James Giammaria – 8/21/06

This page was last updated on August 21, 2006.

Don’t confuse incumbents; James Giammaria; Beaver County Times; August 21, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response to the Wednesday letter to the editor ‘Politicians should work for us,’ I would like to note agreement with part of the letter writer’s argument, but not all of it.

“I do agree that U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum has forgotten the little guy. Big oil companies are recording record profits at our expense.

“With all of the price gouging going on at the pump, we would do well to remember in November that Santorum is the second highest recipient in the U.S. Senate of big oil’s money.”

[RWC] Ignoring the “price gouging” comment, this sentence is true but out of context. While Sen. Santorum may be #2 on the oil and gas industry’s list, oil and gas industry campaign contributions ($207,240) rank only #17 on Santorum’s list and makes up only about 1% of his total contributions. I can’t speak for Sen. Santorum – or for Mr. Giammaria for that matter, but it would take a lot more than 1% for me to be on someone’s “payroll” if I were inclined to sell out.

“If being on big oil’s payroll isn’t bad enough, Santorum has voted consistently against working families. Every time raising the minimum wage has come up in the Senate, Santorum has voted it down.”

[RWC] Another correct comment out of context. Though I disagree with his position, Sen. Santorum actually supports an increase in the minimum wage. He just doesn’t support as high an increase as Democrats want.

I really wish people like Mr. Giammaria would define what they mean by “working families.” I’ve been around more than 50 years, and to the best of my knowledge I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t part of a working family.

“Also, Santorum is a strong supporter of privatizing Social Security, which would jeopardize the program and threaten the retirement of working people.”

[RWC] More talking points. The proposal to help Socialist Security did not “privatize” SS; it merely gave SS taxpayers some control over how some of their SS taxes would be invested. As I’ve noted before, Democrats proposed exactly the same plan during the late 1990s. Why was the plan OK when Democrats proposed it, but bad when Republicans wanted to implement it?

“I do not agree with her in regard to state Rep. Mike Veon.

“Veon, unlike Santorum, has not forgotten the little guy. He recently pushed legislation through the state House that will increase the minimum wage in our state for the first time in nine years.”

[RWC] No, Veon didn’t forget “the little guy.” After all, who will pay more for their clothing, food, et cetera because of increased prices caused by the increased minimum wage and can least afford the increase? And let’s not forget “the little guy” who won’t be hired because a job is not worth the minimum wage.

And let’s not forget gambling. Don’t most studies report the primary gambling customers are people of low and middle income, you know, “the little guy?” Nope, Mr. Veon didn’t forget “the little guy” at all.

“In addition, Veon, who is the Democratic whip in the House, has worked hard to expand the successful PACE/PACENET program that helps seniors afford their prescription drugs.”

[RWC] Did you notice how Republicans who support prescription drug plans are branded as sops to the pharmaceutical industry, but Democrats who do the same thing are praised? Of course, anyone who supports any form of government funding of healthcare should be taken to the woodshed, figuratively, of course.

“He has also sponsored legislation creating a state-funded program to preserve health care for retirees affected by corporate bankruptcies such as those at LTV Steel.”

[RWC] Mr. Giamarria neglected to tell us Mr. Veon introduced the legislation (HB 953) over three years ago and it never went anywhere. Who would have funded the program? Why PA taxpayers, of course. You know, the “working families” Mr. Veon cares so much about.

“Looking at both men’s records, I think that they are distinctly different. Santorum is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, while Veon fights for working families. I think it’s obvious which one we need to dump and which one we need to keep.”

[RWC] Though he mentioned one of Sen. Santorum’s campaign contributors, you’ll notice Mr. Giammaria didn’t mention anything about Mr. Veon’s campaign contributors. Here’s why. As of August 21^st, of the top 15 ZIP codes from where Veon 2006 contributions came, only two were in his district and they came in #14 and #15. The top contributor? Why “big labor,” of course.