Tom Finch – 8/1/06

This page was last updated on August 1, 2006.

About figures and liars …; Tom Finch; Beaver County Times; August 1, 2006.

Mr. Finch’s letters never disappoint. This letter is little more than a string of liberal talking points. It’s at least the sixth anti-Bush letter from Mr. Finch since December 2004. I wish he could get a regular column in the Times.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Peter Homitz’s July 23 letter (‘Figures don’t lie; liars figure’) shows a lot of nerve to call someone else’s letter ‘nonsense’ based on liars using figures to mislead people.

“Every time I read his pro-Bush/Republican drivel, it makes me wonder how any reasonable individual can still support this administration.

“His hero Bush has turned lying and misleading people into an art form. His entire administration embraces a culture of corruption that wraps itself in ‘patriotism,’ while Haliburton [sic], the oil companies and the richest 1 percent of Americans get tax cuts.”

[RWC] Note Mr. Finch didn’t tell us what the alleged lies were. As you will read, Mr. Finch shouldn’t be so quick to accuse others of lying.

Mr. Finch apparently didn’t get the memo. It appears Democrats have dropped the “culture of corruption” mantra since it wasn’t working (most of us already distrust all politicians regardless of party) and the FBI had a Democrat congressman on videotape accepting a $100,000 bribe and the bribe money was found hidden in the representative’s freezer.

Regarding “the richest 1 percent of Americans get tax cuts,” perhaps Mr. Finch should check his facts. On the other hand, why should Mr. Finch start worrying about facts?

“It’s plain to see that Republicans want a two-class society - the rich, Republican-controlled elite and the slave-wage lower class that must work three no-benefit jobs just to get by.”

[RWC] “Republicans want a two-class society?” This comes from a man whose party constantly puts people into groups (rich, poor, old, young, black, white, men, women, heterosexual, homosexual, et cetera) to play off each other so that party can use the divide and conquer strategy.

“[T]he slave-wage lower class that must work three no-benefit jobs just to get by?” Please, Mr. Finch, provide examples and the specifics of the circumstances.

Regarding “the rich, Republican-controlled elite,” remember the richest members of Congress are Democrats.

“America is finally waking up to how big of a mistake it was to re-elect this lying little twit in 2004. America didn’t buy into his lies in the attempt to privatize Social Security, or to sell control of our ports to the Arabs, but I still see plenty of ‘W04’ stickers.”

[RWC] “Republicans want a two-class society?” This comes from a man whose party constantly puts people into groups (rich, poor, old, young, black, white, Latino, men, women, heterosexual, homosexual, et cetera) to play off each other so that party can use the divide and conquer strategy.

Regarding President Bush’s “lies in the attempt to privatize Social Security,” the plan Mr. Bush advocated was first proposed by Democrats in the late 1990s. In any case, the proposal wasn’t close to privatizing Socialist Security, though there would be nothing wrong with that.

Regarding “sell[ing] control of our ports to the Arabs,” that’s more BS and he hopes you’ve forgotten the facts by now.

As a reminder, terminal operator P&O (a U.K. company) was being purchased by Dubai Ports World. The deal would not have given DP World control over our ports. The local port authorities (Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, et cetera) would have retained control over the ports. DP World would only have operated some cargo terminals in the ports and security would have continued to be the responsibility of the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs, and Homeland Security. Regarding security, the U.S. Navy raves about the port services provided by Dubai. More U.S. Navy ships are serviced in UAE ports than by any country other than the U.S.

I wonder if Mr. Finch had a problem when President Clinton gave Red China “control” some of our West Coast ports in 1998.

“If you haven’t scraped them off yet - in repulsion and disgust - you’re either too stupid to realize how badly this country is being abused or you’re just too lazy to care.”

[RWC] Being the good little liberal, Mr. Finch believes you either agree with him or “you’re either too stupid … or you’re just too lazy to care.”

“Since Bush took office, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 5.4 million. They brag about creating 2.6 million jobs, but never mention the 2.9 million middle-class, manufacturing jobs that have been lost - the most anemic job creation performance since Herbert Hoover.”

[RWC] Regarding “the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 5.4 million,” it could be correct but the only places I found this claim were liberal websites and even they said the figure was for 2004, not 2006.

It’s also important to understand the timeframe in question. 2000 represented the tail end of the 1990s growth period and President Bush inherited the beginning of a recession when he took office in 2001. If you recall, the first Bush tax cut took place shortly after he took office in an attempt to soften the recession. We then had 9/11 and the uncovering of business scandals (Enron, et cetera) that occurred during the Clinton administration. Therefore, it’s a tad unfair to dump the blame for increasing poverty solely in the lap of President Bush. If you do, then you must also dump the sole blame for poverty from 1933 through the early 1940s on FDR.

Please read the following papers for a discussion of this topic.

Understanding Poverty in America (Backgrounder #1713); Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.; The Heritage Foundation; January 5, 2004.

Poverty and Inequality; The Heritage Foundation; August 25, 2004.

The Data on Poverty and Health Insurance You’re Not Reading (WebMemo #556); Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.; The Heritage Foundation; August 27, 2004.

Oh man, Herbert Hoover again! Why not FDR? After all, the unemployment rate was 9.7% immediately before World War II and FDR had been president for nine years. Today’s unemployment rate is 4.6%, lower than the averages for at least the last four decades.

If a 4.6% unemployment rate, 5.4 million jobs generated since August 2003, and an economy growing at 5.6% is “anemic,” let’s have more of it.

“They’d have you believe that prosperity abounds for every American, and Iraq and Afghanistan are budding flowers of democracy. The only ‘nonsense’ I see is the lies coming from Washington, and testimony in The Times from gullible, brain-washed Republicans who still believe the lies.”

[RWC] Nobody in his right mind believes “that prosperity abounds for every American.” As much as that would be nice, it will never happen because utopia doesn’t exist. That said, I suspect Mr. Finch would have us believe that prosperity abounded for every American the day before President Bush took office.

I’d like to believe “Iraq and Afghanistan are budding flowers of democracy,” but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand they and we have serious challenges to overcome.

In addition to being either “stupid” or “lazy,” you are also “gullible” and “brain-washed” if you don’t agree with Mr. Finch.

Finally, did you notice any suggestions from Mr. Finch on how to solve the problems he noted? Neither did I.