Frank Bovalino – 12/1/10

This page was last updated on December 2, 2010.

The real reason for political action; Frank Bovalino; Beaver County Times; December 1, 2010.

The Times failed to note Mr. Bovalino’s political activities and affiliations.

Mr. Bovalino has written at least 14 letters since December 2004. Examples of letters I critiqued are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Mr. Bovalino tends to write letters bashing Republicans and defending Democrats. Some of his letters told us we’d miss state Sen. Gerald LaValle (D) (cofounder of the BIG slush fund), proposed “solutions” to alleged manmade global warming, and lobbied against E-ZPass for PA toll roads. Mr. Bovalino is a member of the Beaver Area School Board, along with his wife is an elected municipal committee member of the Beaver County Democrat Committee, and is treasurer for the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 47 Political Action Committee.

For an idea how far to the left Mr. Bovalino is, consider this. In a county in which Democrats hold an almost 2:1 (66% to 34%) registration advantage over Republicans (as of the 2010 primary election), Mr. Bovalino lost to the Republican candidate (Jim Christiana) for the PA-15 House seat by almost 2:1 (62% to 38%) in the 2010 general election.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Columnist and economist Paul Krugman has written that Stan Collender, a budget expert, warned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that ‘with Republican policy makers seeing economic hardship as the path to election glory,’ they would be ‘opposed to any actions taken by the Federal Reserve that would make the economy better.’”

[RWC] Mr. Bovalino fails to note “columnist and economist Paul Krugman” is a leftist above all else and you can trust what he says/writes about as far as you can throw him. Regarding Mr. Collender, it’s very generous to call him “a budget expert.” Mr. Collender was an appointee during the Clinton administration and his budget experience is in the public sector. Mr. Collender’s primary expertise is in public relations. According to FEC records, since 2007 Mr. Collender contributed $4,050 to five congressional campaigns, all Democrats.

“In short, their real fear is not that Fed actions will be harmful; it is they might succeed.”

[RWC] Not likely. When was the last time anything good came from running up debt and then printing money in an attempt to pay off that debt? Try that yourself and see how far you get.

FYI, this sentence is a direct quote of the Krugman op-ed piece without attribution.

“It is a sad commentary on Republican lawmakers on all levels that their focus is political rather than the betterment of the people they represent. With unemployment at near 10 percent, one would think creating jobs is more important than political advantage.”

[RWC] In case you missed it, Mr. Bovalino treated a fellow lefty’s opinion as a fact then used it to indict Republicans. This is the definition of setting up a straw man and is a refuge of people losing a debate.

As for whether the stuff we’re doing will work, I encourage Mr. Bovalino to study history. Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee in May 1939, Henry Morgenthau, FDR’s Treasury Secretary during the Great Depression said, “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong … somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises … I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … And an enormous debt to boot.” Further, unemployment never got below 9.9% before the U.S. entered World War II.