Charles Matthews – 1/21/10

This page was last updated on January 21, 2010.

Altmire wins this Republican’s vote; Charles Matthews; Beaver County Times; January 21, 2010.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I am a conservative Republican who usually votes a straight Republican ticket.”

[RWC] This is the first letter from Mr. Matthews of which I’m aware and so I have no reason to doubt his assertion. That said, keep in mind we have a group of local Republican impersonators who write letters. Among others, this group includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, William G. Horter, Edward J. Hum, and George Reese.

“Lately, I have been somewhat impressed with U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire’s voting record. I feel that he is one politician who truly cares.

“On Tuesday, I watched as the 53 orphans from Haiti were brought to Pittsburgh. I was very moved by the effort given to this operation by the many people involved.

“Not the least was the effort by Altmire, who contacted the White House and the State Department and cleared the way for this wonderful humanitarian operation to succeed. My congratulations go out to Altmire and all involved, including Gov. Ed Rendell.

“Altmire can depend on this Republican’s vote from this point on.”

[RWC] What Mr. Matthews didn’t mention -- and may not know -- is the whole mission was organized and paid for by the private sector. On top of the two Ben Avon sisters who ran the BRESMA Haiti orphanage, Catholic Charities, the Red Cross, and UPMC, clothing, food, toys, and even the plane (including crew and fuel) were donated by evil, profit-mad businesses. Messrs. Altmire and Rendell were called in solely to help cut through government red tape and they deserve credit for doing so.

That said, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a self-described “conservative Republican who usually votes a straight Republican ticket” to vote for a very left-leaning Democrat (Mr. Altmire has a two-year 88% ADA Liberal Quotient.) because 1) he did his job and helped cut through government red tape, and 2) you agreed with a couple of his votes. In a previous critique I wrote, “though I applaud Mr. Altmire opposing H.R. 3962 so far, I have no illusions his idea of reform is anything like mine and ultimately I expect him to vote for some bill that would be both a huge lurch to the left and unconstitutional. At the end of the day, Mr. Altmire is a lefty and I’m a conservative.”