This page was last updated on July 17, 2004.

Setting the record straight; Andrew S. Ricci; Beaver County Times; July 8, 2004.

"Rick Whitten's Friday letter to the editor ('Look beyond war record') brings up some interesting points, but it also distorts a lot of facts.

"First of all, he claims that John Kerry favors expanding government while Bush favors limiting it.

"Sure, Bush is for limiting government - if by government you mean the regulations on how much arsenic can be in the water you drink, how much chemicals and toxins can be pumped into the air you breathe by corporations, or what exactly is in the beef that you buy in the grocery store.

"Bush is for limiting only the aspects of government that his corporate puppet masters want to limit - i.e., the aspects that take dollars directly out of their seemingly bottomless pockets."

[RWC] There's no question that, as a Rockefeller Republican, President Bush is not strong on cutting big government.  No true conservative would dispute that.  That said, I believe the increase in big government is nowhere near as bad as it would be with a liberal, and John Kerry's voting record shows he is very liberal.

The idea that President Bush is lax on the environment is fabricated.  The Bush administration increased the EPA budget approximately 10% since 2001.  Regardless of who is president, environmental activists will label him anti-environment unless he follows their wishes to the letter.  Most presidents, including President Bush, try to reach a reasonable compromise between the "ideal" and our ability to pay.

The arsenic issue is BS.  The Clinton administration -- virtually as it left the White House -- proposed a reduction from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb and an implementation goal of 2006.  50 ppb had been the allowable limit for nearly 50 years.  In late 2001, the Bush administration agreed with the 10 ppb limit and the same implementation schedule, but some activists want the level dropped to 3 ppb, the estimated limit of current technology.  These are the guys who issue press releases with irresponsible titles like, "Bush mandates arsenic in your tap water."

The United States has the safest food supply in the world and Mr. Ricci thinks the Bush administration is enacting rules to diminish that position?  Not likely.  Let's see the proof.

"The way the writer portrayed Kerry's foreign policy was entirely misguided.  Kerry doesn't want to sit down and have a pleasant discussion with terrorists.

"However, he does favor exhausting all available means of diplomacy before sending thousands of our own to die in a war that may very well be unjustified.  Is diplomacy such a terrible thing, or is warmongering simply a more 'American' way of doing things?"

[RWC] Mr. Ricci ignores that President Bush did try diplomacy, with both Iraq and the United Nations.  In the end, we must do what we believe is right whether or not any other country agrees with us.  As it turned out, quite a few countries agreed with us.

"Kerry's plan for creating jobs is first and foremost to close the tax loopholes and shelters that actually provide incentives for shipping jobs overseas.  Maybe then we'd actually be creating decent-paying jobs domestically."

[RWC] Sorry, but the so-called "loopholes" were enacted to help level the playing field for American companies competing for business in foreign countries.  Without the deductions, businesses would be fully taxed both in the United States and the foreign country.  That would mean U.S. companies could not compete in many foreign countries and would end up costing American jobs.

"What the economic data claiming an expanding economy and consistent job growth fail to reveal is that the jobs being created pay on average $7 to $10 an hour.  This is barely enough to pay bills, feed a family and afford to buy enough gas to get to work and back; I doubt if it even has enough buying power for that.

"Just setting the record straight."

[RWC] Setting the record straight?  Not exactly.

Mr. Ricci repeats the "McJobs" propaganda of the Democrat party.  Based on U.S. Department of Labor data, real (constant dollars) hourly wages increased 2.4% from January 2001 to May 2004 and disposable income rose 7.5%.  While the number of "unskilled" jobs are increasing, the real growth is in areas requiring post-high school education/training.  The days of walking out of high school into a well-paying and long-term job were over long ago.  If you don't want to make $7 - $10 per hour, get skills someone is willing to pay for.  We make what we earn.  We have no right to expect to be able to support a family on a minimum-wage job.  A person who can't earn enough to support a family properly should not plan to have a family.  That would be irresponsible.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.