With the golden boy of the left-wing bloggers defeated, the netroots of Western New York are now trying to drum up enthusiasm for Alice Kryzan.

For those Democrats who might be upset that Powers or Jack Davis didn’t win, let’s look at the other option: Chris Lee. In today’s Buffalo News, Lee gave us a lot of fodder. He said he supports the Bush tax cuts, which doesn’t surprise us as Lee is a millionaire and has received the tax breaks while the rest of Western New York’s middle class has picked up the slack for him. He also said that while he supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, he believes the timetable should be made by the military and not the politicians (even though it is the politicians who will need to set such a timetable). Lee also supports the same free trade practices that have hurt Western New York and shipped many of our jobs out of state or out of the country.

Okay, this is fairly standard Democrat talking points here. First, what Harding doesn’t see to understand is that Bush’s tax cuts took many lower income families off the tax rolls all together. Second, it was the Bush tax cuts that helped bring our economy out of recession and into a period of record breaking economic growth. Recycle these old ant-tax cut talking points even when they’ve been proven wrong repeatedly doesn’t exactly help your credibility.

Harding also ignores the positive impact of free trade on our economy while ignoring what really hurts it. Our economy, while currently struggle has staved off a recession, in part because of trade. Erecting economic barriers to international trade would most certainly worsen the problem, not make it better. As I’ve noted in the past, the raising of tariffs during the Great Depression did just that.

That’s just the facts.

Harding continues with a classic liberal straw man argument, blaming Tom Reynolds for everything he believes is wrong with the district:

So, as a Democrat, you have to ask yourself: Do you want two more years of Republican representation that has done nothing for NY-26? Do you want another representative in the mold of (and endorsed by) Tom Reynolds? If not, the only option is to vote for Alice Kryzan. If you want to continue the abysmal Republican leadership here in NY-26, you will vote for Chris Lee. It’s that simple.

Harding may not like Tom Reynolds or the Republican Party, but that’s no reason to claim that he’s poorly represented the district or should be blamed for all the things Harding sees as wrong. The fact is, the local economy in Western New York is largely affected by local/state government. Western New York’s economy is being slowly suffocated by overregulation and overtaxation. And since the Democratic Party pretty much runs the state, Harding out to be directing blame towards his own party… but instead finds it more politically convenient to blame Reynolds, in the hopes that his readers will just swallow it up and repeat it.

But, facts are facts. And the liberal netroots will eventually figure out that if pointing fingers erroneously at Tom Reynolds is the best way they can drum up enthusiasm for Alice Kryzan,

It’s clear from Harding’s post that he thinks economic issues will be a big factor in the race for the 26th District. Well, then they out to start writing their concession speeches now. When it comes time to vote in November, who does he think voters will trust on economic issues? A successful businessman who understands what’s best for business, or a liberal trial lawyer who stands for the the same old overregulation and overtaxation that has kept Western New York’s economy down?

My money is on the successful businessman. 

Read Full Post »

Jack Davis may not have the guts to debate his primary opponents, but he certainly has no problem making a fool out of himself when he’s on his own. The Tonawanda News posted an “abbreviated version” of an interview with the Lockport Union Sun & Journal, and his responses sound silly and paranoid and more like a conspiracy theorist than a legitimate candidate for congress.

For one thing, his adamant opposition to free trade is just ignorant, and demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of economics. How he could possibly be against free trade, as an international businessman, just makes no sense, unless of course he just exploiting a liberal talking point to gain votes in the primary.

He also claimed that all the unions that endorsed Jon Powers would have endorsed him, but couldn’t. 

Q: Jon Powers has racked up a lot of labor endorsements. You have none. Why not?

A: You know about the Free Choice Rule? The way the present law is written, say if you would like to organize I Squared R, the Teamsters, the Auto Workers, people could do it on their own, you would have this little card and take it to the employees and say “we’d like to join the union, would you sign this card to have the Labor Relations Board come in here and run a secret ballot?” Some would sign, some would not. Some could be intimidated to sign. This “free choice” is, when you sign that, you have a union. It doesn’t protect the workers. I made my position clear on that and the unions said they couldn’t endorse me.

