Rep. Heath Shuler has consistently opposed much-needed health-care reform because he considers it "too expensive." And yet he is willing to spend $13 million of taxpayers' money on a divisive and highly questionable highway project in Swain County. I had previously been a Shuler supporter, but after two terms in Congress, it is clear he does not represent me. Nor can I vote Republican.
I believe that here are others who feel as I do. Perhaps it's time we had a viable third-party candidate for Congress from our district.
— R. Michael Jones
Sylva
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Mr. Jones, I am guessing you favor Obama’s massive “stimulus” spending that was enacted early last year? While I think the Swain County settlement is a frivilous waste, I think the same about the many many billions of dollars beng burned (at a relatively slow rate) around the country. Let’s see you work up a little steam over that and not just $13 million.
Unless we can do better with an Independent candidate, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum from Franklin looks to be our best alternative at this point.
http://www.DrDan4Congress.com
Dr. Dan is a Constitutionalist! Any of the rest?
Trav, The billions being “wasted”, helped avoid a great depression, and by most economists has been wildly succesful. As evidenced by this month’s job report– which is a lagging indicator. The second stimulus worked, the economy is turning around, and by the next election cycle obstructionists will be in trouble. I say, vote shuler out in the primary and get a real Democrat in his position. If you can’t get on board with health care reform, you might as well be a Republican (or Lieberman).
Claiming the support of “most economists” is highly misleading if not entirely false. Much of the stimulus spending bill funding has not been disbursed. What many economists will state is that we should see private sector GPD growth this year but if the massive spending is not addressed we will see serious consequences in 2011.
I suspect the notion we avoided” a Great Depression” is going to lose more and more support as the economy comes out of its cyclical down turn. The economic experience we have gone through recently was not as bad as that experienced during the Carter years.
Economies run in cycles and in this case, we had a couple of storms hit at pretty much the same time. Oil shortages occurred at the same time that systemic financial and accumulated management/union abuses hot the domestic automobile manufacturers. Throw on top of that the credit crisis which was fueled mostly by previous political efforts to tinker with sound risk economics (driven strongly by Democrat interference) we ended up with several problems to deal with. Stimulus spending doesn’t address that as we witnessed with the “cash for clunkers” program. It fueled purchases but did so by robbing future quarters. Now, we have another group of indebted Americans to be concerned about when they begin missing car payments next year.
oil shortages, trav? Really?
Please. Sometimes I wonder if you can even type this stuff with a straight face.
I left the democrat party a few months ago when this administration put us on the fast track to bankruptcy and a progressive agenda that is not what most democrats signed up for. Third party, at least in 2010, will do nothing but ensure Mr. Shuler is re-elected in November. Shuler voted for Cap and Trade and will continue to vote for every bad legislation Pelosi tells him to vote for. He is no longer his own man. I think there are only two valid contenders in the race, Mr. Miller and Dr. Eichenbaum. The doctor is the next bet thing to a third party – he is grassroots with no ties to the Republican machine. Mr. Miller is a nice enough gentleman but seems to me to be very weak on the issues and I’ve read several news articles that say he was recruited by the NRCC and we all know what that support means.
I say, vote shuler out in the primary and get a real Democrat in his position
Good luck with that.
Trav, The reasons you listed for the collapse are “highly misleading if not entirely false.” Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that the collapse was due to the de-regulation of the banks and wall street, something still championed by conservatives. Basically, if you allow “free-market capitalists” to run the show, they abuse it. They make loans that they know will go into default, so that they can later foreclose on the property and sell it again. The “cash for clunkers” was deemed wildly successful by apparently everyone except you. And, to suppose people will now miss those car payments is presumptuous at best. The fact remains: all economic indicators are going in the positive direction.
Marrisasellers, I seriously doubt you were ever a Dem, but let’s assume you were. This administration’s increase on the national debt is largely due to two wars that were never put on the books while Bush was waging them. The overwhelming spending is on defense– something presidents like Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr., spent wildly on. What I don’t get is why conservatives dote wildly on these presidents, but then fake disgust when a Democratic president spends money on ANYTHING? This is extremely disingenuous, and unbelievably obvious to the most modest of political historians. If you feel that electing a Republican to office will curb our debt, or reverse our economic status, please read up on a period I like to call the nineties. When a Democrat balanced the budget, created a surplus, and then Republicans took over and spent us into economic collapse. I mean really, you weren’t ever a Dem were you? Just because the good doctor doesn’t have ties to the machine doesn’t mean he’ll avoid taking their money. Invariably candidates have to rely on campaign money from their base, and out go their morals (see John McCain v. Falwell)
And I know voting Shuler out in a primary is unlikely, but it is possible if enough people are outraged. It happened to Lieberman, though he still won his re-election.
Ashevegas, perhaps you can provide a short list of the regulations that were removed allowing this “crisis” to proceed.
As for the clunkers program, car sales slumped immediately followng the expiration of that credit program. That cannot be deemed a success by any standard other than by those who took the credit. That is not a hard thing to see, is it?
This administration’s increase on the national debt is largely due to two wars that were never put on the books while Bush was waging them.
There is no truth to that statement. The funding for the war was passed on spearate appropriations bills spearate from the general operating budget. That additionl spending is incliuded in the deficit spending that Obama inherited for fiscal 2009. What Bush did not hand Obama in 2009 was the additional “stimulus spending” that he pushed for once assuming office. In addition to that while in his spurious authority of Office of the President Elect, he pushed for, supported and approved TARP and every other bailout initiative presented by the President and the Democrat Congress.