What about the 3rd Congressional Distict?

This Far Left Side comic strip is the best summation of last night's Shrewsbury League of Women Voters' debate between the Robert Delle, Michael Stopa, Marty Lamb and Brian Herr.  (Robert Chipman wasn't in attendance.)  I've yet to hear them discuss local issues, only jump on the latest Republican/Tea Party meme.  Here are a few howlers from their websites:

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From Michael Stopa's Core Belief: I Believe in American Exceptionalism:

"For that reason, in the dungeons around the globe the sound of our name has often been the sound of hope."

Or would that be the sound of waterboarding and 'enhanced interrogation techniques?  Michael Stopa is also a fan of Atlas Shrugged:

"Another great article, this one about why "Atlas Shrugged" is more meaningful today than ever before. Businesses cannot and will not grow and thrive until government gets out of their way. And that won't happen unless we defeat liberals like McGovern!"

Bonus points for Mr. Stopa: he has a blog with actual updates, unlike Robert Delle's blog.

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From Marty Lamb's Issues page on Illegal Immigration:

"2. Authorizing the deployment of the United States military along the border and building a permanent border. 

5. Limit birthright citizenship to the children of United States citizens and legal permanent residents."

We have a permanent border, affirmed by treaties with Mexico and Canada, Marty.  Perhaps you mean fence, not border?  And have you ever heard of the Posse Comitatus Act, or the 14th Ammendment?  I do appreciate his efforts to use his name throughout the website, referring to himself in the third person as "The Lamb Chop" and his signs as "Lambscaping."

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Brian Herr can only talk in bullet points.  Check out his sparse Talking Points Cribbed From Watching Fox News Page Issues page:

"o    Repeal the crippling aspects of the recent health care legislation and push common sense reforms"

 What would those common sense reforms be?  Perhaps he doesn't know, because later he says:

"·         I will be a true Citizen Legislator and Representative.  True representatives seek to understand the general will of their constituents and then serve as a voice for them in Washington."

He used the future tense, so I guess after he is elected, he ask us what the common sense reforms are?

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Robert Delle's casual knowledge of grammar and spelling hasn't changed since I first reviewed his website.  Nor has he expanded his list of links, which consists of one: Newsmax.com.  Newsmax happens to be the favorite of another spelling challenged talking point candidate, Ms. Sarah Palin:

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 Bob Chipman is also a fan of bullet points, and his first Issue is the following:

"No Voice in Congress. Independent and moderate voters are under the discretion of Speaker Pelosi and the democratic controlled Congress."

That's called an election, Mr. Chipman.  The Pelosi/Reid Junta didn't invade Washington D.C. and stage a coup of the Republican Congress (despite what Glenn Beck told you).  I find it funny that he thinks all non-Democrats are 'independent and moderate.'  Like Robert Z. Nemeth, he seems to confuse independent with Republican.

Michael Stopa, Candidate.

Michael Stopa (Facebook profile here) resides in Holliston and is a physicist at Harvard University.  He has degrees from Wesleyan University and the University of Maryland, as outlined in his campaign bio and his work page.

Mr. Stopa's website is the most extensive of all the challenger's sites.  His site contains a Candidate Statement, a Platform, and position papers on Fiscal Sanity, the Ryan Plan, Health Care, Global Warming, the War on Terror, and Illegal Aliens.

Here are his stances on the issues, with quotes:

-Supports a reduction of 10% of federal employees and freezes that number until the national employment rate falls to 6%.
-Supports the protesters in Iran.
-Supports H.R. 6110.
-Opposes Cap and Trade legislation (reasons here).
-Opposes civilian trials for enemy combatants (reasons here).
-Supports the increase of combat troops in Afghanistan.
-Opposes the recently passed health care bill:

"First, it would not reduce costs. Second, it would ultimately place the government in the position of deciding which treatments and medicines were available and which were not. Only the very rich would be able to afford procedures and drugs outside of the governments sanctioned ones. And this leads to the final, and I think most crucial reason why rationed healthcare would be a disaster. It goes without saying that people want to lead longer, healthier lives. Never before has the potential of doing so been greater. Medical research is on the threshold of solving mysteries and discovering cures that will radically improve the quality and even the length of our lives. But medical research requires investment and risk. It has already been shown that the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, by virtue of government regulation and socialized medicine, has fallen well behind that of the United States and that the gap is increasing. Nothing will bring research to a screeching halt faster than replacing the hundreds of millions of consumers in America with a single, all-powerful consumer: the United States Government. If equality of access is what you desire at all cost, then choose Obamacare. If, on the other hand, you want for you and your children to live longer..."

-Supports gradual re-patriation of illegal immigrants:

"Re-patriation of illegal aliens is not, practically speaking, difficult. A temporary amnesty, whereby illegal aliens are immediately given temporary work visas and, independently, employers of illegal aliens are given amnesty from prosecution in return for reporting the employees for whom their work documents are suspicious (or whom they know to be in the country illegally), would result in the vast majority of illegal aliens being quickly recorded. A suitable period could be chosen that would permit those here illegally to sell any acquired property (also finish school years) and in an orderly fashion return to their countries. It would not matter much if this period were a year or longer. This program could then be combined with an implementation of E-verify which, sooner or later, will surely become the law of the land."

-Supports cuts in capital gains and business taxes to end the recession:

"What we in the middle class want is a reduction in taxes so that as we grow older and advance we are not having to run twice as fast to keep up with increasing marginal tax rates. What we in the middle class want is less government, not more."

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Mr. Stopa has an excellent site, full of information on his policies and low on flash.  I hope he continues to publish his position papers so we can get a better sense of all his beliefs, not just the hot button topics of this election cycle.

2010 Massachusetts 3rd Congressional Race.

I read the T&G article regarding the Tea Party Night in Northboro the other day, and realized I had no idea who any of these challengers were.  So here are the websites of all the candidates for the 3rd:

Patrick Barron (Shrewsbury)

Robert Chipman (Plainville)

Robert Delle (Westboro)

Jim McGovern (Worcester)

Michael Stopa (Holliston)