Here’s a response I got from my posting: Jeff Flake and the Mesa Tea Party.
David- I was also at the Tea Party when Jeff Flake came. The part you forgot to mention is when you got up and promptly handed out the McClatchy article you have linked to Flake’s carbon tax legislation, as Flake got up to speak. I’m going to say that the fair thing to do would be to link the summary of the bill (Flake’s carbon tax). You know, so that people can come up with their own conclusions. Or you could also put the article hailing Flake as a genius, included with the McClatchy article to give both sides of the perspective.
It’s a good thing Courtney Snell got us all prepared to bring the hard questions/hotbed of emotions so that we could really give that incumbent a piece of our mind. What happened at that Tea Party was sad. As members of the LDS church, we have some things in common. More than anything, we have the ability to understand the source of things through the feelings we get. From what I’ve learned, the fear and anger displayed in that hall came from no where else than hell, authored by the Father of Lies. I’m not one to lean on Church teachings when it comes to politics, but perhaps a little rationality can come into those meetings when the things we learn on Sunday are employed the other days of the week.
I’m quite a bit younger than most of the folks there. In fact, some of the people in that meeting were my leaders growing up. While they might have differing opinions on legislation or politics, they disrespected a man that has done nothing but work his hardest to hold his values in a valueless realm. That Tea Party doesn’t know what it has in Jeff Flake. Flake was ranked the #1 opponent against the Obama Agenda in 2009(Congressional Quarterly) and he consistently fought against all wasteful spending, including fighting his own party. His work with earmarks is the movie “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” personified. But of course, this information couldn’t have been said in this forum. So that you know, I was the young man that tried to show how ridiculous the whole thing was when I asked who there had read Flake’s STRIVE Act. While that act deals with immigration, the reaction was similar to most of the other reactions that night, emotional and irrational. I hope the Tea Party can become the educational tool it was meant to be. I say that in hopes that the true intentions of those that started the forum weren’t that it be only a pity party, like it was when I was there.
– Anson
Anson,
Thanks for your comments.
I do understand that there needs to be less anger, and to be true Christians, we need to keep the rhetoric polite. But I don’t believe we need to abandon our strongly held opinions.
Jeff Flake makes a good impression, and he is good in his restraint of his passions. But he is lacking in integrity also. He did not run on the promise that he would limit himself to three terms unless he later changed his mind. That’s not my view of integrity. If you make a promise but give yourself an escape clause in case you change your mind, you haven’t made a promise. And I believe he is lacking in integrity in his carbon tax proposal. He claims to be a global warming skeptic, but proposes limiting carbon dioxide and in his speeches makes the assumption that man-caused global warming is real and needs drastic action to fight it. (From the McClatchy article I passed out: “‘The first axiom of economics is if you want less of something, you tax it,’ said Flake, a leading fiscal conservative, in an interview. ‘Obviously, we want less carbon, so we tax it.'”) If he truly believes as he claims to believe, then he should have the courage to state those beliefs. But that would offend the ruling class too much, I guess. He appears to me to be a man who has come to love the trappings of the ruling class in Washington, DC, and that is sad.
Captain Moroni (from the Book of Mormon) was a good man who was serious about the liberty of his countrymen. I think that’s a good pattern to follow, because our country is facing serious challenges to our liberties. With the current administration and Congress, we have totally thrown aside the consitutional limits on government power. They believe the Federal Government has the power to do anything it chooses, and they will push whatever they can get away with, even to the point of outlawing free speech. It’s going to require men and women of strong integrity and unwavering commitment to our liberties to fight this off, men and women like Jeff Smith (Flake’s opponent), and like Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, etc.
About the flier I passed out, about Jeff Flake proposing his carbon tax, my object is to defeat Jeff Flake. I know that’s not going to sit well with you, but the article was by James Rosen, not by a conservative. This liberal was surprised to see two Republicans, Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina, and Jeff Flake of Arizona, proposing a carbon tax. Rosen said, “The bill puts the two lawmakers at odds with Republican congressional leaders.” Inglis did not win the Republican nomination to run in November to defend his seat, and I would wish the same fate for Flake.
Thanks,
Dave Hall