Each and every Member of Congress is up for re-election in 2010.
When we elect a Congressman, we, in GUNNER’S VIEW, should look at certain basic criteria before getting into the issues themselves. First, no Member should serve for more than 12 consecutive years. By taking root in Washington they’re no longer really working for their constituents, but instead they’re working for themselves. Second, no Member should serve beyond age 75. They lose mental acuity, health goes downhill, and they’re no longer what we want or need. Third, Members serving due to nepotism or cronyism need to be removed. Fourth, our politicians need to be above reproach. No scandal, no criminals, no perception of misdeeds or malfeasance. Fifth, no professional politicians. Sixth, they should have served the Nation in some thankless profession first (i.e. military, Peace Corps, VISTA, Public Health Service, Assistant District Attorney or Public Defender, cop, etc.)
I do not intend to discuss the issues addressed by these man and women, only how they fit in my basic criteria. Issues are something that you and you alone, need to decide on.
Now I know that finding someone who meets all of that criteria will be tough. But you know what, you’re the employer and you get what you pay for. If you’ll settle for second or third best than you deserve what you get. And, yes, I know there are exceptions to my rules, so go find those men and women and send them to Washington.
Here are the Members of Congress and how they fit under my rules:
Nevada
Berkley, Shelley, D-1st: Will have been in office 12 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman.
Heller, Dean, R-2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Titus, Dina, D-3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
New Hampshire
Hodes, Paul W., D-2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man. Has announced that he will be running for the Senate in 2010.
Shea-Porter, Carol, D-1st: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this woman.
New Jersey
Adler, John, D-3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Andrews, Robert E., D-1st: Will have been in office 22 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Frelinghuysen, Rodney, R-11th: Will have been in office 17 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Garrett, Scott, R-5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Holt, Rush, D-12th: Will have been in office 12 years at the end of this term. Nepotism. Son of former US Senator Rush Holt, Sr. His mother was WV Secretary of State. Do not re-elect this man.
Lance, Leonard, R-7th: all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
LoBiondo, Frank, R-2nd: Will have been in office 16 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. He pledged on his first election to only stay in office for 6 terms (12 years). So much for honesty and truth.
Pallone Jr., Frank, D-6th: Will have been in office 22 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Pascrell Jr., Bill, D- 8th: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. Will be 74 years of age at the end of this term.
Payne, Donald M., D-10th: Will have been in office 22 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. Will be 76 years of age at the end of this term.
Rothman, Steven, D-9th: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Sires, Albio, D-13th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Smith, Chris, R-4th: Will have been in office 30 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
New Mexico
Heinrich, Martin T., D-1st: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Lujan, Ben R., D-3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Teague, Harry, D-2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
New York
Ackerman, Gary, D-5th: Will have been in office 28 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Arcuri, Michael A., D-24th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Bishop, Timothy, D-1st: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Clarke, Yvette D., D-11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Crowley, Joseph, D-7th: Will have been in office 12 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Engel, Eliot, D-17th: Will have been in office 22 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Hall, John J., D-19th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Higgins, Brian, D-27th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Hinchey, Maurice, D-22nd: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Israel, Steve, D-2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
King, Pete, R-3rd: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Lee, Christopher J., R-26th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Lowey, Nita, D-18th: Will have been in office 22 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman. Will be 74 during this term.
Maffei, Daniel B., D- 25th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Massa, Eric J.J., D- 29th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man. CDR, USN (RET)
McCarthy, Carolyn, D-4th: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman.
McHugh, John M., R-23rd: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. On the other hand, Mr. McHugh was nominated to serve as Secretary of the Army on 2 Jun 09.
McMahon, Michael E., D-13th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Maloney, Carolyn, D-14th: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman.
Meeks, Gregory W., D-6th: Will have been in office 13 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Murphy, Scott, D- 20th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Nadler, Jerrold, D-8th: Will have been in office 11 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Rangel, Charles B., D-15th: Will have been in office 40 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. On September 24, 2008, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Rangel's alleged failure to report rental income or pay taxes on a beach rental property in the Dominican Republic, allegedly living in multiple rent-subsidized apartments in New York City while claiming his Washington, D.C. home as his primary residence (If Washington, DC is his primary residence, how can he hold office from NY State?) for tax purposes, alleged use of congressional stationery to solicit donors for a public policy institute in his name at City College, and other alleged questionable activities.
