Angelo Terrana – 10/3/06

This page was last updated on October 3, 2006.

Hart had done a lot; Angelo Terrana; Beaver County Times; October 3, 2006.

An editor’s note alleges, “The writer is communications director for U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-4, Bradford Woods.”

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“In response to Tuesday’s letter to the editor ‘What’s Hart done for us?’:

“The writer expressed his concern that U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart has not secured projects like the infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ in Alaska that cost taxpayers an incredible $550 million to serve 47 people.

“I want to assure readers that the congresswoman has indeed not secured money for any such wasteful projects. Instead, she has focused on securing funding that will make our communities better and allowing families to keep more of their hard-earned money.”

[RWC] Up through the first sentence in the third paragraph, Mr. Terrana is OK. After that, though, he runs off the tracks to appeal to liberals.

To start off, Mr. Terrana – and apparently Rep. Hart – believes federal taxpayer dollars should be used to fund strictly local projects. That is not a conservative position.

“For instance, she sponsored legislation, signed into law this August, that ensures parents do not have to pay taxes on the money they put away for their children’s college education.”

[RWC] This sounds good, though I have to admit I don’t know the details of the legislation and Mr. Terrana didn’t bother to cite the bill’s number.

“In addition, she has secured funding for programs that combat domestic violence, reward volunteer firefighters, increase access to prescription drugs for seniors and allow more small business owners and employees to obtain health insurance.”

[RWC] As with “funding that will make our communities better,” why should the federal taxpayer be forced to pay for local and personal responsibilities? Again, Rep. Hart brags about a distinctly non-conservative position.

“Since the writer has an interest in transportation, she also helped authorize $1.32 million for reconstructing Beaner Hollow Road, $2.12 million to improve the intersection of Route 51 and Franklin Avenue and $3.4 million to improve safety along Crow’s Run, all in Beaver County.”

[RWC] All of these are state and/or local roads. Why should federal taxpayers be forced to pay for them? All of these projects should be paid for by local and/or state taxpayers.

In March 2006, I posted a piece on the Republican Committee of Beaver County blog I jokingly entitled, “Is Hart running as a Democrat?” The posting read, “I’m beginning to wonder if Ms. Hart has cross-filed. More and more of her recent e-newsletters tout extraconstitutional social programs she sponsored and/or supported. It sounds like Ms. Hart assumes conservatives -- or at least non-liberal Republicans -- are already in her pocket and is working on getting the liberal vote.”

Responding to that post, Perry Christopher (Westmoreland County Republican Committee chairman according to his profile) immediately jumped into name-calling mode (calling me nuts) and asserted Ms. Hart is a “staunch conservative.” I replied (without name-calling) with examples showing why I felt it was wrong to call Ms. Hart a “staunch conservative.” I also noted, “There are examples of where Ms. Hart voted in a way I supported.” Mr. Christopher chose not to respond.

I believe the record shows that while Rep. Hart is a Republican (and certainly better than the Democrat alternative) that supports some conservative principles, you can’t call her a “staunch conservative” unless the meaning of a conservative has been redefined a tad to the left.