There are many people out there who don't have a clue. Failed Republican Senate candidate (He raised $1325) Neal Kirby of Centralia appears to be one of them.
Benton sent out a letter informing people of Barbie's leftist tendencies. Babs co-sponsored SEIU legislation that would have both required unionization of day care workers AND required the owners of the day care facilities to PAY THE UNION DUES OF THE WORKERS IN QUESTION, according to Herrera herself.
For some of the more ignorant, like Kirby, he wrongly believes that because a bill has the same number, it's the same bill. In this case, clearly, it is not.
HB 1329 passed the House. It also passed the Senate. But was it signed into law?
No. Of course not.
The Senate administered the time honored coup de grace; they turned it into what amounts to a study, and the House refused to accept the changes the senate implemented.
THAT'S what Benton, Zarelli, Swecker et al, voted for. Not the SEIU crap that Babs supported and then lied about when I, among others, busted her.
Kirby, who couldn't raise cab fare when he ran, is too ignorant about the legislative process to even begin to understand where he's wrong and Benton is right. Herrera supporters babbling this line, like Pacific County chair Nan Malin who wrote a similar lying, ignorant letter to another newspaper, need to understand that, like it or hate it, Herrera co-sponsored SEIU supported legislation that day care centers did NOT support (her lies to the contrary notwithstanding) and she did this along with voting with the democrats to strip out the last $229 million from the state emergency fund, an issue that is perfectly OK for a Herrera winged monkey since he doesn't mention that.
To attack a sitting state senator because you don't like what he has to say is one thing. To lie about what he's done and what the bill means?
That's something entirely different.
The relatively meaningless endorsements Herrera recieved during the primary (Smith; a family friend. McMorris; built Herrera from spare parts and is interfering over here in a district that is, really, none of her business. Gorton; endorsed Barbie because a former chief of staff is her consultant. Zarelli; gaver a hard look at running for Congress himself, but knew that unemployment issue has killed any hope of running for any higher office. The 3 darkest deepest, bluest democrat counties in the district where few if any Republicans are even running (Like Pacific County, which has precisely ZERO Republicans running) endorsements are as meaningless as Barbie herself.
When it comes right down to it, the empty suit from Ridgefield should write a letter to every newspaper that pubvlished this trash and apologize for the idiots she had write these letters in the first place.
It is this very kind of thing that keeps me from supporting Babs. If this is the kind of people she has supporting her, then I want no part of her.
Come to think of it, given her lack of experience, education, or vision, I want no part of her anyway.
State Senator Don Benton’s letters to the editors criticizing congressional candidate State Representative Jaime Herrera for her support and co-sponsorship of House Bill 1329 is just a misleading lie. He portrays the bill as forcing workers to join government unions, yet Senator Benton and every Republican Senator in the State Senate including Senators Joseph Zarelli and Dan Swecker voted “yea” on the bill Herrera co-sponsored. Only two senators voted against the bill and both were Democrats. This is all public record on the state legislature’s website.
Benton, Zarelli, and Swecker didn’t vote to force workers into state employee unions anymore than Herrera co-sponsored a bill to do so. HB 1329 which Herrera co-sponsored and Benton voted for instead addressed conditions and training for employees in daycares.
Why Senator Benton would tell such a blatant misleading story about Representative Herrera and a bill he supported himself, and then write it to be timed as ballots arrived in voters mailboxes, is simply an attempt to win an election without regard for the truth. Benton uses his status as a state senator to add credibility, but it’s still a lie on behalf of the candidate he supports.
Benton should retract his false statements. Candidates need to repudiate the inaccurate statements made by such prominent supporters such as Senator Benton and help monitor for the truthfulness of their supporters. Winning a campaign on lies isn’t the way to begin a congressional career.
All three Republican candidates for the 3rd Congressional seat are quality candidates. All three offer pretty clear distinctions between themselves with their style and the policy stands they are taking, but Benton’s misleading statements only diminish the quality races the candidates are running.
Representative Herrera has been endorsed by three county Republican Parties, the Washington State Farm Bureau, former Congresswoman Linda Smith, State Senator Joseph Zarelli, former US Senator Slade Gorton, current Congresswoman Cathy McMorris, among many others.
Herrera had the bottom ranking on the “big spenders” list and voted against all new taxes in the last legislative session. She won the “Guardian of Small Business” award from the National Federation of Independent Business. Her conservative credentials are well established.
Neal Kirby
Centralia
The Princess was but one of 20 towards the bottom of the big spenders list. She was NOT dead last.
ReplyDeleteFrom Benton himself,
Senator Benton's response to Nan Malin's slanderous and un-truthful attack
From: Don Benton
To: Don Benton
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 3:22 PM
Subject: Senator Benton's response to Nan Malin's slanderous and un-truthful attack
Dear Friends,
As you know I cannot stand a cover-up so I thought you would be interested in the facts as I have always been. This is not about an opinion. The facts in the issue are very clear. I am proud to be a Republican, but that does not include ignoring a candidates voting record or trying to cover it up just because they are the same party. Many of you were unhappy about me talking about other Republican's voting records. Why not direct your anger at the person who voted that way instead of at the guy that refuses to cover it up? Republicans should receive the same scrutiny as any other elected representative and take responsibility for their votes, including the mistakes. I always have and I am certainly not perfect by any means!. Therefore I needed to set the record straight. Nan Malin, Pacific County Republican Chair called me a liar in the paper earlier this week therefore making the following clarification necessary.
