? Again, she”s either lying or her mind is going. Neither of those options is acceptable for the Speaker of the House. And, who can forget Nancy and her staff”s jaunt, at taxpayer expense, to Rome so she could set the Pope straight about Catholic doctrine.
On to the Democratic Party itself. It has long since stopped being the party of F.D.R. and J.F.K. It is controlled by far-left zealots. And, it truly amazes me that for a party whose mantra is diversity and tolerance it has become so absolutely intolerant of opinions that differ from theirs. If you dare question or disagree with them on subjects ranging from the president”s policies to gay marriage they break out the bigot club and try to destroy those who dare to speak out. Apparently, they can only tolerate those who agree with them. But, without a doubt, the most outrageous act by this runaway Congress was the passage of the new hate crimes bill. First of all, I disagree with hate crime laws in general. We have laws to address crimes against all people, hate crime laws are clearly an example of unequal protection under the law. In this latest version these laws have been extended to include pedophiles. When a Republican Senator tried to delete pedophiles and add military personnel to those protected, it was voted down by the Democrats. This is not only wrong, it”s just plain disgusting. On a personal level, I find it disconcerting that Congress finds crimes against pedophiles more heinous than a crime against me.
I believe a lot of well-meaning people who were looking for change have been hoodwinked by a media savvy Democratic party. Obama”s slogan “Change we can believe in” has turned into “Change”s we can”t believe.” But, we are not stuck with these people forever in our system of government. As Californians, we can”t do anything about Franks, Dodd, Reed and others but we can do something about Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein and others in 2010.
Calvin Carson is a resident of Kelseyville. He has a degree in history and a longtime interest in politics at all levels.
