Congressman Ney strikes back

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A few days ago a very brilliant young friend of mine wrote a letter to the editor commenting on Ney's hissy fit about New York City needing more funds to fight terrorism than rural Ohio.

Here are four paragraphs from a letter to the editor from Ney attacking this friend. Freedom Fries outdoes himself here.

http://www.timesreporter.com/left.php?ID=31081&r=1&Category=6


I would like to respond immediately to Kevin Heade’s utterly nonsensical letter to the editor on Thursday in which he defends taking homeland security money away from Ohio and giving it to New York City, and then attacks me for opposing such an effort.

First, however, let me address Heade’s comment in his letter that I have a “propensity to act foolishly.” I have to ask exactly he might mean by this? Was it foolish of me to defend Ohio’s steel industry from foreign dumping? Was it foolish of me to support the largest funding increases for veterans that we have seen in decades? Was it foolish of me to support tax relief for working families and small businesses?

Finally, why does Heade think it is foolish of me for fighting to ensure Ohio and the 18th Congressional District receive a fair share of federal homeland security dollars? Because that is exactly what I am doing by taking on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and I wear it as a badge of pride that the ultra-liberal New York Times editorial page has attacked me for it. The New York Times editorial, which the Times-Reporter published alongside Heade’s letter, very cleverly said the following - “ was disinvited right after he voted against a $446 million proposal to help New York and other high-risk areas fight terrorism.”

What the editorial quite misleading left out, however, was that this $446 million was not new money to fight terrorism, but rather, it is money that would be taken away from states like Ohio and given only to big cities like New York. Now either Heade is ignorant of that fact or he does not believe Ohio’s citizens, including those in Tuscarawas County, deserve a fair share of homeland security funds. If the latter is the case then Heade is more than welcome to take my place at Mayor Bloomberg’s house for lunch because you can bet I will not be there.

[Toucano]

1. Ooh, that man burns me up!

I saw a story on ABC Worldnews Tonight several months ago about this exact issue.

They were in Zanesville. They said that because of the way congress allocated the money, the Zanesville fire department was able to buy more "hazard suits" and breathing apparatus than they have people to wear them. Small rural and semi-rural communities all over the country were getting money they had not practical way of spending.

Really sound fiscal responsibility, Bob. Sell it to the people as "looking out for them". Make it an "us v. them" issue. The down-home folks versus the NY elites. That'll save lives.

Way to bring the people together, Bob. Mayor Bloomberg is in your party, isn't he?

Thanks for sharing this CMD.

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2. The sad thing is we can't do much about it

Our district is so gerrymandered that it would take a superhero to win it back. There is even a little Bob Ney bump in Belmont county especially designed to keep Ney in the district.

I keep nagging at him; and he keeps sending me form letters. I hope he chokes on his freedom fries.

[Toucano]

3. I entertain this fantasy

that we can demonstrate to people that he doesn't really represent their interests and they'll connect him with the "miserable failure" and ditch them both.

People have never (seemingly) made the connection between the people who fund Bob's campaign and the positions he takes. Very little of his campaign money comes from within the district.

It's a wild fantasy, I know. I'm still gonna nag him, as you do. I love these LTTEs, too. I want to keep forcing him to "explain" himself.

I've also noticed the Belmont Bob-bump and the "OU dodge" down in Athens. Ridiculous!