Election 2008: Voters Face Significant Issues

James Bailey Brislin
The Carpet City Chronicle

The Enfield Press, October 30, 2008

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.“
—Karl Marx

“Share Our Wealth“
—Slogan of Huey Long

“I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.“
—Barack Obama

“Barack Obama’s tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington.“
—John McCain

In a few days, we will drive to the polls, obtain a ballot, and in the privacy of a voting booth decide the future of our great country.

After years of benign neglect, America’s long slumber has come to an end. Never have the stakes been higher!

Connecticut voters face a once-in-two-decades opportunity to call a Constitutional Convention to overturn the State Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage.

We are one U.S. Supreme Court Justice away from reversing Roe v. Wade and dethroning abortion-on-demand as a Constitutional “right”.

The military that sustained the Pax Americana and paved the way for the unprecedented prosperity and cooperation wrought by globalization finds itself threatened by international terrorism.

Our financial markets are assailed by the writedowns and credit crunch created by the crash of the housing bubble.

The global financial crisis has battered and destabilized the international monetary system.

Americans totter atop a mountain of personal and government debt.

The federal government stands poised to nationalize significant portions of our economy in the name of “bailout”.

The choices are clear. A vote for McCain is a vote for strict constructionist judges, traditional values, foreign policy experience, and sound fiscal and monetary policy. A vote for Obama is a vote for abortion-on-demand, union rules that inhibit freedom of conscience and hurt business, isolationist trade policy, and unsound fiscal and monetary policy.

Earlier this year, it was suggested in this newspaper that Barack Obama was the new John F. Kennedy. The events of recent months commend a very different comparison. In Obama’s “citizens of the world” speech in Berlin and rally in St. Louis, I cannot help but see echoes of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. If that were not enough, Obama is poised to push economic policies that resemble the nationalist, corporatist, statist economic policies of Benito Mussolini.

Although the presidential election is getting the most attention, it is not the only race with which we should be concerned. Incumbent Rep. Joe Courtney faces a fierce challenge from Capt. Sean Sullivan, USN-Ret. Sullivan is the retired commander of the Groton submarine base. Sullivan is running on a platform of increased energy production, with a special focus on nuclear power. His experience serving as the captain of a Los Angeles class submarine uniquely positions him to discuss the advantages and safety of nuclear power.

Following a series of early missteps, Courtney faces an uphill battle in Enfield. Sources inside the Democratic Town Committee have confirmed to me that Courtney absented himself from Enfield for much of 2007 to avoid public appearances with former Mayor Patrick Tallarita. In a move that many viewed as vindictive, Courtney moved the Congressional field office from a Thompsonville storefront into a former Republican election headquarters in a Hazardville mini-mall. Unlike Courtney, Sullivan understands the urgent need to revitalize Thompsonville and if elected is prepared to return the Congressional office to a downtown location.

Sullivan understands that reducing corporate income taxes is the key to long-term job growth and is prepared to fight for the tax and spending cuts necessary to return the country to prosperity. Sullivan also stands in opposition to the Congressional earmark process. Joe Courtney openly boasts about his exploitation of the earmark process and close ties to pork king John Murtha. Instead of getting rid of earmarks, this Congress has used them to pile on yet more pork.

However, it is the state races that have some of the highest stakes. Will we reestablish the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman or will we let radical homosexual activists run roughshod over the fundamental institution upon which Western Civilization is based? Will we respond to the current state budget deficit with belt-tightening or tax increases? Will we promote the growth of jobs and population or will we continue to twiddle our thumbs while jobs and population leave Connecticut?

Your current state representatives- Karen Jarmoc and Kathy Tallarita run on a record of broken promises, poor representation, and callous indifference to the needs and wants of Enfield residents.

At a business forum held earlier this year, Jarmoc and Tallarita promised to eliminate the business entity tax- an annual $250 tax assessed on every company and corporation registered to do business in Connecticut. Small businesses that operate with marginal profits are particularly hurt by this tax. Jarmoc and Tallarita failed to follow through with this promise; the legislative session ended with no reduction or elimination of the business entity tax.

Instead of pursuing a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda, Tallarita and Jarmoc have allowed pet-causes to dominate their time in the legislature.

In the “Legislative Achievements” section of a recent advertisement, Jarmoc does not mention a single bill.

Tallarita co-sponsored the Transgender Special Rights Bill, a piece of legislation that would limit the ability of employers to dictate employee dress in the name of “equality”. The Family Institute of Connecticut opposed the bill on the grounds that it would pave the way for “transgender” classroom teachers to engage in cross-dressing!

Tallarita and Jarmoc also voted for the notorious Plan B Bill, which forced Catholic hospitals to distribute an abortifacient pill. This vote was an insult to the many committed Catholics who live in Enfield. Additionally, the precedent set by this bill should disturb all of us. If the General Assembly can force Catholic hospitals to distribute Plan B, what is there to stop it from forcing Catholic hospitals to provide abortions? What else can the General Assembly do to trample the religious liberty of Catholic institutions?

Sue Lavelli-Hozempa, Bill Ballard, and John Kissel will remember the Enfield residents who send them to Hartford, not the monied special interests that control the Connecticut Democrats. They stand ready to fight for traditional values and pro-growth economic policies.

Perhaps the most important measure on your ballot is Question 1, “Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?”

If you want to reestablish traditional marriage, you need to Vote Yes on “Question 1″.

Do not be fooled by the many television commercials against the Constitutional Convention starring Attorney General Blumenthal that make use of the bandwagon effect. These commercials are substantially bankrolled by the public employee unions, Love Makes a Family and Planned Parenthood- chief backers of the Connecticut Democrats.

Initiative and referendum would effectively undermine the lobbyist-legislature power structure and reduce the influence that these groups have in Hartford. Initiative and referendum would pave the way for a number of other causes such as term limits, a three strikes law, eminent domain reform, and limits on property tax increases. This year, Massachusetts residents will vote on a referendum question to eliminate the state income tax. Would you like to vote to eliminate the state income tax or cap property taxes? If so, then vote yes on Question 1.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. For information on where to vote, see the Town website at http://www.enfield-ct.gov/.

Most importantly, make sure that you go vote. Countless generations of Americans have shed their blood to defend this right. By voting you give tribute to these sacrifices and show that they were not in vain.