When I first talked to the unions in 2003, I was a non-union shop owner; I thought they’d throw things at me, but at the end of that meeting, they said, and I said, look we have differences. We should put our differences aside. We have to march on Washington and get this free trade problem straightened out. And they endorsed me. Twice. This time they said (Free Choice) was the criteria and I walked away from ‘em. They changed the rules.

And of course, he once again stated his intention to stay on the ballot under his “Save Jobs” party line if he doesn’t win the primary.

Q: If you don’t win the Democratic line, will you continue to campaign?

A: Yes, oh, definitely. This is too important to leave to the politicians. Our country is being destroyed. They’re still passing free trade agreements … . They’re paid off. I think a lot of ‘em know it’s wrong but they’re doing the wrong thing anyway. They got the money, they got re-elected and they don’t understand the seriousness of what’s going on here.

The only person who doesn’t understand things is Jack Davis. His opposition to free trade is just ignorant. The brilliant Thomas Sowell wrote a good piece defending free trade earlier this year… Jack Davis might learn a few things by reading it.

Read Full Post »

GDP data released today shows that the economy grew last quarter, albeit modestly. Economic stimulus checks and a 9.2% growth in exports hard warded off fears of a recession once again. According to Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor to John Mcain, “Absent strong growth in trade, the economy would have turned negative in the second quarter, contracting by 0.52% instead of growing 1.9%.”

The importance of trade to our economy is undeniable, yet, Jon Powers, Jack Davis, and Alice Kryzan oppose free trade agreements, which encourage trade between the United States and other countries. Not that they understand that.

Read Full Post »

Jon Powers, who has recently stepped up his criticisms of free trade policies which have actually contributed to economic in this country, took the opportunity of McCain’s visit to criticize Chris Lee for attending John McCain’s fundraiser at the Albright-Knox Monday night.

“Chris Lee was happy to appear with John McCain yesterday as he refused to talk to the voters of Western New York. Chris Lee must now respond to the unanswered questions and tell the voters what he will do to end the trade policies that have shipped Western New York jobs overseas,” said Powers for Congress Campaign Manager, John Gerken.

“Jon has been consistent in his opposition to the careless free trade policies of George Bush and John McCain. The working men and women of this district have recognized Jon’s commitment to saving jobs and we are proud to have their support.”

Now, the only free trade agreement mentioned on Jon Powers‘ website is NAFTA, which was enacted in 1994. Now, in case Jon Powers hasn’t been paying attention to history, George W. Bush wasn’t president in 1994 — Bill Clinton was… and further, NAFTA has enjoyed bipartisan support and praise. Despite this fact, Powers finds it easier to blame George W. Bush and John McCain.

Another supporter of NAFTA was Nancy Pelosi.  And the anti-free trade Jon Powers will be going to a DCCC fundraising event in Washington D.C. that is being hosted by the pro-free trade House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Will Jon Powers critcize Speaker Pelosi for her support of NAFTA?

And Nancy didn’t just endorse NAFTA, she pushed to get it passed, according this 1993 article from the San Francisco Chronicle (via LexisNexis): 

An influential friend of Clinton, Pelosi’s standing with the White House grew further in recent days, after she endorsed NAFTA and helped win other House members’ support.

How can Powers criticize John McCain and George W. Bush for supporting NAFTA with claims that it “shipped Western New York jobs overseas,”  and still attend Pelosi’s fundraiser for the DCCC. I’m willing to bet a lot of money that he’s not going to criticize Madame Speaker for her support and advocacy of NAFTA.

Another prominent Democrat who has supported NAFTA and free trade is Charles Rangel,  who is also joining Powers at the fundraiser next month. Powers probably won’t get into a debate with him over free trade either… we know he won’t return his money.

But, why should I be surprised that Jon Powers is a hypocrite? Hypocrisy is a prerequisite for joining the Democratic Party.

