He has some answers to Morgan Griffith’s survey
Rep. Morgan Griffith | File
Dear Mr. Griffith:
I read with interest Dan Casey’s column in today’s Roanoke Times. It seems Mr. Casey thinks you loaded the questions in your recent constituent survey. Though I am one of your constituents, I did not receive this survey in the mail. However, assuming that you might indeed be interested in your constituents’ views, I would like to respond to the questions listed in Mr. Casey’s column today.
(1) I am against a balanced budget amendment, which would severely limit the ability of the government to respond to needs, especially emergency needs like in the case of relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy’s damage.
(2) I oppose oil exploration and drilling off Virginia’s shore due to the potential damage from a spill. Virginia is subject to hurricanes and we know what happened with BP in the Gulf and the unexpected damage from Hurricane Sandy.
(3) I oppose cutting benefits to recipients of Social Security and Medicare, but I would raise the income tax cap to increase Social Security’s long-term solvency. Currently, wages over $106,800 are exempted from Social Security payroll taxes. The wealthy should pay more.
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(4) I support the Dream Act. Immigration reform, IMO, should also include revising the law making children of illegals American citizens. I understand that we are currently spending more on border security than on all other federal policing activities combined.
(5) I support providing the EPA with strong regulatory powers to protect citizen health from air and water pollution. I support increasing the regulation of greenhouse gases and smokestack pollution from coal-powered plants.
(6) I oppose another mid-East war. Iran has not attacked nor does it threaten us. I support an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and a reduction of American military bases overseas, which should go a long way to reducing the military budget and hence the federal budget deficit.
(7) I support new laws to restrict private citizen ownership of military weapons such as assault rifles and high capacity ammunition clips. I support closing the gun hole loophole on criminal background checks for persons purchasing firearms.
I am sure that many of your constituents share my views.
I think Mr. Casey was quite right that the wording of the survey that others received was quite biased to produce responses that aligned with the views of right-wing extremists. Perhaps you need to hire a reputable pollster to supervise your next survey.
Sincerely,
Michael Bentley
SALEM
January 8, 2013 - 1:06 PM
I know Michael, although it’s been years since I’ve talked to him!! We used to be neighbors.
“Do you support the EPA, even if it’s going to make your family starve in the street like feral dogs in New Delhi?”
“Would you support a moderation of American military aggression, even if it means we’ll all probably be forced to speak Maltese in a few years? How about Mongolian?”
“Do you oppose expanding domestic oil drilling and research, even though the only other alternative is homelessness and famine?”
He doesn’t need a reputable pollster, because he’s not looking for actual input. It’s just theater.
I disagree with all of michaels points and thank you, mr griffith, for standing up for what the other half of our country believes.
Go Michael Bentley! A pleasure to read!
Hey jim, where in the Constitution does it say a representative is to stand up for what only half their constituents believe? Or half the country? When “the other half of our country” believed slavery was right what should the representatives have done? When “the other half of our country” believed women, black men or anyone not owning property or passing a poll test should not vote, what should the representatives have done? Is “half the country” really your concern or just the half that agrees with you?
I figured when Griffith was elected that his loyalty was mainly to the GOP and not to the 9th district. Nothing has happened to change this. No tax increases for millionaires (the 9th is crawling with them you know) is one example that strikes me as odd. He also likes to make believe that he is a fiscal hawk, but no one who is a serious fiscal conservative can defend the current level of military spending.
I so appreciated Dan’s bringing up this issue. I received the survey, and as a social science researcher who develops surveys, I was appalled at the items. I was further appalled by the fact that ‘this mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense” per the attached material.
Sssshhhhh, don’t y’all tell Morgan but I hear there is a lot of oil underneath of Salem. Soon, they will start the seismic testing and pumping CO2 underground to bubble it up. Craig County and Montgomery County are chocked full of natural gas in those shale formations, fracking is inevitable. He is going to have to explain this to his coal buddies ya know…
William Bova @11:59
Nah! He’ll just switch horses and start getting his money from the oil and gas industry!
Dan–if Morgan was a Democrat you would love everything he does and think he walked on water. To you anything Republican is bad. I wish you could be more objective and not so biased. We can never have intelligent debate or progress if people like you close your minds to different thoughts and opinions. Not all Democrats are perfect and not all Republicans are wrong.
Way to go, Michael! I heard that Rep. Griffith is going to oppose an increase in the debt ceiling which means not paying off the nation’s debt. That’s unconstitutional behavior (it violates the 14th Amendment). Rep. Griffith took an oath to uphold the constitution. Failing that oath is ground for impeachment!
Frank Munley
BEAUTIFUL MICHAEL!!! Definitely would have answered the survey in the exact same fashion if I had been given the opportunity to take it as one of Rep. Griffith’s constituents. If Rep. Griffith is looking to hear his own echo, I recommend he take a hike on the Appalachian Trail. If he is genuinely looking to pole the beliefs of his constituents, perhaps he should have made the survey available to more than just his core constituents and not fill it with such biased language. Morgan is just one more rubber stamp for the Grand Oil Party’s “think” tank.