John A. Lovra – 11/8/04

This page was last updated on November 8, 2004.

Listen to other mandate, too; John A. Lovra; Beaver County Times; November 8, 2004.

This is Mr. Lovra’s seventh anti-Bush letter since September 30^th.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I’m sitting here waiting to hear John Kerry’s concession speech and the victory speech by President George Bush.

“While I wait, I get to listen to the political experts. According to their analysis, Americans have given Bush a mandate, not only with a victory in the Electoral College, but also a majority of the popular vote.

“While Bush succeeded in winning four more years and should be congratulated for this accomplishment, he also needs to listen to another mandate. Yes, he did win by more than 3 million votes; there were also 56 million votes for change.

[RWC] Over 59 million voters expect President Bush to do what he promised during the campaign. Those who voted against President Bush should not expect him to support positions he opposed in the campaign. That’s the difference between winning and losing.

“There are those of us that disagree with his policies in Iraq or his war on terrorism. We do not feel safer than we were four years ago.”

[RWC] Four years ago (2000) we were living in denial with respect to terrorism. Today most of us have our eyes open. That said, we are safer today if for no other reason than we recognize the threat and we’re working to defeat it.

“We do not want our jobs to continue to be shipped overseas while the companies exporting these jobs are receiving huge tax breaks. We do not see the claimed improvements in the economy.”

[RWC] Regarding the business “tax breaks,” these laws have been on the books for decades. President Bush did not enact them. Did Mr. Lovra write letters criticizing Bill Clinton on this topic?

With that behind us, let’s look at the tax provision in question. The U.S. tax rate tends to be higher than those of foreign countries and the United States collects taxes on income earned in foreign countries. The reason for the tax code provision is to help U.S. companies remain competitive when doing business in foreign countries. The provision doesn’t tax business income earned in foreign countries until the income is brought back to the United States. Without this provision, U.S. companies would be at a competitive disadvantage because they would have to pay full taxes to both the foreign country and the United States. The provision is not – as depicted by Democrats – a “tax break to corporations that send jobs to foreign lands.”

Anyone who can’t see the improvements in the economy simply doesn’t want to see. We have a low unemployment rate of 5.5%. The European Union unemployment rate is 9%. More Americans are working today than at any time in history. We have low interest rates. We have low inflation. More Americans own their own homes than at any time in history. The U.S. economy is growing at roughly twice the rate (4% vs. 2%) of the European Union. You get the idea. Could we have a better economy? Sure, but claiming we don’t have a good economy is wrong.

“There are 56 million of us that still feel that we can do better, and we will not go away. We will not stop fighting for our beliefs.

“We will continue the fight to bring home the brave men and women fighting overseas. We will continue to fight for better jobs, better healthcare, for everyone, to protect Social Security and other benefits for our elderly citizens, and for a better education for our children.

“We will continue to fight for a better America.”

[RWC] Most of the 59+ million who voted for President Bush are fighting for these things. This is all “motherhood and apple pie” stuff. The devil is in the details of how you get there.

Based on his letters as a group, I believe Mr. Lovra is merely a partisan. If President Bush were a Democrat, I believe Mr. Lovra would be singing his praises.