This page was last updated on September 4, 2004.

Where does Mr. Schmetzer get his “information?”  Is he on a Democrat e-mail list to receive bogus talking points?

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart helped articulate the values and views of the right wing of the Republican Party at this week’s national convention.  She showcased the radical values and beliefs of the segregated sect.”

[RWC] What does Mr. Schmetzer consider “radical values and beliefs?”  Sadly, much of the Republican Party leadership has migrated so far left they are not far from being the equivalent of the Democrat party of the early 1960s.  If he thinks he heard right wing extremism at the RNC, Mr. Schmetzer himself must be a full-blown Marxist.

By use of “segregated sect,” is Mr. Schmetzer calling Republicans racists?  If so, it just shows how sneaky those Republicans are.  President Bush appointed Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Rod Paige to high-level cabinet positions just to throw everyone off the track. <g>

“They plan to show economic security by outsourcing jobs and improve education by not funding No Child Left Behind.  They want greater access to health care by keeping prescription drug prices out of range for working families and seniors while 45 million hard-working Americans have no health care.”

[RWC] Regarding outsourcing, we’ve been shipping some jobs overseas since before the American Revolution and we always will.  Likewise, we also import jobs.  Do the American plants of BMW, Honda, Michelin, Sony, Toyota, et cetera ring a bell?  The ebb and flow of jobs across borders is a necessary result of free trade.  A product must be made where it makes the most economic sense or everyone suffers.

“Not funding No Child Left Behind?”  It’s those pesky Democrat talking points again.  The NCLB Act placed ceilings on spending.  When we don’t spend up to those ceilings, the education establishment likes to claim we’re not “fully funding” NCLB.  In truth, federal education spending has increased in every Bush budget.  In Clinton’s last budget, 2001, the Department of Education spent $35.7 billion.  In Bush’s 2004 budget, that figure was $62.8 billion!  That said, I oppose any federal funding of education because it is not a cited responsibility in the U.S. Constitution.

“45 million hard-working Americans have no health care?”  Again, what BS!  There are several problems with this statement.  First, there is a difference between health insurance and health care.  We don’t need health insurance to get health care.  Liberals like to confuse the issue, however, and equate insurance with care.  Second, the Census Bureau acknowledges its figure overstates the uninsured because the survey is not primarily designed to gather this data.  Third, if you went without insurance for even a few days between jobs, you are counted as uninsured for the entire year.  This alone greatly inflates the uninsured figure.  Fourth, the number of persons covered by Medicaid is underreported.  For some reason, the number of persons who report they are covered by Medicaid is lower than that shown in Medicaid records.  Another reason is some persons eligible for Medicaid don’t sign up.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the chronically uninsured is roughly 9.1 million persons.  Of that 9.1 million, approximately one million simply choose not to purchase health insurance because they don’t feel they need it.

How many chronically uninsured people want but can’t afford insurance?  The CBO doesn’t have this figure.  A lot of those persons surveyed complain about the expense, but there are no figures to say how many of the 8.1 million really can’t afford insurance vs. how many simply choose to spend their money on other things.

In any case, the number of chronically uninsured people who want but truly can’t afford insurance is less than 18% of the uninsured figure liberals like to throw around.  That’s less than 3% of the population.  Again, though, not having health insurance is not the same as not having health care.  As with education, however, providing healthcare is definitely not a federal responsibility and should not be a responsibility of any level of government.

“They also plan to reflect their commitment to defend our homeland by reintroducing the draft in 2005, starting more wars and stripping Americans of our constitutional rights, especially our freedom of speech and association.”

[RWC] I don’t know if Mr. Schmetzer is lying or merely believes Democrat talking points.  No one who raised the specter of the draft during the last couple of years has been a Republican in a leadership position.  Indeed, Democrat leaders talk about the draft as a political scare tactic.

“Stripping Americans of our constitutional rights?”  What’s this based on?  Has Mr. Schmetzer noticed it’s Democrats who want to strip freedom of speech from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?

“They support veterans by cutting pay, cutting benefits, closing hospitals.  They have us arrested when we have a dissenting viewpoint or comment.  They reign over the largest decline in manufacturing in more than 80 years.

[RWC] Funding for veterans in the first three Bush budgets increased 27%.  If President Bush gets what he proposed for the 2005 budget, the total increase will be 37.6%.  That’s 37.6% in four years compared to 31.6% during Clinton’s eight years.  That’s some cut.

It would be nice if Mr. Schmetzer had provided examples of arresting people for having “a dissenting viewpoint or comment.”  If that’s true, can someone explain the endless Bush bashing that has gone on for four years?  Wouldn’t the dissenters have all been arrested by now?  FYI, it was Democrats who limited protesters at the DNC to a cage.  There was no such limit at the RNC.

Manufacturing jobs in the United States decreased, that’s true.  It’s also true, however, that the decline started in 1998 during the Clinton administration and that’s before the Clinton recession, 9/11, accounting scandals, anthrax attacks, and the Iraq War.  Economies go through cycles.  Is the loss of manufacturing jobs a long-term trend?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that no president can promise to keep any type of job unless he proposes to turn the United States into a socialist state.  In a free market, jobs will go where it makes most economic sense.

“The Republicans who I know don’t agree with our present direction in government and will not support the platform or their re-election.  Ms. Hart said that they have an agenda grounded in bedrock.  In reality, it is driving Americans into the ground.”

[RWC] This reminds me of the liberal who didn’t understand how Richard Nixon won in 1972 with 49 states and 62% of the popular vote.  She said, “Nobody I know voted for Nixon.”  If none of the Republicans Mr. Schmetzer knows will vote for Republicans, perhaps they aren’t really Republicans, and perhaps he needs a more diverse group of acquaintances.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.