GOP says, "PLEASE, Please, Please Be Stupid"

While an Observer-Dispatch article by Bryon Ackerman is also an issue of the campaign newsletter from Congressional candidate Richard Hanna...

While the OD, Hanna, and the NRCC don't know the difference between a correlation and a causation...

While Hanna's stands on any issue is left to the interpretation of what his endorsers say... (and if you think that statement's hard to grasp, try looking up any of the following on Hanna's campaign website: education, health care, tax, immigration, war or any other issue that's important to you.)

let's take a look at what Open Secrets offers (on Oct 22, 2008, 11:55PM):

Self-financing:
Arcuri: 0%
Hanna: 49%
This simply shows that if Hanna were not supporting himself, just short of HALF OF HIS SUPPORT would be gone.

Top Contributors (categorized by me, not Open Secrets):
Arcuri: political PACs, labor groups,
Hanna: privately owned companies, Exxon Mobil, Meryl Lynch
I'd rather have the support of people who work for the betterment of others rather than the likes of Exxon Mobil. And seriously, Hanna bellyaching about Fannie Mae while taking money from Meryl Lynch would be just as crazy as McCain calling Obama a pop star while his own VP shops like Paris Hilton. OH. Oopps!

Quality of Disclosure:
Arcuri: Full Disclosure 94.4% Incomplete 0.0% None 5.6%
Hanna: Full Disclosure 41.8% Incomplete 3.6% None 54.6%
FULL DISCLOSURE: Includes full name and occupation / employer
INCOMPLETE DISCLOSURE: Occupation listed gives no indication what the person does for a living. Examples of unacceptably vague disclosures are such "occupations" as "businessman", "entrepreneur", "self-employed", and "executive".
NO DISCLOSURE: No information about the donor's employer and / or occupation was listed.
Seeing this was what prompted this postcard. When Hanna kept repeating "I don't know" at the debate last week, he really meant it when it came to his donors.
The FEC requires this information, it's super simple to collect, and it discloses the industry incentives supporting a candidate. What 54.6% of that is being hidden from the voters 13 days before the Election?

I don't understand the GOP's desire, assumption and need for Americans to be stupid. You'd think that anyone would instead expect and demand rational thinking and intelligence from voters, candidates, students, mothers, fathers, teachers, doctors, snow-plow driver and everyone else on the planet.

Hanna may be new to actively doing something in the community but he sounds like the same ol GOP.
Maimun

"Incredibly deceiving"

That is the result of WKTV's Truth Test on Richard Hanna's latest ad. Well, Richard Hanna and the NRCC. Remember the NRCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee? In case you need reminders:

here
and here
and here
and here

This latest ad is not posted on the Hanna website, so you'll have to see it on the WKTV report. You can also read the text. At least this one is child and family safe.

Mike Arcuri's ads are also Truth Tested by WKTV. I think the easiest way to find all of the test results is by searching 'Truth Test Arcuri Hanna.'

Maimun

They fail to lead by example.... unless this really is what they seek

I finally got a chance to see the Arcuri-Hanna News 10 Now debate and was saddened to see Hanna drinking from the Pailin coolaid that makes the speaker repeatedly squawk out a memorized phrase regardless of context and sounding no better than a wind-up mechanical parrot.

I say saddened because I'm somewhat familiar with Hanna's generosity, especially in support of women. The YWCA honored him for his check-writing tradition (though in a Church Lady Isn't That Special moment, the event program (identified as an "ad") also identifies that he's the sponsor of the lunchon). Supporting the groups that do the work to help others is vital to those groups doing the work. And a good donor, like a good business man, needs to be able to pick and choose what he's doing with his money.

But supporting, sponsoring and donating are very different tasks from doing work. Hanna got a thank you for the checks he wrote.

Michael Arcuri was thanked for the work he did. As the first male selected as the Mohawk Valley Person of the Year by the same above named YWCA, his work in battling and prosecuting domestic violence and child abuse reached far beyond cash.

The list of things Congressman Arcuri has done to better this region since he was elected to Congress is long and far more than I want to capture in this little postcard. But things that are especially dear to me are his support of increased Student Aid, increasing the minimum wage and mental health parity.

I know what Michael Arcuri has done and what he seeks to do. You can see it yourself here on his website. If you can find Hanna's list on his website (where I just clicked on every link), would you please post it in a comment?

That's the difference between making something and making out a check.

Onto national politics... I'll leave it to Keith Olbermann who said it better than I:



Maimun

Now it's a Question of Judgment

(available here)

(free to borrow for Web)

I really didn't question his judgment until he picked her for his Vice President.

I've shared my opinion about how Republicans think of women, but what is it with Republican women??

"Just a hockey mom." HER words, not mine. "Just" a mom is offensive and sexist. Being a good parents and raising children well can be the biggest change a person makes on the planet. There is nothing "just" about that and dismissing that work is a sign of a dilettante who's children probably are better off being raised by a professional nanny. Real moms know there is no such thing as "just a mom."

Anti-Choice, no exemptions. I don't understand women who would insist that a women who is a victim of rape carry a resulting pregnancy to term. This is beyond 'blame the victim' this is punish the slut who deserved it. And her baby too. For the last 32 years (yes, that's THIRTY-TWO YEARS), Alaska has ranked in the top 5 states with the highest rates in the nation of reported rapes. Six times the national average rate of child sexual assault. Oh, and if you are raped and want a rape kit done, be sure to grab your wallet on the way to the hospital since you had to buy the rape kit so the police can collect the evidence.

'Health care must be market and business driven.' Really? And just which corporation would you trust making healthcare choices for you and your family? Enron, Exon, Halliburton. One policy fits all... Stay healthy!

and be scared.... very scared.
Maimun