newsflash: Grover Norquist is a bad man

Who Will Craddock Serve? August 25, 2005 To the Editor: Last week Mr. Jenkins criticized my concern that Chris Craddock was being supported with contributions from the cigarette and alcohol industries. I am sorry that Mr. Craddock did not see fit to respond. I had specifically asked how he could accept such contributions, and the endorsement of Grover Norquist, who is in the pockets of these industries and the gambling industry as well, while he counsels students to be on the “straight and narrow.” The issue, Mr. Jenkins, is not that these contributors sell legal goods, but whose interests Craddock will side with when it’s time to vote on a budget bill. And when it comes to cutting taxes, I want families' taxes cut first, not corporations selling whiskey and cigarettes. Norquist is not such a good person to have as a political mentor and string puller. Norquist has been urging legislators in Texas and Kansas, two states under court order because they’ve been not providing enough financing for public education, not to cave. I’ve read in several newspaper articles that those states, long opposed to casino gambling, are now considering it. What a nice deal for Mr. Norquist – you get to add to your anti-tax reputation at the expense of public education, and help your casino friends at the same time! And while Mr. Craddock may have good intentions, Mr. Norquist has been quoted numerous times that he sets out to ruin the careers of those who don’t follow his wishes. I believe Mr. Craddock has made a Faustian bargain. The Weekly Standard is a very conservative publication. Its current (June 27, 2005) opinion of Mr. Norquist? “Those connected to Abramoff—[list omitted] antitax activist Grover Norquist, and others--have become symbols as well: symbols of how onetime anti-Washington political insurgents traded in their idealism for gobs of corporate cash.” And Grover Norquist certainly doesn’t care about whether public education suffers as a result of inadequate funding. When asked last month about the teaching of evolution in public schools, he said, "The real problem here is that you shouldn't have government-run schools." I don’t want Grover Norquist 's finger in our district, and I don't trust Chris Craddock. Even though I am a Republican, I am supporting Chuck Caputo’s campaign. Laura Miller Chantilly

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