Dushan Yanich – 5/26/06

This page was last updated on May 27, 2006.

Santorum doesn’t get it; Dushan Yanich; Beaver County Times; May 26, 2006.

We were “treated” to a steady stream of six anti-Bush, anti-Santorum, anti-Republican, et cetera letters from Mr. Yanich in 2005. I believe this is his first letter of 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The primary elections are over. U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum was unopposed. Robert Casey Jr. received 85 percent of the Democratic votes, and he had opponents.

[RWC] I don’t know about you, but if someone gets 85% of the votes, isn’t it obvious he had at least one opponent? After all, if you’re unopposed don’t you get 100% by definition (ignoring write-ins)?

“Now, the general election begins.

“Santorum wants Casey to participate in 10 or more debates and for Casey to report to the news media how Casey would have voted and the reason why on every vote taken by the U.S. Senate from now until the election.

“Santorum also has more than $40 million in the bank to throw around between now and November. Santorum should call state Rep. Mike Veon and get some firsthand advice how Veon got 60 percent of the votes (5,476 vs. 3,591) for a mere $500,000, which equates to $91 per vote.”

[RWC] I wonder where Mr. Yanich gets his facts. Mr. Santorum does not have “more than $40 million in the bank.” According to FEC data and the Center for Responsive Politics as of April 26^th, the Santorum campaign has raised $18.4 million, has spent about $9.6 million, and has about $8.8 million of cash on hand. $8.8 million is a lot of money, but it’s a far cry from $40 million.

As noted on the CRP website, the Casey campaign has about $4.5 million of cash on hand.

“The senator just doesn’t get it. The voters in Pennsylvania are not satisfied with the policies set forth by President Bush.

“Just a few of these are Iraq, Katrina, gas prices, illegal immigrants, tax cuts for the millionaires and big oil corporations, exporting jobs overseas and not caring for the middle class.”

[RWC] Regarding Iraq, please provide an alternative strategy. Lest we forget, President Bush’s challenger in the 2004 election, John Kerry, said he would do what we were already doing, only “better.” Since then, the Democrat strategy has been to cut and run. I can’t speak for “the voters in Pennsylvania,” but I doubt they want us to cut and run.

Regarding Katrina, there’s more than enough blame to go around. In the end, though, local and state governments are responsible for first response and they failed miserably, in part because they didn’t execute their own plans. While there’s no question the feds could have done better, the record clearly shows local and state officials dragged their feet when President Bush urged them to take action before Katrina hit. After Katrina left, local and state officials actually blocked delivery of relief supplies.

What did President Bush have to do with “gas prices?”

There’s no question President Bush has mishandled border security along the Mexico border and illegal immigration.

Man, the “tax cuts for millionaires” BS again. For the gazillionth time, everyone benefited from the tax cuts. Given that “millionaires” pay a disproportionately high share of taxes, shouldn’t they have gotten a break along with everyone else? As noted in previous critiques, even though “the rich” received tax cuts along with everyone else, their percentage share of taxes increased. What else does Mr. Yanich want?

Regarding “big oil corporations,” President Bush opposed oil industry specific tax incentives.

“Exporting jobs overseas?” Perhaps Mr. Yanich should check his data. At an unemployment rate of 4.7%, we are at the level traditionally referred to as “full employment.” Tack on jobs for the 7 – 20 million illegal aliens, and it appears President Bush is doing a pretty poor job of “exporting jobs overseas.”

Where in the U.S. Constitution does it stipulate it is government’s responsibility to “care for the middle class?”

“The voters know they cannot vote Bush out so the next best thing is to vote out his agent and shadow (Santorum). When Bush speaks, Santorum listens and obeys.”

[RWC] “Vote Bush out?” Dude, voters elected President Bush twice, and he received more votes and a greater margin the second time around.

I find this to be one of the most ridiculous arguments. Both President Bush and Sen. Santorum tend to have the same core principles. Given that, why would we expect Mr. Santorum not to agree with most of President Bush’s positions? Were all of the Democrats in Congress mind-numbed robots when they agreed with Bill Clinton’s positions?

There is at least one exception to Mr. Yanich’s assertion, however. Sen. Santorum clearly disagrees with President Bush regarding border security and immigration law enforcement. This week Sen. Santorum, along with most Senate Republicans, voted against Senate Bill 2611 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006), a bill President Bush clearly favored.

“This reminds me of when I was in the Marines Corps. When the drill instructor, known as ‘the boss,’ said to jump, we all would holler, ‘How high?’

“I could have substituted U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart’s name in place of Santorum’s and you couldn’t tell the difference except for the war chest of $40 million.”

[RWC] As Sen. Santorum, Rep. Hart clearly disagrees with President Bush regarding border security and immigration law enforcement. Last year Ms. Hart voted for House Bill 4437 (Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005), a bill President Bush clearly opposes.

Regarding campaign funds, the Hart campaign had about $663,000 cash on hand as of April 26^th.

“Hart also was unopposed in the GOP primary while Democrat Jason Altmire received 54.6 percent because voters had a choice.”

[RWC] So what? What significance to the general election is there in a primary candidate getting 54.6% of his party’s vote? In the previous two Democrat primaries, the winner (Stevan Drobac, Jr.) got 54% of the vote in 2002 and 61% of the vote in 2004. In both cases, Ms. Hart was unopposed in the primary and won the general elections.

“And to remind you, in case you may have forgotten, Bush still has 2 1/2 years left on his term. It’s finally over in January 2009.”

[RWC] Does that mean Mr. Yanich’s letters will stop in January 2009? <g>