You know what push-polling is, right? It's when veiled operatives for one political party or the other calls you on the phone, posing as a legitimate polling org., and lies about the guy they want to beat. Got this e-mail just now from a Watauga County voter:Just got an automated push-poll slamming Jimmy Love. It came from 404-225-5556. After asking a bunch of questions about party affiliation and likelihood of voting, it followed with questions like "Would you be more or less likely to vote for Jimmy Love if you knew he voted to raise taxes by $1 billion?" Then there was another one about his support for rapists...and at that point I hung up.
Jimmy Love? He's a member of the NC House representing Lee and Harnett counties. Don't know Mr. Love -- in fact, can't remember ever hearing of him -- but I'm certainly glad to know that he wanted to raise my taxes by $1 billion and helps facilitate rapists.
The number the call was coming from is a land-line based in Atlanta ... hired guns, no doubt, of the Republican House Caucus or the NC GOP or who-knows-who? But whoever IS paying the bill for this slime ought to look into the effectiveness of what their money is buying ... that a voter in House Dist. 93 is getting a call about House Dist. 51.
This attack on Jimmy Love by fake pollsters is undoubtedly only the tip of the oil-slick. If they're trashing Mr. Love, they're probably also trashing Cullie Tarleton and Steve Goss. You betcha.
P.S. and incidentally: If Steve Goss's Watauga Republican opponent Dan Soucek is in fact "a small businessman," the NC Secretary of State's office has no record of his registering to do business. At least, so far as I could find.
JW- Obviously you don't know what a push poll is. Look back at all your claims of pushing polling... For example, Jerry Butler would have polled the following: Would you be more or less likely to vote for Butler if you knew he lost his license for false advertising? That isn't a "push poll" against Butler.
ReplyDeleteAny educated candidate would like to know their own strengths and weaknesses. That is why you poll the most negative thing an oppositing candidate can say about you. It isn't push polling... It is being prepared. I would wager the poll that you mention was conducted by
Cullie.
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ReplyDelete<p><span><span>Let my record speak for itself</span></span>
<span>Editor:</span>
It's common enough in the world of politics for the facts to be lined up or twisted for partisan advantage. And most readers are discerning enough to take politically oriented letters to the editor with a grain or two of salt.
That's why I typically don't respond to partisan letters that appear in the pages of the newspaper. But recently a reader wrote a letter so loaded, in my opinion, with falsehoods passed off as facts that a response is in order.
In the letter, Diane Tilson, the chairwoman of the local Democratic Party, claimed that my "plan" to "fix" Social Security and Medicare was to "cut Medicare benefits, up the age of eligibility, raise taxes on working Americans and privatize social security". I had to read those outrageous falsehoods several times to ensure she was talking about my "plan".
What Ms. Tilson got right was that these programs need to be reformed, since they are headed towards bankruptcy on their current course. Other than that, her statements were completely fabricated.
To illustrate, think back to last fall's debate over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health care bill. One of the reasons I opposed that legislation was because it included such large cuts to Medicare-especially to Medicare Advantage. More than 40,000 seniors in the area I represent participate in Medicare Advantage and would have been affected by those cuts. Thousands of them called and wrote to urge me to oppose the cuts.
Another reason I didn't support Speaker Pelosi's health care bill? It levied a 2.5-percent tax on working Americans who did not sign up for the health insurance plans in her bill. Under the health care bill many families would end up paying the tax rather than purchasing health insurance they either don't want or can't afford.
I'll be perfectly clear. My plan is not to cut Medicare benefits, or raise the age of eligibility, or raise taxes, or "privatize" social security. As the recent debate over the Pelosi healthcare bill reveals, policies like cutting Medicare benefits or increasing taxes on working Americans are the very things that kept me from supporting the bill.
So I'll let my record speak for itself-instead of letting the chairwoman of the local Democratic Party speak for me.
As the old saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
<span>U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx</span>
</p>
Mrs. Foxx has made it abundantly clear that she opposes any government measures that promote the general welfare, while she supports across the board any legislation that provides welfare to corporations and the already wealthy class. She has consistently voted in support of legislation that violates the first amendment (she supported a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning) and the 4th amendment ( such as the egregious provisions in the patriot act). She voted against measures to extend the AMT, which would have provided tax relief to middle class Americans. She consistently supports tax relief to corporations and the wealthy.
