William A. Alexander – 6/27/08

This page was last updated on June 29, 2008.

McCain win equals a Bush third term; William A. Alexander; Beaver County Times; June 27, 2008.

Mr. Alexander has written at least 29 letters (See the archives for more examples.) since December 2004, and all but three (one fawning over Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA], one critical of local funding for JROTC, and another upset about the Air Force awarding a contract to Airbus instead of Boeing) bashed Republicans for something. Despite this record, Mr. Alexander is a Democrat/leftist who wants us to believe he’s really a disenchanted Republican. You may recall that in “Can’t wait for Hart to lose,” Mr. Alexander told us he was a “registered Republican.”

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“U.S. Sen. John McCain is trying to distance himself from President Bush.”

[RWC] This is true, and in my opinion pretty tacky.

“This is difficult since he voted with Bush’s positions 95 percent of the time in 2007. Many of the times he did not vote with Bush were still safe since Bush’s position prevailed.”

[RWC] Mr. Alexander didn’t provide his data source, but it never ceases to amaze me that folks like Mr. Alexander give this argument any weight. Messrs. Bush and McCain are both Republicans. Something would be wrong if they didn’t agree the vast majority of the time. Mr. Alexander used this same argument at least twice in 2006 (here and here) when he railed against Melissa Hart and Rick Santorum and called it being a rubberstamp. Does anyone want to bet Mr. Alexander doesn’t see a problem with Rep. Jason Altmire (D) voting with Democrat leadership the vast majority of the time? FYI, Mr. Altmire received a 95% liberal quotient rating from Americans for Democratic Action in 2007.

“Not surprisingly, areas where McCain and Bush agree are mainly areas where the president can affect the outcome either directly or through the courts. These include Iraq, taxes, Social Security, health care, trade, abortion and appointment of judges, Guantanamo detainees, diplomacy with Iran and Syria, wiretapping and executive power, civil unions and same-sex marriages.”

[RWC] Mr. Alexander forgot to mention amnesty for illegal aliens, though Mr. McCain currently claims to believe in enforcement.

“Most of the areas that he disagrees with Bush are areas that the president has little direct control except by using his bully pulpit or diplomatically with many other nations. These include climate change, energy and oil, arms control, interrogation tactics and federal spending.”

[RWC] Mr. Alexander is completely off the mark to claim any president can’t have a great deal of influence on these issues. After all, don’t most of Mr. Alexander’s fellow travelers blame President Bush for global warming, the price of energy, “interrogation tactics, and federal spending?” You can’t have it both ways.

“Though it is not totally accurate that a McCain presidency will be a Bush third term, it will be close enough that there will be little change to Americans’ lives.

“We will still be stuck in Iraq with the continued costs in lives and national treasure. We will still have tax rates slanted dramatically toward the rich. We will still be running unsustainable deficits, with foreign nations buying more and more of our country. And control of our country will still be firmly in the hands of Washington lobbyists with no chance of any changes for another four years.”

[RWC] If Mr. Alexander believes Barack Obama will get out of Iraq before the time is right, he’s gullible. While Democrats would have been more than happy for us to cut and run with a Republican president, they don’t want to hang defeat around their own necks.

I’m sure Mr. Alexander didn’t intend to write “We will still have tax rates slanted dramatically toward the rich.” After all, I suspect Mr. Alexander wants “the rich” soaked even more than they are already.

“We will still be running unsustainable deficits …” Has Mr. Alexander kept track of all the increased spending Mr. Obama wants to do? In any case, I’m confused. Didn’t Mr. Alexander tell us above the president has “little direct control” over “federal spending?”

FYI, pushing for spending control has been a hallmark of Mr. McCain’s time in Congress. I have problems with some of his positions, but Mr. McCain has been consistent in opposing big spending.

The “Washington lobbyists” comment is a hoot! Management of just about every labor union has endorsed or will endorse Mr. Obama and all lobby in Washington. During the 2004 presidential election, labor unions contributed $54 million to federal candidates (86% to Democrats). This excludes all the other spending for political ads, flyers, et cetera. Don’t buy the BS that Mr. Obama isn’t accepting contributions from PACs. Money that would otherwise have been contributed directly to Mr. Obama’s campaign will simply be contributed indirectly via ads, flyers, “feet on the ground,” et cetera. While the candidates will still know who did what for whom, indirect contributions just make it harder for the rest of us to follow the money trail. FYI, to date, only 1% of Mr. McCain’s campaign funding came from PACs. Since Mr. McCain has opted for public campaign financing, no one – including PACs – can contribute directly to Mr. McCain’s campaign.

Finally, lobbyists are in far more contact with members of Congress than they are with the executive branch. For example, Mr. Alexander’s hero Rep. Jason Altmire raised 25% of his 2006 funding from PACs and currently has raised 57% of his 2008 funding from PACs.

“Just as in 2004 when people in other countries asked, ‘How could that many Americans elect Bush to a second term?’ they will be asking, ‘How we could have elected McBush for another four years of Bush policies?’”

[RWC] Seriously, why do folks like Mr. Alexander care what “people in other countries” think?