I received a chain e-mail today, even though I ask not to be included on them. It was another "why you should vote out Democrats" appeal designed to be reactionary without providing real facts. I've responded to them before (yes, with a "respond to all"), so most folks have learned to at least blind copy recipients when I'm included on the list. Not today.
I'm sharing this in case anyone receives a similar last ditch Republican attempt before November 7th. Feel free to use any or all of my response if you find it helpful. Follow me below the fold for the details.
The original e-mail has a subject line of "VOTES???". It's body was:
Shocking Senatorial Votes
"Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their
level and beat you with experience." ~ anonymous
The following senators voted against making English the
official language of America:
Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)
Now, these are the senators who voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits. Regardless of political party, these politicians need to be defeated in 2006, 2008 or 2010, whenever they come up for office. They are grouped by home state. If a state is not listed, there was no voting representative.
Alaska: Stevens (R)
Arizona: McCain (R)
Arkansas : Lincoln (D) Pryor (D)
California : Boxer (D) Feinstein (D)
Colorado: Salazar (D)
Connecticut: Dodd (D) Lieberman (D)
Delaware : Biden (D) Carper (D)
Florida : Martinez (R)
Hawaii: Akaka (D) Inouye (D)
Illinois : Durbin (D) Obama (D)
Indiana: Bayh (D) Lugar (R)
Iowa : Harkin (D)
Kansas: Brownback (R)
Louisiana: Landrieu (D)
Maryland : Mikulski (D) Sarbanes (D)
Massachusetts : Kennedy (D) Kerry (D)
Montana: Baucus (D)
Nebraska: Hagel (R)
Nevada : Reid (D)
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D) Menendez (D)
New Mexico : Bingaman (D)
New York: Clinton (D) Schumer (D)
North Dakota : Dorgan (D)
Ohio: DeWine (R) Voinovich(R)
Oregon : Wyden (D)
Pennsylvania: Specter (R)
Rhode Island : Chafee (R) Reed (D)
South Carolina : Graham (R)
South Dakota: Johnson (D)
Vermont: Jeffords (I) Leahy (D)
Washington : Cantwell (D) Murray (D)
West Virginia : Rockefeller (D), by Not Voting
Wisconsin: Feingold (D) Kohl (D)
SEND THIS TO ALL YOU KNOW. THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION, UNLESS THEY
DON'T MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN
WORKERS, WHEN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT!
Here is my reply:
Please, everyone THINK before you just REACT to an e-mail that only gives you limited information on a complex subject. Immigration has much nuance -- there is no black and white answer.
I suspect, based on the clear targeting of Democrats, that whomever started this e-mail is a Republican since it appears to be clearly designed to remove Democrats from office.
I will remind you of some matters that may be more important in your decision on whom to vote for this November and in 2008:
- How do you feel about a balanced budget? President Bush has increased deficit spending by more than all previous Presidents COMBINED. When he took office, the U.S. Treasury had a significant surplus and it was expected that the entire deficit would be eliminated within 10 years. We now have the highest deficit ever -- and it's even more significant when you think of how much surplus had to be eliminated before we reached deficit spending again.
- How do you feel about the conflict in Iraq? Almost 3,000 U.S. service men and women have been killed so far; tens of thousands more have been disabled; mental health benefits have been cut for returning service personnel at a time when cases of mental health issues are at their highest point EVER in military conflict; many service personnel are on their second or third tours of duty; and the U.S. government (by way of your taxes) is spending BILLIONS of dollars every month in Iraq. And, all of this while Afghanistan is returning to Taliban control and Osama bin Laden has not been captured.
- How do you feel about taxes? You may like the idea of tax decreases -- most folks do -- but the tax cuts that have been passed over the past six years have gone primarily to the top .05% of wage earners in the U.S. That's less than 1% of the population that benefited.