ReplyDeleteThis website provides an excellent synopsis of her stance on the issues. http://www.ontheissues.org/NC/Virginia_Foxx.htm#Social_Security
It's hard to imagine how she could be any more blatantly evil.
look
ReplyDeleteAbundantly!
ReplyDeleteTo Guest:
LOOK:<img></img>
(Forgive me if anyone else is offended. It was just too good to pass up. :-D )
Thanks for the link Bridle.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Foxx voted NO on extending unemployment benefits and NO on increasing the minimum wage to $7.25. Whey do the people of this district keep electing someone who does not have their best interests in mind?
Social Security seems to be the only topic with no recorded stance. Odd.
I hope Virginia Foxx will tell us about her plan for reforming Social Security since in her own words it is headed for bankruptcy on his current course. I am listening.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to be kidding me guest. You really believe the line of bull your feeding everyone about push polling? Why would a canidate knowingly trash himself/herself to get a feel for how negative would play? You haven't worked on many campaigns have you?
ReplyDeleteIt would just put ideas in their heads. That seems like a dumb thing to do.
ReplyDeleteCamelot:
ReplyDeleteGuest really is a political neophyte if he believes his own nonsense.
I'd say guest is a ringer....That Whitener dude Virginia put in charge of the local GOP?
ReplyDeleteAnd Virginia's stance on Social Security is well-recorded. She was in favor of privatizing it (i.e. putting our money in the hands of Wall St.....GREAT idea, dontcha think? <lol>) and has publicly said she thinks people should be "weaned off" government programs like that.
Great. My mother should learn to live on what she was able to put by while raising 4 kids on a shoestring and keeping her bills up to date....guess she really doesn't need any of that nasty ol' medicine or any of that fattening ol' food.</lol>
<span> Gonorrhea Lectim</span>
ReplyDeleteOpinionated: You must be a sibling of mine! My mother accomplished the same, also with a sick husband and four children. Remarkable! Those folks knew how to budget. But the LAST thing my mom would do is hand over the family healthcare to Wall St.
ReplyDeleteOn a similiar note, it was a year or two ago Ginny was pushing G.I.'s to directly deposit their pay, combat and otherwise, directly into Wall St. accounts. When I criticised this impending fiasco, a local, retired Army Sargent blasted me for my comments against it. I DO hope he invested ALL his money! If you're still out there, Sargent, "Don't Mess With Karma!"
Chuckling.
ReplyDeleteatta boy biker.
ReplyDelete<span><span><span>Taking issue with Foxx, redux</span></span>
ReplyDelete<span>Editor: </span>
U.S. Rep. Foxx says my recent letter to the editor put words in her mouth, and that she never said she supported cutting Medicare benefits, raising the age of eligibility, raising taxes, or privatizing social security.
In my opinion? Yes, she did.
(1) On her Web site and in her recent newspaper column: "Ensuring the long-term viability of these programs will require difficult choices. You've probably heard the calculus for a healthy future for Social Security and Medicare. It's worth repeating, even if you've heard it before. It involves either scaling back benefits, increasing the age when beneficiaries are eligible or raising taxes on the working Americans...."[1]
And this:
(2) At The Mountain House in Boone: "'People have become too dependent on Social Security as their sole source of income after retirement.' Foxx explained, saying personal accounts would give people more control over their money and make them less dependent on government giving. 'We need a mindset change in the country.'" [2]
And this:
(3) At a Republican Party dinner: "She said the Republican plan would change the way people think about government and retirement, and wean people away from dependence on the federal government."[3]
And this:
(4) On the floor of the House of Representatives in 2005: "Allowing workers to place part of their Social Security money in a personal account with their name on it ensures that Congress will have to find the money (for social security) elsewhere."[4]
It's bad enough when folks say one thing and do another. It's even worse when Rep. Foxx says one thing and then denies she ever said it.
