WHY DUMPDOOLITTLE IS SO NECESSARY

by Marlene Rose

(I've been trying to get Marlene Rose, who lives way up in northern California near the Oregon border, to write a piece about her detestible congressman, John Doolittle for months. Something finally seems to have struck a nerve.- HK)
 
It is amazing the many ways Congressman John Doolittle has managed to fleece the American taxpayer. His latest came disguised as campaign literature, fancy, expensive, and certainly immoral.  The use of a magnifying glass ripped off the disguise and unmasked Doolittle’s unfair use of our money.
 
The series of elaborate, expensive, heavy stock, 4 color, 4 page campaign literature which Doolittle attempted to disguise as a message to his constituents revealed in the tiniest print possible an acknowledgment that this elegant collection of lies was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense." True constituent mail is an honest appraisal of what has been accomplished by the Congress, not a collection of self aggrandizing statements.
 
How can any challenger mount a campaign against this corrupt incumbent who not only has millions of dollars of campaign contributions (much of it from Abramoff and his cronies and from the corporations and lobbyists he services) but also freely dips his hands into the United States treasury? This is the same man who strongly opposes the use of union money to fund campaigns of which members may not approve but thinks nothing of using MY money (and everyone else's) to fund a campaign which many (including me) find totally repugnant.  
 
My real outrage, however, is focused on the distortions and beautification of his actual record.   Doolittle has an anti labor and  a pro-corporation voting record; he voted against raising fuel standards and against funding alternative fuels; he is rated 0% by the League of Conservation Voters; he voted yes on trade with China but no on even traveling to Cuba; he voted no on banning soft money but yes on restricting independent grassroots political committees; he voted the gun lobby position on every bill they promoted; his record for public health is 0%; he voted to permit offshore tax havens; he has a clear anti civil rights record; he has an anti-senior voting record; and he voted against measures that help those in poverty. On a broad swath of legislative votes put together to rate congressmen's impact on the middle class, DMI rates Doolittle a flat F. The list of Doolittle’s antiprogressive positions goes on and on.

To add insult to injury, Doolittle refused to respond to Project Vote Smart, even though John McCain urged him to fill out the National Political Awareness Test. It is so much easier to make lying generalizations as he did in his mailings than to answer specific questions that would actually reveal his positions.
 
Doolittle is a disgrace and has been shown to be both corrupt and ineffective. The 4th Congressional District is entitled to a decent, proactive candidate who will represent the interests of his constituents, not his contributors. That candidate is Charlie Brown, a veteran who wants a planned withdrawal from Iraq and a planned agenda to help the citizens of this country. The recent newspaper articles which revealed the declining wages of the poor and middle class while the corporations rake in record profits is only one indication of why we need Charlie Brown in California's 4th Congressional District. Charlie will be a Congressman we will be proud to claim as our own.

While of utmost importance to people in the Mother Lode Country and the Sacramento suburbs, Doolittle's gross unfitness to hold office has risen to the level where Charlie Brown's race to defeat him has national significance. Most of Doolittle's contributions come from outside the 4th CD, from the corporations whose agendas he supports (to the detriment of his constituents). Although Charlie Brown has been more successful than any other Democrat in raising grassroots money inside the 4th with which to challenge Doolittle, he could certainly use some help in the funding area. The Blue America ActBlue Page is ready for you if you're ready to make a commitment for a better America.