Email From Lugar

When the debt ceiling votes were before us, I emailed Senator Dick Lugar to ask him to vote against raising it, and to cut spending dramatically, primarily by ending the wars. Here's his response:

Dear Mr. Kole:

Thank you for contacting me. Under President Obama and the Democratic Party controlled Senate, our federal debt has ballooned from $10.6 trillion to more than $14.3 trillion. This spending is unsustainable and unacceptable.

I have voted against numerous policies promoted by the Obama Administration which contributed directly to high deficits, including the so-called stimulus bill, the health care bill, the annual spending bills, and the bureaucratic financial regulatory reform bill.

I have cosponsored, supported, and voted for numerous Republican proposals to rein in spending including the Cut, Cap and Balance Plan and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. I likewise supported the Ryan Budget and the Toomey Budget plans. I have supported and will continue to support efforts to overhaul, repeal, or restrain out of control spending policies.

On August 2, 2011, I voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011, the final default avoidance plan that substantially reduces government spending by at least $2.4 trillion and does not raise taxes. The legislation also advances the cause of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, a measure I have supported 16 times since my election to the U.S. Senate. The passage of this legislation is a step toward long term spending reform, while also preventing a default on our nation's debts. Thank you, again, for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator

Obviously the US Senator isn't going to address me personally. I know that I have to expect a form response, since I haven't given him five figures lately. Or, ever. In fact, not even one figure. Still, this is a pretty lame response. What I was hoping for was a response that read, "Yes, Mr. Kole. I will vote against increasing the debt ceiling." Or, "Yes, I will vote to reduce the spending". Well, that would have required a timely response. Barring that, I would have settled for, "Mr. Kole, I voted against raising the debt ceiling".

Can you tell he's thinking ahead to the primary election, still some 9 months away? He blames the Democrats and President Obama, and brags on how he voted against Democratic legislation. Clearly, he is hoping I'll read this and remember it as I go to the Republican primary... something I would never do, being that I am not a partisan Republican. But, he voted to raise the debt ceiling! This, of course, is conveniently left out of his email, as were all of his votes supporting the Republican bloating of the debt during the Bush years.

Why cite all of this year's failed bills that he supported, when the thing that mattered- the item he voted for that passed into law- did the opposite of what I asked for? Simple: He's trying to bullshit me. A deception.

There really wasn't much chance that I was going to vote for Lugar if he makes it to the general election in November of 2012. Now there is no chance whatsoever.

If I didn't get this load of BS, I probably wouldn't have posted at all about my email exchange with the Senator's office. But since I did get a steaming load...