Bob Goodlatte’s campaign says Democrat Andy Schmookler is engaging in a campaign of “class warfare.”
Schmookler’s response: “This tired old accusation provides a clear view of the moral bankruptcy of the politics practiced by Bob Goodlatte and today’s Republican Party.”
“Yes, there’s class warfare going on in America. And billionaire Warren Buffet hit the nail on the head when he said not long ago, ‘There’s class warfare, all right. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning,'” said Schmookler, who is challenging Goodlatte for the Sixth District seat in Congress.
The back-and-forth began with a comment from Goodlatte’s campaign manager, Chris Leavitt, for a story in the Sept. 2 News Virginian on Schmookler’s demand that the Republican incumbent follow through with a pledge to schedule a series of debates between the two.
Schmookler has been critical of what he sees as stall tactics on the part of the Goodlatte campaign. Leavitt said in response that Schmookler “is quick to point fingers, but offers no solutions.”
“He supports President Obama and his failed policies—including Obamacare and big government like the stimulus package. And because our opponent cannot run on failed policies that will not gain traction with voters, he has fully subscribed to a campaign of class warfare, which President Obama is using against Governor Romney. The vast majority of the American people, however, have rejected this notion, and are simply tired of hearing it,” Leavitt said in his statement to the News Virginian.
Schmookler asks in response to Leavitt: “Whose version of this “class warfare” problem is right – Goodlatte’s or Buffet’s?”
“I know that today’s Republican Party doesn’t like for evidence to be brought in to test their claims. But I am putting Mr. Goodlatte on notice: the era of getting away with just making things up is over,’ Schmookler said.
More from Schmookler:
“Here’s what the evidence shows. In the past generation, the richest of the rich have tripled their share of the nation’s wealth (from 8 % to nearly 25 %), while 90 % of Americans have been losing ground, and the middle class is getting hollowed out.
“Republican policies have played a huge role in this upward redistribution of wealth. And Bob Goodlatte is continuing to work to widen the gulf between the richest and the rest still further.
“Goodlatte has voted for the Ryan budget twice, which would gut Medicare and shift costs onto seniors (taking another $6500 per year, on average, out of the pockets of older Americans), and cutting other programs that help average Americans—and all to give yet another tax break to the richest, who are already paying at their lowest rate in 80 years.
“Who benefits from the tax policies Mitt Romney, Bob Goodlatte, and the other Republicans are now running on? You guessed it: big bucks for those who already have the most, and greater pain for those who have less.
“Talk about class warfare! Goodlatte is supporting Reverse Robin Hood politics.
“What kind of people want to take from those who have less to give to those who already have the most? These are the people Bob Goodlatte chooses to serve.
“What I’m saying here isn’t about envy. This isn’t about resenting success. This is about basic fairness. It’s about how the power of money in our politics has stacked the deck against average Americans, and robbed them of their fair share of the fruits of their labors.
“What do you call people who accuse others of the sins of which they themselves are guilty?
“Let’s hope that the time is over where hypocrisy and deception are the ticket to political success.”
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