Serrano, José E., D-16th: Will have been in office 21 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Slaughter, Louise, D- 28th: Will have been in office 28 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman. She will also be 81 years old at the completion of this term.
Tonko, Paul D., D-21st: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Towns, Edolphus, D-10th: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Velázquez, Nydia M., D-12th: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman.
Weiner, Anthony D., D-9th: Will have been in office 12 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
North Carolina
Butterfield, G.K., D-1st: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Coble, Howard, R-6th: Will have been in office 26 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. He will also be 79 years old at the completion of this term.
Etheridge, Bob, D-2nd: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Foxx, Virginia, R-5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Jones, Walter B., R-3rd: Will have been in office 16 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Kissell, Larry, D-8th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
McHenry, Patrick T., R-10th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
McIntyre, Mike, D-7th: Will have been in office 14 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man.
Miller, Brad, D-13th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Myrick, Sue, R-9th: Will have been in office 16 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this woman.
Price, David, D- 4th: Spent 8 years in Congress the first time and at the completion of this term will have an additional 14 consecutive years. That’s enough. Do not re-elect this man.
Shuler, Heath, D-11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man. Hope he’s a better Congressman than he was a Washington Redskins Quarterback!
Watt, Mel, D-12th: Will have been in office 18 years at the end of this term, do not re-elect this man. He also appears to be a racist. "You're just another arrogant white man — telling us what we can do — it's all about your ego — another f--king arrogant white man." Watt to Ralph Nader at 2004 meeting of Congressional Black Caucus.
North Dakota
Pomeroy, Earl, D-NPL-At-Large: Will have been in office 19 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Northern Mariana Islands
Sablan, Gregorio, Indep-At-Large: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man. However, see American Samoa.
Ohio
Austria, Steve, R-7th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Boccieri, John A., D-16th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man. USAFR C-130 pilot.
Boehner, John A., R-8th: Will have been in office 20 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Driehaus, Steve, D-1st: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man. Peace Corps.
Fudge, Marcia L., D-11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Jordan, Jim, R-4th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Kaptur, Marcy, D-9th: Will have been in office 24 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this woman.
Kucinich, Dennis J., D-10th: Will have been in office 24 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
LaTourette, Steven C., R-14th: Will have been in office 16 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Latta, Robert E., R-5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man. Although his father was also the Congressman from this district there’s a 20 year gap between the two.
Kilroy, Mary Jo, D-15th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Ryan, Tim, D-17th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Schmidt, Jean, R-2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Space, Zachary T., D-18th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Sutton, Betty, D-13th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Tiberi, Pat, R-12th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Turner, Michael, R-3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Wilson, Charles A., D- 6th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Oklahoma
Boren, Dan, D-2nd: I have a slight problem with the nepotism factor. This gent’s father was Governor of OK and US Senator from OK, his grandfather was an OK Congressman. Do not re-elect this man.
Cole, Tom, R-4th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Fallin, Mary, R-5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Lucas, Frank, R-3rd: Will have been in office 17 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Sullivan, John, R-1st: A point of contention during Sullivan's re-election campaign in 2004 was his police record. A review by local media concluded he had at least three arrests: for assault and battery of an off-duty police officer in 1982 and for public intoxication and disturbing the peace in 1985, while still under-age. His last arrest, at age 27, was due to an outstanding bench warrant issued after he failed to appear in court for a traffic violation.
In July 2004, Dave Pearson, a former GOP communications consultant, claimed he was owed $20,000 for work he did on Sullivan's 2002 special election. Pearson put out a press release attacking his former candidate, and sent a letter to all of Sullivan's campaign contributors: "Sullivan is the most dishonest, disingenuous and crooked politician I have ever known. He is a liar because he repeatedly lied to me and others about his business background, his arrest records and many other things." Sullivan responded by saying that Pearson was fired for "not doing his job" and "owes me money probably."
On May 28th, 2009, Rep. Sullivan entered the Betty Ford Center in California to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol. Maybe he’s being wrongly accused, maybe he’s not, however, it’s the perception that counts. Do not re-elect this man.
Some of you may still feel that I'm overstepping my bounds. Well, perhaps I am, so what. That's why these are my "politically uncorrect" views. The bottom line comes in with two statements: (1) if you want change in this country, those who're highlighted in red aren't going to give it to0 you. They have had years to do so. and (2) if most Americans want term limits on politicians, we have to do it ourselves, they won't!
God Bless America,
Gunner Sends
No comments:
Post a Comment