Sorry it’s been while since I’ve updated. I’m bad about keeping this up to date. 
Today, however, I got an email that just kind of irked me and I feel I need to respond to it in some way. I’m in Indiana, deep in the heart of FlyOverCountry, and being fairly politically active (and by ‘politically active’ I mean that I sometimes volunteer for scrub work for candidates I believe in and I’m also a precinct committeeman.. certainly not ‘politically connected’ by any means!) I have been bombarded by emails from current Sen. Dick Lugar, and his primary challenger for 2012 Richard Mourdock. I don’t know much about Richard Mourdock yet, other than what’s in the emails I get and brief snippets from media. However, I am VERY familiar with Dick Lugar. He’s been Indiana’s senator for as long as I can remember and as I’ve grown more and more conservative in my world view, I have had red flags pop up in regards to Sen. Lugar.
Please Note: I in no way expect Sen. Lugar to answer these questions. Please don’t think I’m egotistical enough to think that Sen. Lugar gives a monkey’s big toe about what I think. I’m merely using the only medium I have to share my thoughts as always.
In the email I received, it alluded to an editorial that Sen. Lugar wrote for the Indianapolis Business Journal. The first paragraph reads as follows:
True conservatism embraces core economic and cultural beliefs that center on individual liberty, the freedom to believe, say, and do what your conscience dictates, without reprisal from any government or group. This liberty extends to property and every individual’s right to own and protect property against its theft by government, gang or bully. Culturally, this right is balanced by an equally important individual responsibility best articulated by the golden rule. No person’s individual liberty can be at the expense of others.
So, based on this paragraph I would like to ask the senator these questions:
- In your answers to the ‘Congressional Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test’ posted at www.votesmart.org, for the “Budget Priorities” sub-category, you repsonded ‘Greatly Increase’ once, ‘Slightly Increase’ 8 times, ‘Maintain Status’ 6 times, and ‘Slightly Decrease’ once. Do you think these answers are in line with the statement “True conservatism embraces core economic and cultural beliefs that center on individual liberty..”?
- In the same test, in the ‘Taxes’ sub-category, you answered ‘Maintain Status’ for all taxes except ‘Cigarette taxes’ which you chose ‘Greatly Increase’ and ‘Inheritance taxes’ which you chose ‘Eliminate’. How does keeping the status quo with our current taxing system fit with your statement above? How does ‘Greatly Increasing’ cigarette taxes fit in with your statement on individual liberty? (I’m not a smoker, by the way.)
- How does your past support of the ‘Brady Bill’ and other gun control measures fit with your statement on individual liberty?
- How does your sponsorship and support of the DREAM Act fit with your statement on individual responsibility? Doesn’t allowing individuals who have committed an illegal act to benefit from this act fly in the face of individual responsibility?
- How does your support of the bailout of the auto industry and the financial industry fit with your statement on individual responsibility and your statement “This liberty extends to property and every individual’s right to own and protect property against its theft by government, gang or bully.” Is this taking of other’s property (taxpayers) not simply a theft of one’s property to give to another?
- Why are you opposed to eliminating earmarks? Is that not one of the ways in which government takes money from taxpayers in a government sanctioned theft?
- Here’s a question that I’ve wanted answered for a long time. It was my first ‘red flag’ for Sen. Lugar. Why do you support such hardcore environmental restraints based on shoddy science that is at best a drain on the already fragile US economy?
I have plenty of others, but those are the first few off the top of my head. I’d be interested to hear what those of you who are Lugar supporters have to say, and those of you who aren’t. I don’t really have a dog in the hunt yet, but I’m pretty convinced that it’s time for Lugar to go. What do you think?
