TN-07 House Race
by KevinOctober 24th, 2006
I have not written anything about the House race in my own district, primarily because it is considered a safe seat. However, Marsha Blackburn, the current occupant of the seat, is the very definition of a wingnut. Looking at her voting record, it is pretty clear that no one who considers themselves a believer in personal liberty or good government could seriously vote for her. First, she has already surrendered in the war against al Qaeda. When she was given a chance to defend the Constitution and the ideals of our country, she gave way to the mindless, gibbering fear that Bush depends upon and surrendered those freedoms and ideals to the specter of al Qaeda.
- She voted YES on the Military Commissions Act, which removed the protection of habeas corpus and allows the President to authorize torture of enemy combatants.
- She voted against preventing interrogators form treating prisoners in a cruel, inhumane, or degrading fashion and requiring them to adhere to the Army regulations in interrogation.
- She voted YES on the Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act which would authorize Bush’s program of warrantless — that is to say, without oversight or justification — electronic surveillance to continue.
Not content to cowardly throw away the Constitution and American ideals, Blackburn also adheres to the agenda of the radical religious right:
- Voted no on lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research; to Blackburn, a frozen embryo is as much a person as a living breathing human being with Parkinson’s
- Voted to interfere with the Schiavo case by moving it to Federal jurisdiction. To Blackburn, it is acceptable for the government to meddle in the most private of decisions, no matter how many courts have already defended the right of the husband to carry out his wife’s wishes.
She also opposes a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and approves of Delay’s gutting of the House Ethics Committee. No one who has any concern for intrusive government, for individual liberty, or for government corruption could support someone with Blackburn’s record. Just to put a little icing on the cake, she also thinks that Bush’s tax cuts are more important than paying for Bush’s war (she voted to make them permanent) and that cutting taxes for oil companies is a better plan for energy independence than alternative energy. In just about every way one can be wrong, she is wrong.
So, what about her opponent? Bill Morrison is running against Blackburn, and, apparently, his internals show this to be a close race. Morrison, while still fairly conservative, is much better on most issues than Blackburn:
- He recognizes that Iraq is a distraction from the real war on terrorism.
- While he favors the “benchmark” withdrawal plan over the timed withdrawal plan, unlike Blackburn, he is not a member of the clap louder caucus.
I can find nothing about his positions on the Military Commission Act, or the warrantless spying, or the PATRIOT ACT. However, he would be a vote for Democratic leadership, which is much better, if not perfect, than the GOP leadership on those issues.
In addition, he also recognizes that alternative energy is the key to the future, he opposes social security privatization (Blackburn is apparently for it), and he wants to readjust the tax burden so that inheritance and capital are not privileged over hard work. Most interestingly to me, Morrison is opposed to the No Child Left behind Act, or at least its current implementation. Morrison wants the act fully funded and redone so that it is less punitive. NCLB is a disaster for education: it does nothing but encourage schools to turn children into nothing but bubble-fillers at the expense of a real education and it opens the door to massive amounts of cheating and gaming of the system. It is a complete disaster, and it is refreshing to see a candidate talk openly about it at the risk of being savored by the “school accountability” trolls.
Blackburn is one of the worst representative in Congress, wrong on Iraq, wrong on energy policy, perfectly willing to allow Focus on the Family to force the government to interfere in your private life, and so terrified of al Qaeda that she has willingly surrendered the Constitution to them. Voting against her would be reason enough to vote. Fortunately, her opponent, while not perfect, is certainly correct on more issues and his stance on NCLB shows both a willingness to think about issues outside the normal political parameters and a certain level of political courage. Thankfully, a vote against Blackburn is not a protest vote; it is also a vote for a more positive, levelheaded agenda and congressperson.
Categories: Politics |
Blackburn sounds like a good choice. Hopefully, the people of her district will re-elect her.
Wow… I wasn’t sure about this race before, but you’ve convinced me to vote for her! Thanks!
Why do liberals mischaracterize (lie about) the positions of conservatives so much?
First time reader, first time poster.
Who lied about Blackburn’s positions? If the President was for it, Blackburn voted for it twice.
http://www.house.gov/blackburn/ Read her positions for yourself. I cannot wait to be able to cast a vote against her. I probably won’t vote for US Senate, but I will giggle as I cast my vote to remove MarshaMarshaMarsha from representing my district.
“Voted no on lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research;”
What ban?
Blackburn represents one of the most conservative districts in the state and maybe the country. By “conservative district” I mean that the actual real people that shop in Kroger are about as red as they come. That she consistently votes in a manner that reflects the majority of her constituents doesn’t make her a bad Congressman. In fact just the opposite.
“That she consistently votes in a manner that reflects the majority of her constituents doesn’t make her a bad Congressman. In fact just the opposite. ”
What a strange concept! A representative actually representing the wishes of the voters.
Marsha is NOT a conservative.
I am and I am running against her.
vote for me!
mickeywhite.blogspot.com
[...] US House, TN-7: I already wrote about my reasons for voting as I did in this race here. The short version is that Marsha Blackburn sucks and Bill Morrison doesn’t, so I voted for Morrison. [...]
Republican trolls like “Fred” and “marcusT” show why the GroupOfPerverts is crashing.
Comment from marcusT
Time: 10/24/2006, 4:29 pm
Wow… I wasn’t sure about this race before, but you’ve convinced me to vote for her! Thanks!
I’m sure you’re welcome and BTW, we all believe you . . . lying troll!