July 14, 2006

Webb may help save U.S. economy; Allen surely won't

I would like to clarify why I supported James Webb in the Democratic primary after a long history of voting mostly for Republican candidates.

Detailing facts that led me to my opinion that Sen. George Allen and his colleagues have abandoned the middle class would most certainly result in a letter too long to be published, so I'll summarize.

First, I must state that I abhor most of the positions taken by the Democratic Party on what I consider social issues.

This is what concerns me: our dependence on foreign oil, our loss of more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs and more than 850,000 professional-service and information-sector jobs since 2001, the predicted loss of an additional 3.4 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages overseas by 2015, and a national energy policy that ignores huge subsidies for rich oil companies while noting the need for rebuilding their neglected infrastructure without recommending who should pay for it.

According to a 2004 Pew survey, 31 percent of Americans identified themselves as Democrats and 30 percent as Republicans.

I suppose the other 39 percent of us could be labeled flip-floppers, though I prefer the label Independent.

I doubt that any politician in America can win an election without significant flip-flopper support.

While I don't trivialize things like marriage-tax penalties, tax moratoriums on the Internet, and a host of things that I think of as lifestyle issues, our national economic future is in peril.

If you don't have a job, tax relief isn't of any value to you.

So on Election Day, I will clench my jaw and look past the lifestyle and social issues and vote for the person I believe will work toward rebuilding a sound American economy.

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck