The Shame Of John Astle

This letter was sent to the Honorable District 30 Senator from one of Anne Arundel County's hardest working Republicans (not me):

Dear John:

We have known each other for many, many
years. We had always believed you to be a man of principle and
integrity. Unfortunately, your actions have proven us
WRONG.

I know from calling AND personally visiting your office that
you have been very well aware of the snail mail, phone calls, e-mails and fax we
have sent to your office asking you to vote against the tax increases being
considered in this unnecessary Special Session. Additionally, we have
repeatedly asked you to vote to support the Republican filibuster against this
terrible assault on Maryland’s families. (You used to tell Chuck
that you voted with the Republicans many times.)

You need not bother to tell us that you voted against the tax increases. You knew when you cast that vote, it HAD ABSOLUTELY NO MERIT AT ALL!

John, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t vote against a bill just after you have
voted FOR it. When you refused to join the Republican filibuster (as 4
Democrats did) you knew that you were actually voting to allow this travesty to
continue. If you really had a “conscience” and “couldn’t support this
package,” – those are your words, John, -- you would have joined the Republican
filibuster and stopped the entire assault on Maryland’s families with which you
are now inextricably linked. YOU CAST THE VOTES JOHN.

You have clearly identified yourself as an individual who puts POLITICAL PARTY AND YOUR OWN PERSONAL POWER over PRINCIPLE AND PEOPLE! This is not what we expect from a retired Colonel of the Armed Forces. To many in the
military, whether active duty or retired, integrity is important. Your
votes coupled with your comments clearly show that you have sold your integrity
in your lust for power.

Times have changed, John. The new communications medium, i.e., the Internet, has made an enormous change in the way information is disseminated. You are continuing to rely on your media friends at the Baltimore SCUM and The Capital to provide you cover. They have been and I am sure will continue to be your willing accomplices.

However, using a medium which you cannot at the present time control, I have
every intention of making your duplicity well known to as many people as
possible. “By our own works we shall all be known.”

John your unwillingness to STOP these tax increases while at
the same time voting to INCREASE RUNAWAY SPENDING is an unmistakable vote against young families, middle income families, military families, the retired –
in fact AGAINST all of Maryland’s already beleaguered families. I know
this – but more important to me – YOU KNEW THIS and you deliberately, with
malice aforethought, turned a blind eye!

John, at the end of this message, I’ve copied a letter sent to a member of the Maryland General Assembly. I can identify with this lady. A person WITH A CONSCIENCE would be able to identify with her as well. John, you’ve gotten so
accustomed to running with the big ticket lobbyists and the power brokers, you
have forgotten the majority of people are actually struggling. Or, perhaps
we are not good enough or not wealthy enough for you to bother with
anymore?

A wonderful young family in our church lives in the
basement of her parent’s home. A Mother at home is important to them and
they can’t afford rents. Also, they are trying to save money to actually
buy a home of their own – SOMEDAY. And thanks to you and your fellow
travelers, that someday is becoming ever more distant.

A neighbor hires a landscaping service. According to your puppeteer, Senator Mike Miller, they are obviously “rich and can afford to pay the taxes on those
services.” However, the truth is he has Parkinson’s Disease and his wife
is not strong enough to do the heavy lawn work AND take care of her increasingly invalid husband. Therefore, a lawn service IS a necessary part of their
loving efforts to keep him out of a nursing home. Like us, they too are
retired and trying to live on a fixed income.

Let me also introduce you to the single African-American mother with her children in the car putting $5.00 worth of gasoline in her car. Right now, WITHOUT YOUR HIGHER TAXES, she can only afford to put $5.00 (less than 2 gallons of gas) in her car at a time. When your tax increases take effect what will she have to give up in order to put gas in her car? Her job? Her children’s day-care?
Food? Heat for her home? What, John? The sad fact is that you
and your fellow travelers don’t have any idea – because you simply don’t care.

These are not isolated incidents – these are small examples of
what is going on in the REAL WORLD. John, it is apparent to everyone but
you and the majority of your fellow Democrats – that you have lost touch with
the real world. You should be ashamed of yourself.

We are ASHAMED OF YOU, JOHN ASTLE.