Answering Dino Rossi's latest letter.

Dino Rossi's campaign is so badly organized, they actually sent ME a fundraising letter. Here's my answer:

Brick by brick, the conservative movement is trying to take apart the foundation of our nation's future. The trillions of dollars that goes through our Federal Government provide that foundation, and Dino Rossi and his conservative allies think that it is too much. They believe that the Health Care legislation that passed cost too much. They claim that the IRS will need to hire more people to collect the taxes. That's a lie.

They claim that the first set of stimulus money "has doubled our national debt". That's a lie. The conservative Heritage Foundation report that was the source of that claim said that if nothing was done that would be the result over the next decade. Rossi puts that doubling in the past tense. We intend to do something to balance the budget, pay OFF the deficit, and pay down the debt. And we're willing to do it without destroying our country and hurting our people.

Rossi claims that the stimulus plan failed to create jobs. The Congressional Budget Office believes otherwise, that the stimulus may have created up to 3.3 million jobs. So Rossi is lying again here.

Rossi claims that the government "took over car companies". That's a lie. GM is doing an IPO over the next few months so that the government can sell the shares it owns after the bankruptcy saved the company from extinction, and maybe even make money on the sale of that stock.

The policy of giving money to banks, insurance companies and Wall Street was a $700B boondoggle that came from a Republican Treasury Secretary under a Republican President. I agree that it was a bad idea. But is Dino so completely stupid that he believes that the Federal Government should be able to tell those companies that they are not allowed to give bonuses to their executives? He needs to make up his mind.

Rossi talks about the expiring tax cuts affecting the "average family". If Bill Gates walks into a bar, I'll bet the average income of the bar will increase as well. If Republicans are going to complain about the debt and the deficit, then they are being hypocrtical by only looking at one side of the equation. We need to pass I-1098 so that the people who won't be hurt by taxes can help pay the taxes.

America is at a crossroads. We can either continue to move forward, or we can put the country in reverse. Much of what has happened over the first year and a half of President Obama's term has been moving in the right direction. Personally, I don't think it's far enough, and certainly not fast enough. But one step forward is better than 8 years of goosesteps in the wrong direction.

The Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution has been introduced before. It's a crock, designed to be a nice talking point during the election. The truth of such a requirement is that it would destroy our country. In the United States, We the People are the government. So when conservatives say, quite seriously, that they want to drown the government in a bathtub, what they are saying is that they want to drown the people of the United States in their own debt. People who don't believe in government have no business running for office.

Rossi says that healthcare is too costly. He has never had cancer. He doesn't have a child with severe disabilities. Dino Rossi doesn't care about health care expenses because he has never had to pay them. He has no idea why people need help paying for their health care expenses because he has never needed help.

Rossi whines about $11 Billion in earmarks, which is less than 1% of the total budget. I don't think he has his priorities in order.

Dino Rossi can count on my help to send him back to the private sector, so he can continue to make money off the forclosures that are driving our fellow citizens out of their homes because the private sector has failed to use the Trillions of dollars at their disposal to hire people at a living wage. Third time's a charm, Dino. I hope this is the last time any of us ever see your name on a ballot.

I'll say again, people who don't believe in government have no business running for office. If the private sector is capable of doing everything, why hasn't it? Because it's another lie.

There is not one shred of truth to anything that Dino Rossi says when he talks about his values. He doesn't care about people, he cares about money. That's why he's asking for our money so he can help defeat our values in Washington DC.

Don't give him the time of day.

Chad Lupkes
Chair, 46th District Democrats