This page was last updated on August 2, 2011.
A lot to answer for; Betty Ann Bowser; Beaver County Times; August 2, 2011.
Previous letters from Ms. Bowser I know about were “Are Tea Partiers malcontents?” and “‘Would Jesus be a Republican?’” (1/20/09). The latter is no longer on the BCT website and I did not critique it because was a collection of unconnected sentences.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Is House Speaker John Boehner out of touch with reality?
“And those tears he always sheds while reminiscing about his poor childhood, are they real? Why did he become a Republican and not a Democrat?”
[RWC] What does having a “poor childhood,” or a wealthy one, have to do with becoming a Democrat or a Republican? Using Ms. Bower’s “logic,” why do children of rich parents become Democrats?
“Are those who have lived the American Dream destined to give back instead of becoming elite? Where are all those tears now?”
[RWC] “[T]o give back” implies a person didn’t earn what he has.
“Are those tears now being shed by the very people who are being affected by his arrogance? What is arrogance? Webster’s says ‘it is superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or presumptuous claims.”
[RWC] Here are my definitions of arrogance: 1) believing you have a higher claim on a family’s income than the family that earned it, 2) believing you can invest, save, or spend a family’s income better than the family that earned it.
“How many times has Boehner voted to raise the deficit? Have the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove’s tea party people pushed him so hard that he stormed out of deficit talks on July 22?”
[RWC] I’m not sure the first question matters, but let’s go back to 2006. I don’t recall Ms. Bowser complaining when in 2006 then-Sen. Obama (D-IL) said, “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.” Mr. Obama then voted against raising the debt ceiling.
As for the Koch (pronounced “coke”) brothers, they are the latest lefty boogeymen because they are wealthy and contribute primarily to conservative candidates. If the Koch brothers contributed primarily to lefty candidates, as do wealthy lefties like Peter Lewis, George Soros, et al, they would be lefty heroes.
Ms. Bowser needs to find a new source of talking points. Mr. Rove has never been a fan of the tea party movement. For example, Mr. Rove said, “There’s a danger from them [tea partiers], particularly if they’re used by political operators” and supported a RINO instead of the tea party candidate in the race for one of Delaware’s U.S. Senate seats. Mr. Rove didn’t even support the candidate in the general election.
Finally, “Have [Peter Lewis and George Soros] pushed [Mr. Obama] so hard that he stormed out of deficit talks on July [13]?”
“Does he really care that American citizens expect him to fight for them and not special interests? Did he really know or care that taxes have to be a part of the equation to solve the deficit?”
[RWC] For most people, a “special interest” is someone with whom you disagree. For example, Ms. Bowser would likely consider all conservative lobbying groups to be “special interests” but would not label labor union management as such.
Of course Mr. Boehner “know[s] or care[s] that taxes have to be a part of the equation to solve the deficit?” For now, Mr. Boehner seems to understand you don’t increase tax rates to increase tax revenue, especially during a period of economic stagnation. The only way we’re going to increase tax revenue is by increasing economic activity. It should be no surprise that the more someone takes from you, the less you produce.
Ms. Bowser would probably like us to forget that before the current recession began to kick in, tax revenue peaked at $2.6 trillion in 2007, an increase of $577 billion (29%) since 2001. By the end of fiscal year 2007 (the last before the recession and before Democrats became the majority in Congress), the deficit was down to $161 billion and dropping. This all happened with the so-called “Bush tax cuts” in place. If lefties really believe tax rate increases are the way to go, why didn’t they raise them before the 2010 election or let them expire on schedule between the election and when newly-elected Republicans took office in January?
“Does he not get it?”
[RWC] An interesting question coming from Ms. Bowser.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.