- How do you feel about housing? The housing market has been on a bubble for so long that many families can no longer afford to purchase a house in a reasonable neighborhood. Those that did purchases houses in the 1990's and saw the value of their homes skyrocket -- and who, as a consequence, took out risky home loans and spent well beyond their means -- are now seeing their home values plummet. The bankruptcy bill passed by the Republican Congress will mean that those families will have little protection for financial reorganization when they can no longer afford the lifestyles they've been enjoying on credit.
- How do you feel about health care? Tens of millions of U.S. citizens have no health care. Millions of children in the U.S. have no health care. The U.S. is the ONLY first world country that does not provide guaranteed health benefits to its citizens. See above for consequences of catastrophic health issues, as the Republican Congress refused to exempt health costs from the bankruptcy bill it passed.
- How do you feel about the elderly people in your family? How many of them are on Medicare and have reached the "doughnut hole" in benefits where they have to pay for their prescriptions with no government benefits for the next several thousand dollars because the Republican Congress inserted the language WRITTEN BY the pharmaceutical and medical provider companies that allows for a lapse of coverage in the middle of Medicare terms? How about the language they inserted that refuses to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices? Medicare is, after all, the largest purchaser of prescription drugs so they have the most clout for demanding lower prices for their members -- but the Republican Congress made it ILLEGAL for Medicare to do so, resulting in higher prescription prices that are passed on to Medicare recipients each year in increases.
- How do you feel about homeland security? The Republican Congress likes to claim superiority over Democrats when it comes to protecting the U.S. borders and its citizens. But, September 11, 2001, happened during President Bush's term in office. He, and his senior staff, were repeatedly warned about the possibility of such an attack, but they determined that nuclear weapons were more important than such an event. In fact, they DEMANDED that Congress move money from border security and terrorism efforts to fighting nuclear efforts of other countries. North Korea just claimed they've tested a nuclear bomb. Pakistan, Iran and India all have nuclear programs. Border security and port security is reactionary and little money has been targeted to fixing those issues. We are not safer on terrorism nor nuclear threats.
- How do you feel about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Do you think ANYONE should have the right to be able to remove you from your home, hold you in prison, torture you, deny you legal representation, and refuse to allow you to know the charges against you? The legislation just passed by the Republican Congress and signed in to law by President Bush does just that. And, IT CAN BE DONE TO ANYONE -- U.S. CITIZEN OR NOT -- whom President Bush feels is in ANY WAY involved in terrorism, and that definition was intentionally left vague. You could literally be taken from your home tonight with no search warrant, no judge's approval, no legal representation, and you could be held indefinitely with no information provided to your family.
- How do you feel about the safety of your children? The Republican Congress, for at least the past THREE years, has chosen to protect its majority at the expense of identifying and demanding the resignation of a Congressman who was exchanging inappropriate messages with teenage pages. Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned when the messages were made public. The Republican House of Representatives has been all over the media claiming it wasn't their fault that they didn't act on the information. And, former Rep. Foley will continue to collect a lifetime pension paid for with your tax dollars. How would you feel if the Republican leadership was the principal of your child's school and nothing was done about a counselor sending similar messages to your child?
I could go on for four or five more topics, but the important part of this message is to BE INFORMED of what is going on in your country. Regardless of your political party or whether your views are conservative, moderate, liberal or a hybrid, it's important to know the FACTS.
Please, be informed, rather than being reactionary. If immigration is your hot topic and what's going to cause you to vote for one candidate over another, read the legislation that was passed as well as the amendments that were offered by everyone. You can do so at http://thomas.loc.gov/ -- The Library of Congress web site. It includes the bills as well as how each Senator and Representative voted on every vote. And, then decide based on truth rather than chain e-mail spin.
Please forward this message to anyone whom you also forwarded the original message below. Also, MOM!, please send this message to the original person who sent it to you, along with anyone else on that person's distribution list. (Mom, please send to FatCat1954 since that was blocked for me. Thanks!)
Regards! And, don't forget to vote on November 7th! (And, I mean that whether you agree with my views or not. Every vote is important. Those before us fought too hard for us to have the right for us to take it for granted.)
Seemed like a good entry for a first ever DKos diary.