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25.9.08

Cazayoux misleading goes beyond ads to issues

In the rough and tumble of politics and with the First Amendment in place, you can’t ensure honest impressions will be conveyed about you as a candidate by anybody else. Then again, often candidates won’t in their campaigning convey honesty even about themselves.

State Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican opposing Democrat Rep. Don Cazayoux for reelection, has a legitimate quarrel with the incumbent over an ad by the latter that states, concerning Cassidy’s support to privatize a small portion of funds for investing for Social Security, “His plan would cut guaranteed benefits.” But as Cassidy has made clear “his plan” is to guarantee benefits already promised. Cazayoux’s campaign is perpetuating a flat out lie, but one protected by our basic guarantee of free speech.

Rather than complain, Cassidy should cut his own ad pointing out Cazayoux’s mendacity and tie it to a larger pattern of dishonesty – the mirage that Cazayoux tries to perpetuate that he represents the views of the majority of the district. The fact is, Cazayoux is the lapdog of liberal Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If there’s some important legislation to be passed that is part of the liberal agenda, almost always she can count on his vote. The rest of the time, as a competent speaker will do, she’ll take his leash off and allow him to cast a few votes here and there to allow him to inoculate himself as a faux moderate or conservative to try to stay in office, but make no mistake, Cazayoux (as he first demonstrated in the Louisiana House) is a fraud on this account.

But more specifically on this Social Security issue, while Cazayoux’s criticizes, in concert with his southern Democrat playbook to shout the inoculating issues to the skies and ignore and obfuscate everything else he has no solutions or leadership for the coming funding crisis in Social Security that Cassidy addresses and addresses sensibly. Cazayoux’s official statement on the matter is he “believes that Social Security is a trust between the generations and we should do everything we can to protect it. He is against privatizing Social Security.”

That’s it, no plan or solutions present – because he doesn’t want to tell the public what he really will vote for, which is similar to what his other opponent, Democrat-turned-independent Michael Jackson stated he would do which is the plan supported by the Democrat leadership. They would raise taxes and force higher payments from some with no increase in benefits. It’s unlikely Democrats would have enough guts to try to solve the problem anytime soon precisely because they know their solution is unloved, but rest assured if it ever came to that Cazayoux would do whatever the liberal majority (assuming it and he were still there) wanted him to do.

If Cazayoux really believed in a different solution than what his party offers, he would say so. But he won’t because he doesn’t. It’s a dishonesty that extends past mere campaign ads.

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