POLITICS AS UNUSUAL

I love the political season, the excitement over policy, the debates, speeches, and campaigns. Everywhere you turn there’s a sign or a bumper sticker stating what people proudly believe. Discussions range on all issues with passions overflowing at the most unlikely of places, like the grocery store, or the park, or the library. But I like to know about more than just what my future President wants for my country. There are local elections that are just as important that I monitor. As you well know, the House and Senate are more powerful at times than the executive office as current events would dictate. Which value system, which direction the country goes greatly depends on who holds the majority in those houses. Change can occur on that level as well. In my district in Texas, Chet Edwards, a Democrat, is up for reelection for a tenth term to keep his seat in the US House of Representatives. Does Chet Edwards represent me and my beliefs? Does he represent the beliefs of my family, my value system, do his votes help the country move in the direction I want it to go, or do his votes help it move in the opposite direction? This is important. Does he represent most other Texans, their values and beliefs? How exactly does Chet Edwards vote, what does he believe in? With 18 years in Congress, I had plenty to look at. Let me share with you what I discovered.

Edwards talks like a moderate but votes like a leftist. He says he’s a conservative Democrat, but his votes betray this; he ranks as a left-of-center liberal. He voted 96% of the time with his party. You may remember a little $700 billion dollar bailout bill that recently went through the house and senate. Edwards’ office received thousands upon thousands of emails and phone calls from the people he “represents”, including me, to vote no on a bill that many saw as the country moving towards socialism. Chet Edwards voted yes. The bill failed, barely. Later that same week the House got the bill back from the Senate. A few more thousand phone calls and emails later and did Mr. Edwards listen to the cries of his constituents, the people who have elected him 9 times? That Friday he voted yes, again. Hmm, that made me wary. What kind of representative doesn’t listen to the very people he is supposed to represent?

This wasn’t the first time Rep. Edwards ignored the will of the people. With 9 previous elections to look at, I realized that Edwards ran on the idea that he was just like us, profamily, pro war, patriotic, another Texan trying to make our voice heard in Washington. However, upon arriving in DC, Edwards became just another liberal. I went to a website, http://www.ontheissues.org/ , a non-partisan site that simply logs votes on every political leader, as well as other sites, to see where he stands on the issues; what he does after he gets your vote. And what I discovered is there’s a reason Nancy Pelosi recommended Chet Edwards to be Barack Obama’s running mate.

Apparently, Rep. Edwards doesn’t like the idea of energy independence. He voted against offshore drilling, he voted against drilling in ANWR, and he voted NO on authorizing construction of new oil refineries.

What about the war on terror? Many of our neighbors are soldiers in Iraq, and let’s be honest; we’re more than just a little patriotic over here. He has to represent us accurately on this issue right? Well, he voted to retreat from Iraq and cut off funding for the troops and the next year he voted YES on investigating Bush, impeachment for lying about Iraq. This is a Conservative Democrat?

Ok, education. Vouchers and prayer in school, well that’s something us Texans take very seriously. Our faith plays an important role in our life, and with the corruption in the Dallas and Tarrant school districts we can all see the need for school choice. How does Chet treat this issue with his all too precious vote? He voted no on federal funding to schools allowing voluntary prayer and against school prayer during the war on terror. He voted against vouchers for private & parochial schools and against vouchers for schools in D.C.

And then there’s abortion, an issue that’s near and dear to me. I was at a fundraising gala on Tuesday night benefitting the Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center. This center has helped countless pregnant women in the area for 22 years and is well known for its pro-life stance. They announced that in attendance was Rob Curnock, Edwards’ opponent, and his wife Karen. A few moments later it was announced that a representative from Edwards’ staff was also in attendance. What do you suppose Rep. Edwards’ voting record on abortion looks like? Well, he didn’t vote along with his constituents that’s for sure, district 17 is a pro-life district. Heck, he didn’t even vote along with mainstream America. He voted twice, TWICE, not to ban partial-birth abortion. That’s right; he has no problem with partial birth abortion. He voted yes to expand and allow the completely unsuccessful embryonic stem cell research, and he wouldn’t even vote to ban human cloning for the purpose of reproductive and stem cell research. That means he thought it was fine for embryos to be created for the sole purpose of being experimented on for research. Human cloning, he thought that was just fine and dandy. He voted no on making it a crime to hurt a fetus during another crime. And this is my personal favorite, he voted NO on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info, which flies in the very face of the Burleson Aid Center, you know, the center he had a rep attend a gala for so his name would be announced after Curnocks', his opponents. He voted to make sure centers like that wouldn’t get federal funding because they don’t provide abortion information and then has the audacity to attend their gala for political purposes knowing very well that he has a 100% pro-choice voting record according to NARAL, one of the most extreme abortion groups in the country.

I’m tired of being used. I’m tired of my voice and my vote being made into a joke. I’m tired of being taken for granted, and aren’t you as well? Chet Edwards is the stereotypical politician who says whatever will get him elected than votes against those constituents when he gets to Washington, knowing that the people he represents are too busy working to keep food on the table to keep track of every move he makes. And when it comes time to campaign, he lies about what he’s done and depends on the media to either cover up his past or gloss over his part because they’re in the tank for him. Chet Edwards is anti energy independence, anti war, anti school choice, and pro-abortion in the furthest extreme. Chet Edwards doesn’t represent me; I don’t think he represents most Texans. With the full information I believe most residents of district 17 would agree.

I want someone in the House of Representatives who is an actual Representative. That’s what this country is all about. Rob Curnock believes in drilling, in energy independence, is pro-life and has always supported our troops in Iraq. Rep. Edwards hasn’t heard us for 18 years. He didn’t hear us when we called and asked him to represent us when the country was in a crisis. In November I’m going to make sure he hears by voting for Rob Curnock. I’m going to make sure that the person who sits in the House for District 17 votes for the people from district 17. I’m voting for Rob Curnock.