Sources: [1]http://foxx.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=57&parentid=54§iontree=54,57&itemid=1483
2 http://www.wataugademocrat.com/2005/0328web/foxx.php3
3 http://www.wataugademocrat.com/2005/0509web/Foxx.php3
4 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-h20050630-39, June 30, 2005
<span>Diane Tilson, Chair</span>
<span>Watauga County Democratic Party</span></span>
http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/editorial
when is foxy gonna wean agribusiness from the govenment dependency she detests, or do the same with haliburton or exxon. all of them get government assistance of many varieties. guess she just targets poor old people. there's some republican working for their consituients for you.
ReplyDeletewhere would the secure future of those over sixty be if the decider, with the willing assistance of foxy, be if social security had been privatized when they went after it in the bush regime? seen any great stock market returns when seen from 2000 to now? seems like it ain't even close, specially when inflation is factored in.
I just love it when anyone shows Foxx to be a liar by using her own words! It's sad, but I'm sure Foxx doesn't care.
ReplyDeleteShe will get the pension that all members of congress receive. And, she may have been a state employee long enough to get that pension too. She needs to wean herself!
ReplyDeleteShe has no problem herself, sucking off the government teat.
ReplyDeleteTo Guest/Aaron Whitener,
ReplyDeleteWhen Virginia Foxx placed you in charge of the GOP in Watauga County did that make you think you would be able to run roughshod over the rights of Watauga County residents? There is a growing movement amongst Watauga County residents that will soon spread to adjoining counties aimed at helping you vacate your lofty perch! When Virginia Foxx started the Blowing Rock Land Grab, she didn't feel the voices of locals mattered. Then when those locals began to question her motives (isn't VF's cousin a town councilmember?), she ignored them in the belief they would go away. She could not have been more wrong. How do you answer to that Mr. Whitener? Jeff Smith in N. Wilkesboro is going to give you all you can handle and hopefully put you out of a job.
"Do not confuse your vested interests with ethics. Do not identify the enemies of your privilege with the enemies of humanity." ~Max Lerner, Actions and Passions, 1949
ReplyDeleteI'm still pondering this one. Not sure I understand it.
ReplyDeleterv;
ReplyDeletean example would be, from what i take it to be; our national saviors, the gop, think their banking buddies are ethical and doing a service for humanity, hence the chairman of goldman sachs and his curious comments or our girl, virginia and her antics.
for the second half, we heard newt at the cpac convention, where ron paul got the best poll numbers as well as boos, tell the assembled "conservatives" that this was their chance to defeat the dread liberals for all time. i saw/understood newt in that statement to be telling the assembled chosen ones that the "left" as we experience it was the enemy of their privledge and therefore all of humanity.
I know Newt too well to believe a word out of his mouth. Newt moved South from PA to show all of us "ignorant southern rednecks" the error of our ways. He is, in my mind, the embodiment of everything that is wrong with American politics...wraps himself in the flag, talking populism, while pumping the system for all the money one man can rake in.
ReplyDeleteThe way he treated his wives is, frankly, an example of how he treats the American voters....reminds me of the Dire Straights line, "money for nothing and your chicks for free."
Push polling is in fact a way to test negatives, but usually not on one's on campaign. It's a way to test negative messages possibly to be used against opponents. The potential of starting nasty rumors is a positive side effect, but it is definitely true that push polls have a real information-seeking purpose. I'm not saying I think they're ethical, but those who think they're merely a way of starting nasty rumors are wrong.
ReplyDeleteopinionated;
ReplyDeletei agree that newt is scum. i wasn't quoting him from love or respect. only as one might quote nixon or reagan in a similar usage in spite of their being reprehensible examples of god's love.
understood.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if anyone will read this since the thread's so old, but in regards the whole Dan Soucek businessman thing, this is from the Winston-Salem Journal.
ReplyDelete"When he thought that his area's trash collection was lousy, Soucek started a small residential trash service to do it himself. He said he favors market-based solutions to problems."
Can't say I'm a customer, but it sounds like a proactive small-scale response to a small-scale problem rather thana full-time business.
Cached at: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:YABj589gOaQJ:www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/oct/18/incumbents-challenged-in-watauga/+dan+soucek+garbage+collection&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=opera