Dear Editor:
I recently received Ben Cline’s newsletter by email. In it he emphatically proclaims that he voted against the American Rescue Plan, the legislation recently signed by President Biden. The rationale for his NO vote (his emphasis) includes that it is too expensive (this from a man whose party enacted tax reform that primarily benefited the rich and corporations to the tune of $1.5 trillion in tax breaks), and that it goes beyond measures to address COVID (he excludes losing your job and the closure of schools as effects of the pandemic).
But let’s be clear about what Ben Cline voted against:
• Greater unemployment benefits to those who have lost their jobs,
• Direct payments to individuals in low- and middle-income households that have suffered economically,
• Tax credits for families with children that, along with the direct payments, will reduce child poverty by more than half,
• Financial assistance to help people stay in their homes,
• Financial assistance to help people who have lost or did not have health care insurance get it,
• Billions of additional dollars to reopen our K-12 schools, and
• Money to speed up vaccine distribution and covid testing to beat back the pandemic.
So, ask yourself this: How would you have wanted Ben Cline to vote? To help those who lost their jobs due to covid, to the reopening of our schools, to enabling more of us to stay in our homes and afford health care insurance, to support low- and moderate-income families with children, and to help our businesses survive the pandemic?
Or, for doing nothing?
Robert Taggart ~ Luray, Va.
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I would have wanted him to vote just as he did.
Anyone that did some research on the bill would come to the conclusion that about 9% of the money would be used for the items you described which I think most reasonable folks could agree to. It’s the 90% of pork bailing out areas that can’t or won’t be fiscally responsible.
I really don’t see the following few examples as being “COVID Relief”
Stimulus checks for state and federal inmates.
$360 billion for state and local bailouts that predominantly benefit liberal states.
Nearly $1 billion for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor railway, a woefully mismanaged public railway system.
$645 million for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute for Library and Museum Services.
$570 million paid leave benefit, available exclusively for federal employees to keep their children home when public schools refuse to reopen.
This bill was 600 pages long, Raises the national debt to 30 trillion.
My opinion is that if this trajectory of printing money continues our currency and credit will be worthless in the future and the resulting inflation should make that 100K or so in your 401k equal to a cup of coffee.
Fortunately we still can have opposing opinions and this is mine.
Almost as bad as the massively irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy that were the only legislative accomplishment of the Trump administration… Some estimates have it adding as much to the debt as the ARP will. Ah, the “Man of the People” from Manhattan & Mar-A-Lago!
Thank you, Mr. Taggert, for being astute enough to call a phony like Ben Cline a phony. Aside from being elected through the NRA’s influence, the facts of the last few years show that this individual has no business being a U.S. congressman. Lest you forget, this phony voted with Trump 95% of the time, almost never supported Democrat proposal, and supported Trump’s “Big Lie” to the bitter end, even when this so-called smart guy couldn’t even figure out that Trump lied about EVERYTHING regarding the presidential election. Imagine believing in Trump in view of NOT a single piece of evidence of fraud was ever produced. How did this guy graduate from law school?
And, lest all you trumpites might have forgotten, Ben Cline supported the Texas Attorney General’s lawsuit to overturn millions of votes in several states, which is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, as well as an attempt to overthrow our democracy. On January 6th, as Trump’s terrorists stormed our Capitol, Cline voted TWICE not to certify Joe Biden’s legitimate election.
Cline has continued to violate his attorney oath of office, as well as his Congressional oath of office–twice. He’s never apologized for his treasonous actions, continuing to support Trump’s lies. He continues to be an embarrassment to his constituents and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And, if you can’t or refuse to remember Cline’s ongoing incompetence, feel free to review the numerous letters to the editor of this newspaper (2/2/21, 12/21/20, 12/16/20, 10/29/20, and 10/3/20). At least there are some smart people in Cline’s congressional district who know a phony when they see one.
Don Feliciano, Luray
Fortunately IMHO you are in the minority in this area based.upon looking at Mr Cline’s election results.
But I notice a pattern of insults and an obsession with the former president.
This prevents people from talking, discussing issues and expressing their points of view. I’m not going to say anything else because I don’t want insulted, attacked or ridiculed. I personally have always thought of my self as middle of the road, able to see both sides.
I don’t believe that is going to happen here until Saul Alinski’s book is put back on the shelf.
Rage on 🙂
*says he is in the center*
*parrots far right talking point about Saul Alinsky*
Mr. “still working” ought to pay a little more attention to how Americans feel about the newly enacted $1.9 trillion Covid Relief Law, which among other things put money in most regular Americans’ pockets and not to those rich benefactors of Trump’s tax relief law a few years back.
Seeing that only one of us worked for the U.S. Congress, Mr. “still working” needs to recognize that beyond political party support, regular Americans want the plain truth, results for their problems, and they especially like getting free money and tax breaks. The Biden law did just this within 2 months of being elected; that’s why he has a 62% approval rating and beat Trump decisively in the Presidential election last November.
The current polls agree how the American people feel: 72% approve of the new law, and even 44% of Republicans also support it. That is, except for the House and Senate Republicans, ALL of whom so worried about their constituents that not a single one of them voted in support of the Covid Relief Law that gave us all those benefits mentioned in Mr. Taggert’s letter.
Can you imagine WHY Ben Cline thought these provisions in the new law would not help his constituents or the rest of the American people? I sure hope that all voters remember that their Republican Congressmen and Senators did NOTHING to reduce their financial and health woes over the last couple years. Thank goodness Virginia has two fine Democrat Senators and a majority of Democrat Congressmen supporting us in Congress. They cared.
BTW, I never insulted Mr. “still working; he just has a problem with understanding facts and verifying his statements. For example, he praised Ben Cline’s election results; when you run unopposed, even Russia’s President Putin wins his “elections” handily. I am also not aware that any of Cline’s proposed bills became laws, and none of which brought funds to his constituents, a key reason why people vote these guys into office in the first place.
The problem with Ben Cline’s voting record is that most of his votes were/are worthless to his constituents; voting straight Republican by this self-described “non-partisan” who supported Trump 95% of the time based on lies offered by the biggest lying president in American history is not something I would brag about.
I seriously doubt that Mr. “still working’s” political views are “middle of the road” if he truly believes that the Covid Relief Law would not have helped the American people. l expect is also still supporting Trump’s “big lie” and believes that Biden’s legitimate election was a fraud. Most people become ridiculed by their own comments and actions.
Based on his letter, I imagine “Mr. still working: will tear up his Relief Act check when he receives it, even though Ben Cline and all those Republicans in Congress will likely keep theirs after even after they refused to support it. Like most Americans, Republicans do like free money.