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What’s the Cost of a Bad Vote?

July 20, 2010 By mac-dalessandro Leave a Comment

(Cross-posted at Open Left.)

We all know the statistics.  Over 4,400 American service men and women killed.  Over $730 Billion spent.  Longer than American involvement in World War II, longer than the Civil War, longer than the American Revolution, catching up to Vietnam.

We all know what a terrible cost the War in Iraq has levied on us.  This is a war that my opponent in the Democratic primary, incumbent Stephen Lynch, not only voted for, but also voted to fund at least eleven times.

Still, as frequently as we’ve heard the dizzying and disheartening statistics, we sometimes lose sight of the direct impact this war has had on our communities.  While we spend some $13 billion per month on the Iraq War, many of our cities and towns face crippling budget shortfalls as we climb out of this ongoing recession.

To make it clear to the families of Massachusetts’ 9th Congressional district, I have offered a breakdown of the costs, using an interactive map.  If you visit the map on my website, you can see what the per capita financial cost to each city and town has been – as well as what that money would have bought in teachers, police, and firefighters over these past seven years.

Iraq certainly isn’t the only issue where my opponent and I disagree, or where he has cast a profoundly bad vote.  Stephen Lynch voted for the Patriot Act and its reauthorization, while I believe that it represents an infringement on the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans.  Lynch voted for the Stupak Amendment to the health care reform bill, while I am staunchly pro-choice and see the Stupak Amendment as the most profound attack on a woman’s right to choose since the Hyde Amendment of the 1980’s.  Stephen Lynch also voted against the health care reform bill, while I support it because it provides tens of millions of Americans with access to health care, allows children to remain on parents’ health care plans until the age of twenty-six, and ends some of the worst abuses of health insurance companies, like “pre-existing conditions” restrictions on children.

There is a clear pattern that, while Stephen Lynch may vote with us Democrats more often than not, the votes where Lynch diverges from us Democrats are among the votes that most shape the path on which our country will head.  If you no longer want to face the cost of a bad vote – if you want to elect a Better Democrat – I urge you to get involved and support my campaign.  (Also, be sure to vote for me in DFA’s Grassroots All-Stars contest, and encourage friends to do likewise.)

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Filed Under: User Tagged With: 9th-district, democratic-primary, iraq, ma-09, mac-dalessandro, netroots, progressive, stephen-lynch, u.s.-house-of-representatives, war

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massauditor Suzanne M. Bump @massauditor ·
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You can help us make government work better. Tell us where you see waste and abuse by government agencies or contractors. https://www.mass.gov/how-to/report-waste-and-abuse #MAPoli

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repsmitty34 Smitty Pignatelli @repsmitty34 ·
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AG and candidate for Governor @maura_healey is my guest on this week's episode of 'Let's Talk with Smitty.' She has taken on the biggest fights as the people's lawyer and will be a Governor for ALL of us. Visit https://linktr.ee/repsmitty to listen.
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strat4youth Strategies for Youth @strat4youth ·
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Be an informed voter for youth justice! Join the voter education forum in-person or virtually on August 16 from 1:30-3 PM. Learn more and register today: https://lnkd.in/ejEaKtXB #mapoli

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darraghcmurphy Darragh Murphy @darraghcmurphy ·
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I hope every voter in Suffolk Co reads and rereads this comment until they understand the implications of having a DA Arroyo so inexperienced that he is not qualified to sit as SECOND chair on a Suffolk Co murder trial as prosecutor or public defender. #BosPoli #MaPoli #NoArroyos

Jessamyn Jones @jessamynejones

@orennimni This comment is woefully ignorant & verifiably false. Hayden spent 2x as many years as a defense attorney than Arroyo. Arroyo has so little experience that he does not meet the reqs to lead a jury trial, or even sit 2nd chair on a murder trial, as a public defender or ADA.

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darraghcmurphy Darragh Murphy @darraghcmurphy ·
37m

Substantive question for @RicardoNArroyo that would help voters differentiate his #SuffolkDA candidacy from DA Hayden’s. Will Ricardo answer? Go after illegal guns or nah, Ricardo? #BosPoli & #MaPoli

Jessamyn Jones @jessamynejones

This account also loves to criticize @dakevinhayden for enforcing gun laws in communities most grievously impacted by gun violence. Does @ricardonarroyo agree w/ @CourtWatchMA that DA should deemphasize illegal gun possession? Will it be on his expanded #DNPlist? #bospoli #mapoli https://twitter.com/CourtWatchMA/status/1559220406371995648

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scmurnane Steven Murnane Jr @scmurnane ·
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Voting to tank the #NoCostCalls bill, and now endorsing DA Hayden over @RicardoNArroyo? I think its time for her to go. #mapoli

Lydia Edwards @LydiaMEdwards

Happy to endorse @DAKevinHayden for DA! https://twitter.com/dakevinhayden/status/1559176032732811267

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