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Here's a statement from Frarrell's Web Site...giving the details. While we focus on Lieberman we shouldn't forget that the "other Repug" Chris Shays is in trouble there. Take a look at Democrat Diane Farrell's statement about Shays and send a few coins her way.. ------------ Two years ago, they said it couldn’t be done. Then I almost did it: I came within two points of defeating an incumbent Republican congressman, Chris Shays.
Two years ago, our race attracted national attention and support – but not until the end. This time, we’re already attracting both already, for which I’m grateful.
Last time, I started with little name recognition-this time, I start with a lot. Last time, I had to convince people at the national level that I had a legitimate chance to win-this time, when I announced my candidacy, the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Rep. Rahm Emanuel said,
“Diane Farrell is among the strongest candidates for Congress in the entire country and this race will absolutely be a top priority for the DCCC.”
Why is beating Chris Shays so important? Because this Congress desperately needs a fresh voice-one with ideas, and one that represents real, meaningful, systemic change.
As bad things were in Congress two years ago, they’ve only gotten worse since. The Republican majority that controls Congress-with Chris Shay’s help-has completely lost its way.
The one issue I think we can all agree is the need for fiscal responsibility-here’s what the Hartford Courant said: “Republican-controlled Congress… has turned into a crew of the proverbial drunken sailors on leave. Inflation-adjusted spending on the combined budgets of the 101 largest programs that Republicans vowed to eliminate in 1995-when the GOP took control of the House for the first time in over 40 years-has grown by 27 percent. That’s a startling record compiled by a Republican president and a Republican-controlled Congress, heirs to a party that once stood for limited government and fiscal restraint.”
Forget mortgaging our future and our children’s future: President Bush and the Republican-led Congress-with Chris Shays as a loyal friend-are in the process of mortgaging our grandchildren’s future!
This has got to stop-now. Clearly, with Chris Shays and the Republicans in charge, it won’t.
I’m proud of the record of fiscal responsibility that has been the hallmark of my career in public service. That’s just one piece of the change I’ll bring to Congress-with your help.
While President Bush and the Republican Congress have authored the most fiscally irresponsible policies this nation has ever seen, they and Chris Shays have also given up and absolutely disastrous foreign policy that no one can find, identify, or fix.
Our “policy” in Iraq seems to change by the day, and Chris Shays’ comments on Iraq, terrorism, and homeland security are so confusing you literally have to track them by the hour to figure out what his position of the day is. In 2005, he said, “It is inaccurate for some critics of the war to say we didn’t have a plan. It’s just that the plan has been revised a number of times.” Really? The next time any of us see this “plan” will be the first time we’ve seen this “plan.” Reading that comment, I was reminded of Richard Nixon’s “secret plan to end the war.” And the lack of planning has cost us thousands of lives, and billions of dollars.
We got into this war for the wrong reasons (Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and the nuclear threat Iraq posed-remember?), which Chris Shays, President Bush and the congressional Republicans stubbornly refuse to admit. Once we got in, we did so with absolutely no idea how we were going to effectively put in place a plan to stabilize the country, win the peace, and bring home the brave men and women who comprise our military. Worse, the Republicans claimed that fighting a war in Iraq was the right way to wage the war on terrorism. Really? Is that why terrorism has spread like a sickness across the globe?
In an interview on Fox News, in response to a question about what the Republican-led Congress is doing to address the root causes that have led to the spread of terrorism, Chris Shays said, “Well, we’re paying a little more attention.” Can you imagine?
The bottom line on our foreign policy and homeland security is this: we don’t have a foreign policy worth the paper it’s written on, and we are no safer today than we were two years ago-in fact, in many ways, we’re even more vulnerable.
And since George Bush, Chris Shays, and the Republican Party control the White House and Congress, it is their fault. Period.
Sure, Chris Shays talks a good game when he’s in Connecticut-in fact, if you listen to him grudgingly acknowledge some of the many problems we have, he talks as if someone else is the Congressman from Connecticut’s 4th District. But no one else is – he is. At home, he talks like a Connecticut Republican, but in Washington DC he votes with George Bush and the Republican majority on their disastrous fiscal policies and their foreign “policy.”
Isn’t it time we had someone who represents us? Can you imagine a Congress that’s responsive to its citizens again-doing what the people in the 4th District want, not what the White House and George Bush want?
Can you imagine a Congress that’s focused on strengthening our economy, improving our schools and protecting our health and environment? A Congress that works to improve, not destroy, a Social Security system that has protected millions of seniors for more that 50 years?
As Westport’s First Selectwoman, I was proud of the responsiveness our municipal government showed during my eight years in office. Time and again, my constituents told me how glad they were that I listened to their concerns and then acted on them in a responsible fashion. I know what my job is: to respond to the needs and concerns of the people I represent. That’s what Congress should do, and that’s what I’ll do, with your help, when I’m elected in November, 2006.
Chris Shays and this Republican majority lost their way a long, ling time ago. And we have paid a heavy price for it.
It’s time for a change.
As your Congresswoman, my priorities will be to restore a sense of fiscal responsibility-across the board. I’ll fight for a foreign policy that recognizes real threats, and addresses them immediately. I’ll work for a 21st century economy that will allow our children and grandchildren to prosper the way we have. I will go to the mat to make sure our transportation and educational needs are fully funded. I’ll support a real prescription drug plan, not the confusing one this Congress offers. I’ll work toward the day when every Connecticut resident and American has access to affordable health care, and I’ll fight as hard as I have to in order to protect a woman’s right to choose. And I’ll battle those who want to destroy this environment, either directly or indirectly with an energy policy that makes sense only if you’re a wealth oil company in Texas.
Most of all, I’ll fight for a Congress and government that leave for the next generation what our parents and grandparents left for us: a better life.
I’ll be your voice in Congress, not the White House’s voice. And I’ll return the “checks and balances” to government - starting with a change in the House of Representatives.more at Diane Farrell for Congress Website: http://www.farrellforcongress.com/2006/index.html |
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