Today, a great man is coming home. Most of you know him as Congressman Jim Traficant, but to many he is known simply as a good friend. He is not a Republican, and I highly doubt he is a Democrat anymore. He is an illustrious independent, a variety of politician that has been missing from Washington D.C. since 2001.
I am a Republican, and some of you have contacted me asking why I am such a fan of this man. Some say he is an enemy of Republicans and should be avoided. Others call him a criminal who abused his power. In both cases, I disagree, and I will give you my reasons. Before doing so, I encourage you to watch the two minute video you will find below, in Traficant’s last days on Capitol Hill.
You know why I love Traficant? Because he was right. Folks, Traficant knew in his heart that the government was overextending itself and was gaining significant power over the lives of its citizens. He was against an extremely powerful Federal government, and his victory against the Internal Revenue Service is a testament to the hard work he put in. We saw that when he took on the Attorney General Janet Reno, an appointment made by the President Clinton who was in his own Party. He worked with Republicans and crossed party lines to get things done, and he did not care who he pissed off in the process so long as his constituents benefited.
Where are we today? The government has controlling interests in banks. The government has controlling interests in the auto industry. The government has appointed over 40 czars that are not answerable to anyone but the President himself. The government is trying to impose regulations that will be harmful to everyone with the cap and trade bill. And the government is trying to impose its will by gaining a controlling interest in the healthcare industry.
And no one in this county, be it the 17th or the 6th District, is stepping up in Congress to say enough is enough. That is why I dislike Tim Ryan and Charlie Wilson, because they are going along with a policy that Traficant worked so hard to prevent.
Jim Traficant would never have stood for this, and he would have called the Democratic Party out on the crap it is trying to pull in Washington. My dad thinks that if Traficant had been in Congress the last eight years, we would never have come to this point. I think he is right.
At this point, I want to invoke a political philosophy I have coined, “Traficant Conservatism”. The premise is to be against big and intrusive government, be for local unions, be for tax cuts for the American people, against illegal immigration, stronger border control and increased patrols, pro-life, pro-gun, tough on crime, pro-drilling in ANWR and elsewhere for oil, against Kyoto Protocols, for English as being the official language of the United States, and for tax cuts on capital gains and the elimination of the marriage penalty and death tax.
He also made no bones about his issues with the Chinese and the trade policies harming American business.
Does this sound like conservatism to you, folks? Well, it is. The current representative voted with the liberal Democrats the vast majority amount of the time. Traficant was far from that. Do not let the issues of unions scare you, because believe it or not, I support local unions. I am not a fan of the internationals, but local unions do serve a purpose and people ought to have the right to form them by choice, but not under the proposed card check plan.
Did Traficant have his shortcomings? Yes, but I question how much of that was really because of his personal character rather than being a product of a corrupt Youngstown political system. I have done a lot of research into this, and to make the choice to run during the 80s for office given who was around town would have required balls the size of basketballs and made out of steel. Paul Gains found out the hard way when he rocked the boat, and that was in the mid-90s. The 80s were significantly worse.
I do not condone what Traficant did, because he probably was guilty. He was wrong to do what he did.
However, his convictions and his attitudes and his positions are far more in line with my own thinking politically than anything Congressman Ryan or Wilson have done since 2002. Traficant did things his way and on his own terms, be damned the political powers of his own Party.
I give credit where credit is due, and Traficant did more for the area of Youngstown than anyone in the last 50 years. And he did it while standing up for conservative ideas and at great opposition locally, statewide, and Federally.
If this country can forgive Ted Kennedy for his shortcomings, then certainly we can do the same for this man.
Here's to Congressman Traficant, a man who told it like it was and did it his way. If he chooses not to run in the 17th in 2010, then may he have a happy life. If he does run, I will support him any way I can. Salute.
The Mang
Conservative Capo of Youngstown
I am a Republican, and some of you have contacted me asking why I am such a fan of this man. Some say he is an enemy of Republicans and should be avoided. Others call him a criminal who abused his power. In both cases, I disagree, and I will give you my reasons. Before doing so, I encourage you to watch the two minute video you will find below, in Traficant’s last days on Capitol Hill.
You know why I love Traficant? Because he was right. Folks, Traficant knew in his heart that the government was overextending itself and was gaining significant power over the lives of its citizens. He was against an extremely powerful Federal government, and his victory against the Internal Revenue Service is a testament to the hard work he put in. We saw that when he took on the Attorney General Janet Reno, an appointment made by the President Clinton who was in his own Party. He worked with Republicans and crossed party lines to get things done, and he did not care who he pissed off in the process so long as his constituents benefited.
Where are we today? The government has controlling interests in banks. The government has controlling interests in the auto industry. The government has appointed over 40 czars that are not answerable to anyone but the President himself. The government is trying to impose regulations that will be harmful to everyone with the cap and trade bill. And the government is trying to impose its will by gaining a controlling interest in the healthcare industry.
And no one in this county, be it the 17th or the 6th District, is stepping up in Congress to say enough is enough. That is why I dislike Tim Ryan and Charlie Wilson, because they are going along with a policy that Traficant worked so hard to prevent.
Jim Traficant would never have stood for this, and he would have called the Democratic Party out on the crap it is trying to pull in Washington. My dad thinks that if Traficant had been in Congress the last eight years, we would never have come to this point. I think he is right.
At this point, I want to invoke a political philosophy I have coined, “Traficant Conservatism”. The premise is to be against big and intrusive government, be for local unions, be for tax cuts for the American people, against illegal immigration, stronger border control and increased patrols, pro-life, pro-gun, tough on crime, pro-drilling in ANWR and elsewhere for oil, against Kyoto Protocols, for English as being the official language of the United States, and for tax cuts on capital gains and the elimination of the marriage penalty and death tax.
He also made no bones about his issues with the Chinese and the trade policies harming American business.
Does this sound like conservatism to you, folks? Well, it is. The current representative voted with the liberal Democrats the vast majority amount of the time. Traficant was far from that. Do not let the issues of unions scare you, because believe it or not, I support local unions. I am not a fan of the internationals, but local unions do serve a purpose and people ought to have the right to form them by choice, but not under the proposed card check plan.
Did Traficant have his shortcomings? Yes, but I question how much of that was really because of his personal character rather than being a product of a corrupt Youngstown political system. I have done a lot of research into this, and to make the choice to run during the 80s for office given who was around town would have required balls the size of basketballs and made out of steel. Paul Gains found out the hard way when he rocked the boat, and that was in the mid-90s. The 80s were significantly worse.
I do not condone what Traficant did, because he probably was guilty. He was wrong to do what he did.
However, his convictions and his attitudes and his positions are far more in line with my own thinking politically than anything Congressman Ryan or Wilson have done since 2002. Traficant did things his way and on his own terms, be damned the political powers of his own Party.
I give credit where credit is due, and Traficant did more for the area of Youngstown than anyone in the last 50 years. And he did it while standing up for conservative ideas and at great opposition locally, statewide, and Federally.
If this country can forgive Ted Kennedy for his shortcomings, then certainly we can do the same for this man.
Here's to Congressman Traficant, a man who told it like it was and did it his way. If he chooses not to run in the 17th in 2010, then may he have a happy life. If he does run, I will support him any way I can. Salute.
The Mang
Conservative Capo of Youngstown
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