Who does Jim Talent think he is fooling?

[proud2BlibKansan]

With the exception of a few months when I worked in California and the time that I spent on active duty with Air Force, I have lived in Missouri all of my life, but never have I been so disappointed with how our people vote. The latest polls have Jim Talent ahead of Claire McCaskill in the race for the United States Senate. What in the hell are Missourians thinking?

Personally, I don't like Claire McCaskill. Her personality is abrasive to me. However, she is not Jim Talent and would no doubt make a much better Senator than either Kit Bond or "No talent" Jim Talent have been. How could anyone think of re-electing a guy who pushed for the privatization of Social Security, and who brags about backing Bush's Medicare Part D, a program that was designed to enrich the pharmaceutical companies? After buying $2,250 of prescriptions, the patient will be in the donut hole until he or she spends the $3000 out of their own pocket. All the while these folks will have to join an HMO and will have to pay a fee for the privilege of being in this faulty system. At well over 500 billion dollars, this program will be so expensive that it exhaust the trust fund and will break the Medicare program because the Bush administration did not plan for the additional expenses of the Rx program. That means that Medicare will go broke much sooner than had been projected. Ah, but Bush will borrow the money from the Chinese, I guess. Yessiree, thank you Jim Talent, you tried to destroy Social Security, and you voted to bankrupt Medicare. You sure did "a hell of a job, Jimmie."

Now, we see from his TV ads that Jim Talent is fighting to lower our gasoline bills. Wow, how will he do that? Is it the promise of a $100 rebate from our own income taxes, money that will have to be borrowed, again from the Chinese, in order to pay us? That will only add more debt to our already ballooning national debt? Each of you, who read this e-mail, and I, could give ourselves $1000 each if we would only borrow it from the bank. Either way, the money that the Bush administration and Jim Talent are promising will have to be repaid at some future date just as our bank loans would also come due.

Oh, by the way, Jim Talent faults Claire McCaskill for opposing the use of ethanol in our fuel. Gee, is that the same Claire McCaskill that I saw in Claycomo at the Ford UAW hall talking about how we need to use ethanol in order to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Someone has their facts screwed up, Mr. Talent, and I think it is you.

What about stem cell research, big Jim, or should I say Howdy Doody? You, like our stupid state senator, Matt Bartle, have opposed stem cell research. We have investors right here in Kansas City who are ready to plunk down two billion dollars to build research facilities and to start the search for the cures for diabetes, Parkinson's and other diseases. Those 2 billion dollars would create jobs for scientists and technicians and others; it would provide a huge boost to the Missouri economy.

Jim Talent has also been an advocate of eliminating the inheritance tax, a tax that only impacts 2% of all American estates. Five Waltons each have 15 billion dollars to leave tax free to their heirs if the Talent plan were to be adopted. That money is all invested in Wal-Mart stock and came from appreciation of that stock since Sam Walton founded the company. Not a dime of income taxes has ever been paid on the Walton family wealth that is held in Wal-Mart stock. Yet, you and I pay taxes on our earnings from labor, and in my case retirement. I seem to remember someone saying, "It's your money, you should be able to keep more of it." Obviously George W. Bush was talking to his Walton friends and other rich who have never and will never know a day of need or poverty in their lives.

Would elimination of the estate taxes save farms and small businesses? Since a married couple may now leave $10 million dollars tax free under current law, most farms and small businesses would never be taxed. Again only that tiny percentage of super rich heirs would have to pay the tax. Maybe Jim Talent has been a great representative for the super rich, but what has he certainly has done nothing for working class Americans?

I'm sure that most of you can come up with your own Jim Talent accomplishment stories such as those I listed above. The fact is that Jim Talent and Kit Bond as well as our Republican Governor and state legislature have done nothing for us, but they have bent over backward to help big businesses and wealthy individuals. They have hurt the poor and disabled. They have cut funding for mental health and Social Services to help the poor of this state. We need to SHOW these regressive Republicans how Missourians can wake up and vote for people who really care about the interests of Missouri workers, Missouri farmers and Missouri's students at ever level of education.

So, Missouri, let's once again become the SHOW ME STATE, the state that I grew up in and have always been proud of until it became the "fool me and I'll vote for you state. " Missourians used to have pride and compassion for their neighbors; I believe they still do, but I think that they have been mislead and duped by the Bush administration and by the Republican Party, the party that uses religion to recruit good people to go the polls and to vote for people who truly have no Christian values in their souls. Let's get back to Missouri values instead of corporate values where the bottom line is more important than people. Kansans are waking up, it's time for Missouri to wake up and throw the rascals out.

If you don't live in Missouri, you know someone who does; please forward this mail to them.

Gene W. DeVaux