Bradley D. Inman – 2/17/08

This page was last updated on February 17, 2008.

It’s clean-up time again; Bradley D. Inman; Beaver County Times; February 17, 2008.

The last I believe we heard from Mr. Inman he sang the praises of Mike Veon during the 2006 election campaign.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response to William Smith’s letter concerning the election of only white guys from Yale as our presidents for the last 20 years and not voting for Hillary Clinton, the following should be noted:

· “She is not a white guy from Yale.”

[RWC] It’s true “[s]he is not a white guy,” but she is white and did go to Yale. Of course, as wife of “the first black president,” perhaps Mrs. Clinton can claim she’s black. <g> That said, who cares? I look at issues, not a person’s race, school, or sex.

· “If Smith does not want us to vote for a candidate with a college education, he has just eliminated all of our candidates. Of course, we could elect someone with little education such as Castro or one of Saddam’s followers. Oops, I forgot! If we elected such a person, Smith would not be able to write to the paper to complain about our candidates. If Smith does not like the candidates running, he is more than welcome to run against them.”

[RWC] Except for the implication that if you don’t go to college you turn into “Castro or one of Saddam’s followers,” I agree with Mr. Inman on this point. Mr. Inman also gave proof that not everyone on the left has a love affair with Fidel Castro.

· “President Bill Clinton took office with huge deficits, high unemployment, millions of jobs lost, the country close to recession, high inflation and most countries around the world disliking the United States. In the eight years Clinton was in office, we had a balanced budget and a surplus going toward the record deficit. Unemployment was down, the economy and the stock market were at record highs, the threat of recession was eased, jobs increased, inflation was held in check and most people lived very well. Universal health care was needed and our leaders put Hillary Clinton in charge of leading the way. No action was ever taken, and a big campaign issue today is universal health care. Who better to lead our country in obtaining a universal health plan but Hillary, a leader of this cause during her husband’s eight years?”

[RWC] Wow, this is the same kind of sugarcoated stuff Mr. Inman wrote about Mr. Veon. Let’s take a closer look.

Regarding “high unemployment,” it was 7.5% and already dropping when Mr. Clinton took office. FYI, the average unemployment rates for Mr. Clinton’s eight years and the current President Bush’s seven years are an identical 5.2%.

Regarding “close to recession,” the country had turned the corner and was already recovering. That’s why the other data Mr. Inman mentioned was already headed in a good direction when Mr. Clinton took office. On the other hand, Mr. Inman failed to note the economy was entering or already in a recession when Mr. Clinton left office.

Regarding the inflation comments, it was 3.26% the month Bill Clinton took office and 3.73% during his last month.

Regarding the “most countries around the world disliking the United States” comments, did that include the unprecedented number of countries that supported operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm? In any case, why do folks like Mr. Inman care so much about other countries liking us? Mr. Inman also needs to distinguish between real and phony friends. Phony friends come and go, but our real friends will always be there.

Though Mr. Clinton inherited a deficit, it was already dropping. We didn’t have a balanced budget in “the eight years [Bill] Clinton was in office.” The budget was balanced during Mr. Clinton’s last four years, but the surplus was dropping fast (by 46%) in his last budget. Gee, I wonder if the Republican-majority Congress played a role in this?

The comment that “our leaders put Hillary Clinton in charge of leading the way” regarding healthcare is fantasy. Bill Clinton appointed his wife, nothing more. Regarding Mr. Inman’s opinion that Mrs. Clinton should lead a healthcare effort because she was “a leader of this cause during her husband’s eight years,” why should that be the case even if you believe socialized healthcare is a good thing? As that “leader,” Mrs. Clinton failed miserably even with her husband being President and Democrats commanding majorities in both houses of Congress. Republicans didn’t become the majority party in Congress until well after Mrs. Clinton’s proposal went down in flames.

Among the many things Mr. Inman attributed to Bill Clinton, you’ll note none of them had anything to do with national security.

· “It took a Clinton to clean up after the first President Bush, and it looks like it’s going to take a Clinton to clean up after this President Bush.”

[RWC] This letter is as credible as Mr. Inman’s letter about Mike Veon.