UPDATE, July 24, 2008: Monroe Rising has more…

Read Full Post »

On the campaign trail, Jack Davis touts his credentials as a businessman, but his rhetoric on the economy suggests he knows as much about business and economic as I know about brain surgery:

Congressman hopeful Jack Davis stood outside the former injected rubber plant on Platt Street in Albion on Thursday morning with a political message.

“Free trade is not free,” he began. A placard on his podium read “Save Jobs,” the Democrat’s campaign mot

to. “It’s time to put working people first.”

GM, Ford and Chrysler have announced the closing of more plants, he said. The loss of jobs is devastating to families.

“In our region, too many working men and women have had to explain to their families that they lost their job because it was cheaper to do the work in China or Mexico,” Davis said. “We don’t need more of the same policies that have given us the worst economy since the Great Depression.”

The worst economy since the Great Depression? If Jack Davis thinks the current economy bears any resemblance to the economy during the Great Depression or can justifiably be compared to it, then he’s just crazy, especially if he’s going to blame free trade. The raising of tariffs during the Great Depression significantly reduced international trade, making the depression even worse.

Ending free trade would effectively impose a tax increase on other countries, which would discourage trade between the United States and foreign countries, and causes prices of goods to just go up. 

The solution, he believes, is good-paying jobs that will keep taxes low and communities safe. Lobbyists, corporations and trade associations have too much power in Washington as they push Congress to pass more free trade deals, he said. 

“Special interest money doesn’t impre

ss me,” Davis said. “I am the only candidate to have joined Barack Obama in rejecting lobbyist and PAC money for my campaign, and I am the only candidate pledging to work for a dollar a year. … We cannot keep doing the same thing … and expect different results.”

It’s amusing to see Jack Davis trying to ride on Obama’s coattails, but let’s be honest here, if Jack Davis couldn’t afford to fund his own campaign then Jack Davis would be accepting campaign contributions from voters, lobbyists and PACs alike… just like Barack Obama, who, contrary to his own rhetoric, has enjoyed support from PACs and lobbyists:

Using campaign appearances, e-mails to supporters, and Iowa TV ads, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has repeatedly reminded voters that his presidential campaign does not accept contributions from lobbyists or political action committees, casting his decision as a noble departure from the ways of Washington.

[...]

But behind Obama’s campaign rhetoric about taking on special interests lies a more complicated truth. A [Boston] Globe review of Obama’s campaign finance records shows that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator in Illinois, a US senator, and a presidential aspirant.

In Obama’s eight years in the Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of the money he raised for his campaigns — $296,000 of $461,000 — came from PACs, corporate contributions, or unions, according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and many other corporate interests, the records show.

Obama’s US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. His $1.3 million from PACs represents 8 percent of what he has raised overall. Clinton’s Senate committee, by comparison, has raised $3 million from PACs, 4 percent of her total amount raised, the group said.

In addition, Obama’s own federal PAC, Hopefund, took in $115,000 from 56 PACs in the 2005-2006 election cycle out of $4.4 million the PAC raised, according to CQ MoneyLine, which collects Federal Election Commission data. Obama then used those PAC contributions — including thousands from defense contractors, law firms, and the securities and insurance industries — to build support for his presidential run by making donations to Democratic Party organizations and candidates around the country.

And, oh yes, even Obama’s presidential campaign has ties to lobbyists that cannot be ignored:

Though Obama has returned thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from registered federal lobbyists since he declared his candidacy in February [2007], his presidential campaign has maintained ties with lobbyists and lobbying firms to help raise some of the $58.9 million he collected through the first six months of 2007. Obama has raised more than $1.4 million from members of law and consultancy firms led by partners who are lobbyists, The Los Angeles Times reported last week. And The Hill, a Washington newspaper, reported earlier this year that Obama’s campaign had reached out to lobbyists’ networks to use their contacts to help build his fund-raising base.

If Jack Davis wasn’t funding his own campaign and refusing lobbyist and PAC money at the same time, then it be more fair of him to criticize his opponents for not doing the same. And while his criticisms of Jon Powers for taking contributions from strip-club owner Rick Snowden are legitimate criticisms, he would have gladly accepted the sleazy money if he had to raise money for his own campaign. 

Read Full Post »