Nicholas Chopiak – 10/4/06

This page was last updated on October 5, 2006.

Hart ducks questions; Nicholas Chopiak; Beaver County Times; October 4, 2006.

Having written two Santorum bashing letters (here and here) in the last two months, Mr. Chopiak has at least temporarily moved to Rep. Hart.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, running for re-election, needs to be held accountable along with her staff. In early June, phone calls were made advising that Hart would be at the Beaver County Courthouse to answer our questions.

“She was a no-show.

“Kevin McGavick, district director, was there. Everyone asked where Hart was. Would these people have come knowing they would have a substitute?

“One of my questions to McGavick was: Why were my letters referencing the trillion dollars siphoned from the Social Security trust fund stonewalled; Hart refuses to address this.”

[RWC] If you read Mr. Chopiak’s last letter, you know he has a new favorite word. It’s “stonewall.” As I noted in my critique of that letter, it’s “stonewalling” to Mr. Chopiak when he gets a response he doesn’t like.

Regarding “the trillion dollars siphoned from the Social Security trust fund,” there never was a trust fund. By law, tax receipts in excess of benefit payments must be used to purchase federal debt (bonds). If Mr. Chopiak truly wants answers, he needs to hold a séance and ask FDR and the Democrat-controlled Congress of the 1930s.

“Hart blames the baby boomers; she calls the trust fund unsustainable, falsely claiming the fund will become bankrupt, using the fear factor to dismantle the fund and the responsibility for paying back the trillion dollars of your money.”

[RWC] “[F]alsely claiming the fund will become bankrupt?” On what planet does Mr. Chopiak live? The Socialist Security Administration has been publishing estimates for years showing SS can’t sustain itself. The 2006 estimate predicts benefit payments will exceed tax receipts somewhere around 2017 and the “trust fund” will be depleted by 2040. At that time, only about 74% of current benefits could be supported.

“I told McGavick what is unsustainable is the reckless abandonment of pork-barrel spending - another issue Hart has stonewalled - $64 billion of pork barrel last year.”

[RWC] If you read what Mr. Chopiak actually wrote, he expresses displeasure at abandoning pork barrel spending. I don’t know where Mr. Chopiak got his figure. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, the figure for fiscal year 2006 was $29 billion.

“My last question to him was: Who is going to respond to my questions and concerns?

“McGavick said he represented Hart. Four months have passed and no response.

“It has become apparent Hart and her staff’s answer to difficult questions is to stonewall them.”

[RWC] Given Mr. Chopiak’s letters, does anyone doubt how he behaved when he allegedly spoke with Mr. McGavick?