Letter: GOP mailer didn’t persuade due to false assertions

Posted 11/9/22

To the editor:

Less than a week before the Nov. 8 election, I received a mailer from Portsmouth Republicans. If it was designed to persuade me, an unaffiliated voter, to vote for a Republican, it had the opposite effect.

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Letter: GOP mailer didn’t persuade due to false assertions

Posted

To the editor:

Less than a week before the Nov. 8 election, I received a mailer from Portsmouth Republicans. If it was designed to persuade me, an unaffiliated voter, to vote for a Republican, it had the opposite effect.

The two-sided document didn’t mention the name of one Republican. It didn’t highlight any Republican accomplishment or plan, except a call to “freeze property taxes” to eliminate “out of control spending.”

Instead, one side was dedicated to what “Liberal Democrats have given us.” The list read like something that is spewed nightly on a propaganda network named after a canid.

Let’s examine the list of fear-mongering, scapegoating, and lies:

• “Highest inflation in 40 years” — Since rising inflation is a global problem, it’s difficult to blame one political party in one country. Plus, a global pandemic disrupted supply chains and markets, and there’s another war raging.

• “Soaring interest rates” — Inflation has been and is higher in many other countries, including Britain, Germany, and Hungary.

• “Huge 401K loss” — The stock market fluctuates during global times of prosperity and decline. Neither political party here has control over it.

• “Housing market in decline” — It’s more complicated than who holds power in D.C. or on a local town council.

• “Rampant crime” — In 2021 there were 16.5 violent crimes (simple assault, aggravated assault, robbery, and rape) for every 1,000 Americans ages 12 and older. That was statistically unchanged from the year before, below pre-pandemic levels, and far below the rates recorded in the 1990s. In terms of murder, FBI statistics show murders spiked nearly 30 percent in 2020 to a two-decade high. According to the CDC, the states with the highest homicide mortality per capita are Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas.

• “Out of control spending” — The previous president added $7.8 trillion to the budget deficit. When accounting for non-legislative budget savings, the budget deficit under the previous administration grew by $3.9 trillion. The current administration has enacted policies that will add $4.8 trillion to the deficit, or $2.5 trillion when excluding the effects of the American Rescue Plan.

• “High property taxes” — In fiscal 2021, out of 39 R.I. municipalities, Portsmouth had the 28th-highest residential tax rate. According to the Portsmouth Democrats mailer — received shortly before early voting began, which named its candidates running for local office, focused on local issues, and noted who paid for the mailing — Portsmouth ranked in the lowest 33 percent when it came to taxes in fiscal 2022.

• “Woke schools” — Merriam-Webster definition says “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”

• “Record high oil prices” — ExxonMobil recently reported a quarterly profit of nearly $20 billion; Shell reported $9.45 billion, its second-highest profit on record. Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that sought to lower gas prices by cracking down on price gouging by energy companies. No Republican supported the bill.

• “Looming recession” — Yes, a global recession is likely. It’s not because Democrats hold the presidency and a slim majority in Congress.

• “Drugs pouring across our borders” — Last year U.S. citizens were 86 percent of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers — 10 times greater than convictions of illegal immigrants for the same offense. Earlier this year, the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, reached a deal with a group of attorneys general to pay $6 billion to resolve widespread litigation alleging the filthy-rich family fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic.

• “Stock market in free fall” — Research shows that stock market returns and other economic indicators are historically higher under Democrats.

Frank Carini

203 Brownell Lane

Portsmouth

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