As part of my campaign for Congress, you’ve seen me on TV talking about taking away President Obama’s checkbook. In a 30 second spot you can’t get into much detail, but on the issue of government spending the solutions are simple and clear. Our government has lost its way and jumped the tracks on fiscal sanity. Today in Washington there seems to be a rush to spend as much money as possible, without regard for the long term destruction it will have on our economy and the burden it will place on our children.

We won’t get it fixed overnight, but we have to start with getting spending under control. All politicians talk about cutting spending. It’s a line we hear every campaign. But it never really seems to happen. Pork projects add up, members depend on the money they pump into their districts for popularity, and the problem just gets worse.

So what do we do? In my view, the first step is eliminating earmarks. During this race, you’ve heard other candidates defend earmarks as the only way to get money for important projects. I disagree. You’ve also heard candidates say they “stand against” earmarks one day and tell you they want to keep the pork coming “under the current system” the next. I have been consistent. Ban earmarks. Do not reform them. Do not limit them. If our representatives are going to show the nation they are serious about spending, then earmarks must end.

We must also be able to point to specific cuts in the budget to show our determination to deal with our debt and deficits. From examples as large as eliminating over payments for Medicare that will save billions, to eliminating the Federal Highway Administration's National (FHWA) Recreational Trails Fund that would save $250 million over five years. We must be willing to say we can’t afford some of these projects in the current environment. There should be no project too large or too small to escape review to determine if it is needed and working. Our government does not need 49 separate job training programs. We can’t afford $820 million in one year for federal transportation funding of landscaping, museums, and other transportation “enhancements.”

My goal as your representative is simple. I will work with fiscally responsible members of congress to return sanity both to the way we spend your money and how much of it is spent. I don’t pretend we will get this mess cleaned up quickly, but we will get it done. My faith in our country and our people tells me they want accountable government. With your help and vote, we can give it to them.

Robin Smith
Hixson
Candidate for Congress

* * *

Who do you think you're fooling, Robin? You're coming mighty close to insulting the intelligence of our 3rd District citizens. It doesn't matter one iota what you think. The Party is going to do that for you. You sold you soul to the our party (Republican) over 20 years ago and it's bought and paid for.

You can't stop earmarks and you know it. All Congress has to do is tack it onto a very popular bill that you are obligated to vote for. There are many other ways the politicos can sneak unpopular items through. The system is designed by the Congress for the Congress.

If elected, you would be a freshman and one of 534 individuals that make the decisions that are good and bad for our country. If you do as you claim and refuse to compromise or vote for projects to help our district, then you serve no purpose for the 3rd District.

Please don't insult us any longer with your meaningless rhetoric.

Bill Watkins
watkins238@aol.com
Ooltewah

* * *

OK, say we wipe out earmarks all together as Mrs. Smith suggests. That's only about 1-2% of the total Federal budget. An even smaller drop in the bucket is the Recreational Trails Fund that Mrs. Smith mentioned which accounts for less that 0.0001% of our total budget and consists of Federal funds given to the states for trail maintenance and recreation for it's citizens. If we eliminate all the programs that send Federal money to the states, we might make a small dent in the Federal budget, but the state budgets would all suffer.

Any serious discussion of spending reduction should concentrate on the portions of the budget that consume the largest percentage of our taxes. Defense spending, for example, accounts for 20% of all our tax money so I would be interested to hear about what Mrs. Smith would cut there.

Social Security and Medicare are 33% of our Federal budget, and yet I don't hear much talk about cutting those.

Also, much of the President Obama's "spending" that Mrs. Smith talks about was in the stimulus bill which actually cut taxes for 95% of working Americans and saved or created millions of jobs. That isn't spending; that's investing. Thanks to the President's leadership we have come out of the recession and are in a period of economic recovery. We still have a way to go of course, and job growth is always the last thing to recover after a recession so the focus should be on job growth and not on stopping the investments that create jobs.

All we can expect from Mrs. Smith is a continuation of the Bush policies including more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Voters have a clear choice in the next two elections. We can continue on the road to recovery or we can turn around and go back to the same failed policies that got us into this mess to start with.

Bret Douglas
bretdouglas@live.com

* * *

Mr. Bret Douglas said in response to Robin Smith, "also, much of the President Obama's 'spending' that Mrs. Smith talks about was in the stimulus bill which actually cut taxes for 95% of working Americans and saved or created millions of jobs. That isn't spending; that's investing. Thanks to the President's leadership we have come out of the recession and are in a period of economic recovery. We still have a way to go of course, and job growth is always the last thing to recover after a recession so the focus should be on job growth and not on stopping the investments that create jobs."

My question is where is your proof or statistics for such a claim Mr. Douglas? You are constantly singing the praises of the "chosen one" as the tingle runs up your leg, but by any measure President Obama is eclipsing Jimmy Carter as the worst elected official in this nation's history. Another thing, he is destroying our nation in record time.

Sir Winston Churchill stated: "We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

I agree with him and not Obama's spending and so does the majority of common sense people in this nation and around the world. If you want facts, just look at his approval numbers after a year and a half of destruction.

Whether it be Robin Smith, or anyone else, they better use some common sense and take the government checkbook and credit cards to the shredder.

Joe Blevins
Guild, Tn.
autofashions@aol.com