Dear Nansen,
I was shocked and hurt to find that you had lowered yourself to personal insults and misguided attacks on my character in order to be a tool of the Herrera campaign. Clearly you either are grossly misinformed or you simply signed a letter someone else wrote for you to sign without reading it or researching it. In either case, unfortunately for your credibility, your veracity has been severely damaged; you are either being misinformed or you simply choose to believe and spread a complete falsehood. I hope it is the former and this note will set the record straight for you and your readers and followers who deserve the un-edited truth. You clearly do not know me well or understand me. I do not lie, in fact I have a reputation for being brutally honest with people. Facts are facts, but for some reason you choose to ignore the facts in this case.
I said in my letter to the editor that Herrera had sponsored and voted for a bill that would force unionization of child care facilities. She Did. You also claim that I voted for the same bill. I did not. The Senate bill was significantly different from the House version Herrera supported. I said Herrera voted for a bill that spent up all of the rainy day fund. She did. You also state that "since all the Democrats were voting for it anyway" then it was somehow ok for a Republican to vote for it too. Please stop making excuses for Republicans who vote with the Democrats. You called me a liar concerning these facts which can be easily checked and confirmed (as you pointed out in your letter), you are wrong and your reputation has suffered for it and you owe me a public apology. By the way, if you are at all interested in a well researched and factual version of this whole story you can find it at: http://lewwaters.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/herrera-campaigns-attempt-at-damage-control/
Con't
The Princess was but one of 20 towards the bottom of the big spenders list. She was NOT dead last.
ReplyDeleteFrom Benton himself,
Senator Benton's response to Nan Malin's slanderous and un-truthful attack
From: Don Benton
To: Don Benton
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 3:22 PM
Subject: Senator Benton's response to Nan Malin's slanderous and un-truthful attack
Dear Friends,
As you know I cannot stand a cover-up so I thought you would be interested in the facts as I have always been. This is not about an opinion. The facts in the issue are very clear. I am proud to be a Republican, but that does not include ignoring a candidates voting record or trying to cover it up just because they are the same party. Many of you were unhappy about me talking about other Republican's voting records. Why not direct your anger at the person who voted that way instead of at the guy that refuses to cover it up? Republicans should receive the same scrutiny as any other elected representative and take responsibility for their votes, including the mistakes. I always have and I am certainly not perfect by any means!. Therefore I needed to set the record straight. Nan Malin, Pacific County Republican Chair called me a liar in the paper earlier this week therefore making the following clarification necessary.
Dear Nansen,
I was shocked and hurt to find that you had lowered yourself to personal insults and misguided attacks on my character in order to be a tool of the Herrera campaign. Clearly you either are grossly misinformed or you simply signed a letter someone else wrote for you to sign without reading it or researching it. In either case, unfortunately for your credibility, your veracity has been severely damaged; you are either being misinformed or you simply choose to believe and spread a complete falsehood. I hope it is the former and this note will set the record straight for you and your readers and followers who deserve the un-edited truth. You clearly do not know me well or understand me. I do not lie, in fact I have a reputation for being brutally honest with people. Facts are facts, but for some reason you choose to ignore the facts in this case.
Con't
Memo to Kirby: Ya'll won. Now, deal with it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteI said in my letter to the editor that Herrera had sponsored and voted for a bill that would force unionization of child care facilities. She Did. You also claim that I voted for the same bill. I did not. The Senate bill was significantly different from the House version Herrera supported. I said Herrera voted for a bill that spent up all of the rainy day fund. She did. You also state that "since all the Democrats were voting for it anyway" then it was somehow ok for a Republican to vote for it too. Please stop making excuses for Republicans who vote with the Democrats. You called me a liar concerning these facts which can be easily checked and confirmed (as you pointed out in your letter), you are wrong and your reputation has suffered for it and you owe me a public apology. By the way, if you are at all interested in a well researched and factual version of this whole story you can find it at: http://lewwaters.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/herrera-campaigns-attempt-at-damage-control/
That being said you have every right to challenge me for saying it in public, if your position is that it be covered up or explained away, which by the way has been the official position of the Herrera campaign. Trying to explain, denying, character assassination of others, etc rather than simply admitting that she made a freshman mistake and then move on. This has been the wrong way to handle this controversy. This is especially true if you want to foster unity after the primary. Your vitriolic, uninformed and inaccurate attack on my character over what is ultimately the truth, simply because you don't think it should be mentioned, makes after primary unity a very difficult thing to achieve. Unfortunately I believe your false accusation was fueled by Herrera and her handlers for not stepping up early and taking personal responsibility for the fact that she did support the forced unionization of child care centers. To this day the Herrera campaign continues to try to explain away the fact that she voted for both of these bills.
I am especially disappointed that you did not pick up the phone and call me before making such outlandish accusations. Next time Nan try not to let your blind support of any candidate cause you to falsely attack a 20 year conservative Republican Senator with a record of brutal honesty. There was a more effective way to disagree. Impossible however to cover up the facts!
Don
Senator Don Benton
360-574-7369