This page was last updated on April 9, 2013.
Republicans slowing economy; Dan Cogley; Beaver County Times; April 7, 2013.
Previous Cogley letters I critiqued were “What do they want?,” “Keep guns out of schools,” “Pennsylvania not proud,” “Poor people do create jobs,” “Government should not invade private lives,” “Why vote Republican,” “We need more Democrats,” “Try trickle-up effect,” “Elderly will be hit under GOP policies,” “Let politicians try unemployment,” and “Cuban missile déjà vu.” My personal favorite was “Why vote Republican.” Cogley letters I didn’t critique include “Question in need of an answer” (4/7/11) and “Suggested cuts they won’t make” (3/14/11).
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The Republicans are still trying to slow the economy, cutting jobs were they can, and we let them get away with it.”
[RWC] I suspect you’ll find Mr. Cogley is really upset about the potential reduction in condition-of-employment membership dues for labor union management to use for political activity.
“Getting ride [sic] of state stores is just another way to cut jobs in the name of better service. What they forgot to tell you is the 33 percent rise in the price in the product. Think about it, do you think big business is going to sell the products at the same price as the state store? We just lost a few hundred jobs for no real good reason.”
[RWC] Where did Mr. Cogley get the idea privatization will result in a “33 percent rise in the price in the product?” If true, why is the State selling alcohol at such a low price? Wouldn’t lower-than-market prices encourage greater-than-normal alcohol consumption? Why would the Commonwealth encourage excessive alcohol consumption? To which “big business[es]” is Mr. Cogley referring? Giant Eagle? Shop ‘n Save? Wal-Mart? Beaver County Beverage? JR’s Beer Warehouse? If PA booze is so cheap today, why do Pennsylvanians living near the New Jersey border flock to NJ to make their purchases?
“Thank you, governor and our Republican state representatives. But in real life it is not their fault, it is ours for electing them.”
[RWC] Mr. Cogley wants readers to believe Pennsylvanians want the Commonwealth to stay in the alcohol-selling business. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a recent “poll commissioned by the conservative Commonwealth Foundation … found 61 percent favor privatization to 35 percent who oppose.” At the time I wrote this critique, the PG’s own online poll found 71% favor privatization. If these poll results are anywhere near correct, the “governor and Republican state representatives” are doing what most of us want done.
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