David Carrier
Senator Don Benton
Although I am not in the 17th District, I feel compelled to address the Senate race there between incumbent Don Benton and challenger, David Carrier.
Benton has served us in numerous terms and desires for us to be able to keep more of our own money, as demonstrated in his July 22, 2008 comment to the RTC Board Meeting and several votes against increasing taxation of Washington Citizens.
Carrier states on his campaign site, “Taxes represent an investment in our future and our children’s future. They are the dues that we pay for education, public services, and infrastructure.”
He goes on to claim, “I support the recommendations of the Columbia River Crossing Task Force for the I-5 replacement bridge,” which include the prohibitively expensive boondoggle of “light rail” from Portland into the Clark College area, which will result in massive tax increases and tolls for what will undoubtedly be a minimal rider ship.
To support this view he quotes a questionable poll, “Recent polls show that a majority of Vancouver residents want to replace the bridge and include public transit.” This poll was a telephone survey of 504 randomly selected households in four counties, three of which are in Oregon. Of the 504 respondents, only 104 actually live in Clark County.
Do you feel 104 accurately represents the thoughts of over 400,000 Clark County residents? Don’t forget, the last time it was brought before the voters, Light Rail was defeated by a 2 to 1 margin. And, Carrier wishes us to fall for we now want it because a majority of respondents in a shaky poll of mostly Oregon residents say they want it?
He goes on to tell us, “Washington’s tremendous wind and solar resources should be tapped to meet future demand for electricity. Wind power is already one of the fastest growing industries in the state, and it’s creating great new jobs.”
Solar resources in the Pacific Northwest? How many cloudy days of rain do we usually get a year? As for wind power, yes it is viable, but not without its own pitfalls. An August 17, 2008 CNN article warns that wind power brings both prosperity and anger to those near the windmills. It wasn’t all that long ago that Robert Kennedy Jr. visited our little community touting the benefits of wind power as an alternative energy source, but neglecting to mention that he and his famous liberal uncle, Ted Kennedy, opposed a windfarm in Nantucket Sound, their boating and pleasure area.
A British resident who recently visited America, Christopher Booker recently wrote in the UK Telegraph,
“Since America has already built five times as many wind turbines as Britain, covering thousands of square miles, I checked out how much electricity all those 10,000 turbines actually produce. The answer is around 4.5 gigawatts - not much more than a single large coal-fired power station.”
He doesn’t state where his figures are from, but that is a serious charge, if true.
And, where would Carrier have us place the Wind farm? The Columbia Gorge, where environmentalists won’t allow homes to be built on private land and where the desire to for the land to be kept “pristine?”
Why does it escape the liberal mind that drilling and refining our own oil sources, while we research and develop really viable alternative energy sources will satisfy our energy needs for years?
One of the most astounding, yet predictable charges he makes is, “Climate change is real, and it’s one of the planet’s greatest environmental threats.” Perhaps he missed or disregards that 31,000 Scientists reject the Global Warming Agenda? Or, that Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, who spent several years of his own life under Communist control sees that, “the global warming movement was based on shaky science, a distrust of free markets and a preference for central bureaucratic control over individual freedom.”
Does he not know that even very liberal New Jersey sees that New Scientific Data Justifies Repealing their Global Warming Response Act?
He does see that, “Our energy consumption caused [West Africans] to become ‘environmental refugees,’” joining the usual Liberal Klan of “Blame America First” for the worlds ills.
As we can expect from a ‘tax and spend liberal,’ he tells us,
“As an economist, I understand that the key to economic growth and security is to invest in our community. We need to provide quality education, job training, affordable housing and health care, and energy independence.”
And how does the liberal accomplish the above? By raising taxes, of course.
Oh sure, they tell us that they will only “tax the wealthy” some more. But, how much more do they intend to tax the wealthy that already pay the bulk of our taxes? Does he not know, as an “economist,” that taxing corporations is a tax on the people through increased prices and services? Corporations and businesses simply pass along taxes and other expenses in the price of the goods and services we purchase.
Finally, he states, “Conservative ideology doesn’t work.”
Odd that it worked and elevated America to the height it has attained for nearly 200 years, before the liberal hippie mindset infected our schools and institutions of higher learning. Odder still is that the Liberal Clintons made quite a bit of money under the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan.
Don’t be fooled by the glib words of liberals at any stage of government. They think they can rebuild the fallen Soviet Union, only better, if we all just give up our individual liberties, paychecks and lives and live as they say we should.
Carrier states, “I believe in the power of the human spirit,” neglecting that the socialism he advocates destroys that very spirit by “contributing to the common good.” Perhaps unbeknownst to him is that the teaching of “contributing to the common good” isn’t new.
It has been around since 1848 when the Communist Manifesto was published.
Let’s keep our freedoms and liberties and re-elect Don Benton to our State Senate.
