Edward Kastelic – 12/4/08

This page was last updated on December 6, 2008.

The county needs jobs, not politics; Edward Kastelic; Beaver County Times; December 4, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“A lot has been said about the people in western Pennsylvania during the last two election cycles for president. I can’t believe that the pundits are so baffled about us.”

[RWC] It’s not the pundits. It’s the Democrat party’s own candidates (Murtha, Obama, Rendell, et al) who keep disparaging “the people in western Pennsylvania.” While the Democrat party has continued to move left (like the Republican Party), folks in Western PA tend to remain more conservative.

“Why can’t the Democrats carry the people in this area anymore, they keep asking. Let me answer it for them loud and clear.”

[RWC] I guess Mr. Kastelic hasn’t noticed most local Democrat candidates were tied up in scandals. Other than that, most Democrat candidates win in Beaver County. Mr. Obama was one of the rare exceptions, but even then he barely lost.

“We don’t need any political party. We need jobs, real jobs. Manufacturing is almost extinct. We can still do this, and we can still do this very well.

“The Democrats used to be the party for the working man. If they can get that through their heads, I’m quite sure they would have our support in full. But until they get that through their heads, I guess we will just keep waiting, hoping, looking and clinging to other things, like guns and religion.”

[RWC] “The Democrats used to be the party for the working man?” If it was ever true, it’s been a myth since at least the 1930s. As far too many of us, Mr. Kastelic doesn’t grasp that the Democrat party’s leftist positions play a huge role in making an area unattractive for business. When you force unnecessary regulations, unnecessarily high labor costs, et cetera on a business, you’re not going to keep existing businesses or attract new ones.

“The people of this region are the epitome of what a Democrat should be. It should not be that hard for them to figure out.”

[RWC] Actually, when you get past the political party BS, I believe you’ll find there are far more conservatives in Beaver County than leftists.