July 31, 2006

IT’S NOT ABOUT COLOR, IT’S ABOUT THE ISSUES

Hereafter you will see for yourself 7 issues that clearly represent why it’s time for change in Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District. Some will try to make this a race issue, but in actuality, it’s an ethics and a money issue. Are you tired of paying more at the gas pumps, and are you tired of being misrepresented?

Here are the issues with documentation and comment:
  1. Social Security – Congressman McCrery was selected as the Bush Administration’s point man to privatize Social Security. This is the same administration that launched our national budget surplus onto the high financial seas for the money pirates and the Bush privateers. America was ripped off faster than you can say Blackbeard the Pirate. Now we have an $8 trillion-dollar debt. Why? We say let him roll the dice with his $200,000 plus campaign funds given him by securities and investment firms (his number 2 campaign finance source), according to the Newhouse News Service reports and opensource.org.

    2. It's time for change.
  2. Veteran’s Benefits – Our National Guard and our reservists, as well as active duty service members, are fighting this war on terror. McCrery voted yes to HR2297 giving, among other things, deserving Filipino WWII veterans expanded benefits. Yet Congressman McCrery voted to deny a modest $1500 bonus to active duty members, and voted to deny TRICARE medical insurance benefits to our brave and deserving reservists. Why?

    3. It's time for change.
  3. Civil Rights - “September 17, 2003. In his dedicatory remarks, 216 years after the close of the Constitutional Convention, President George W. Bush stated, "The true [American] revolution was not to defy one earthly power, but to declare principles that stand above every earthly power -- the equality of each person before God, and the responsibility of government to secure the rights of all." (www.whitehouse.gov) (Wikipedia). Congressman McCrery voted against renewing the Civil Rights Act of 1965, without amendment. Why?
  4. Education – America lags behind several countries in education. Congressman McCrery voted to cut Federal Student Aid by $12.7 billion dollars; the largest cut in history. In March 2006 he also voted no against a bill that would have provided education grants to Hispanic and historically Black colleges. If education uplifts the most needy of the classes, then how do you define class warfare? Why?
  5. Oil and Energy – Congressman McCrery voted yes to give oil companies a $25 billion dollar tax break over a 10-year period (HR4503). Oil and gas firms, Halliburton among them, contributed $67,000 to McCrery recently and $82,000 in 2004 when they were his number three contributor according to opensecrets.org. That’s record gas profits and a bonus tax break for big oil on Congressman McCrery’s watch. Why?
  6. Labor – Regular entry level workers need a minimum wage increase. Additionally, in 2002 McCrery voted for a bill requiring 70 percent of those receiving welfare assistance to work 40 hours per week (HR 4737). Both groups are now the working poor, facing McCrery's gutted Social Security plan at the end of their work years. Yet Congressman McCrery voted against a minimum wage increase in 2000 (HR 3846) while his own pay raised from about $140,000 to $165,000 per year since then, with about another $3,000 due by the end of this year.

    7. It's time for change.
  7. Accountability – Concerned citizens, such as those who recently picketed McCrery’s Shreveport office, should not be ignored. Nor should they be forced to picket because their elected representative, Congressman McCrery, would not meet with them face to face.

It's time for change.