Chet Edwards is your man



There is no one who represents veterans better in Washington than our congressman, Chet Edwards.

Last year he fought for and won the largest funding increase for the veterans‚ health care and benefits in American history. Chet helped pass the new GI Bill this year so our servicemen and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to receive full education benefits. Chet was able to save the Waco VA hospital from closure when Washington bureaucrats wanted to shut down the hospital when it was desperately needed.

Chet received both the VFW Congressional Award and the American Legion Distinguished Public Service Award, each of which are only given to one member of Congress.

As the former veterans county service officer for Johnson County, I had many opportunities to use the service and assistance of Chet Edwards and his office.

Our veterans and their families have no better friend and advocate in Washington than our Congressman, and that’s why we need to send Chet Edwards back to Congress.



Russell L. Moore

Godley



Is Obama a liar?



It has been repeatedly proven that Obama is a liar, which is not uncommon among politicians.

Be assured that he will attempt to restrict private gun ownership and will raise all our taxes — especially if he gets a Democratic Congress, as did Bill Clinton, with the “largest ever” tax increase after stating during campaigning that he wouldn’t raise them.

So what is it about Obama that concerns me the most?

Not that he may not be an American citizen by Constitutional definition and refuses to respond to a federal court order to produce a birth certificate. It is his Muslim connection and affiliation with America haters like the Rev. “G__D___America” Wright and William Ayers among many, many others.

As was documented in his best-selling book, “The Obama Nation,” in January 1968 Obama was registered as a Muslim at his primary school under the name Barry Soretoro.

The Associated Press released a photocopy of the document where Obama is registered as an Indonesian citizen of the Muslim religion. Add to the fact that on June 13, Obama’s half brother, Malik Obama, who lives in Kenya, told the Jerusalem Post that “if elected, his brother would be a good president for the Jewish people despite his Muslim background.”

Obama also says he never attended a mosque. Not according to witnesses.

As was reported on WorldNetDaily, his school principal and childhood friends said they saw him in attendance. In response, the Obama campaign issued a new statement, “Instead of claiming Obama was never a Muslim as they had previously stated, they then claimed he had never been a practicing Muslim.”

In Obama’s autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” he called his school a “Muslim school” and claims he studied the Quran between the formative ages of 6 to 10.

According to Islamic expert and author Brigitte Gabriel, Obama has some very unusual campaign supporters.

Obama has backing from some very notorious groups, from “al-Qaida to Hamas to Hezbollah,” to “Islamic Jihad” to the “Muslim Brotherhood.” And even the French, who were polled last week and are supporting Obama 5-1 over McCain.

According to these Muslim groups Obama can say anything if it will get him elected president. They also claim that had he renounced his Muslim affiliation earlier in life, he would have changed his name.

What may be the most interesting is that the Islamic world has not renounced Obama for becoming a Christian — under Shariah law a capital offense. So far no extremist has called for his death, yet they will kill cartoonists and authors.

You can gamble on this man in the same way the greedy of this world gambled on subprime mortgages, which led us down the path to the current financial disaster, but after the terrorist attack of 9-11, I don’t want to gamble on my children’s and grandchildren’s futures with a man with such questionable ties.

Don’t you wonder why a man would spend well over $400 million to acquire a job that pays $400,000 a year? We can’t be sure of the total because Obama quit publishing amount totals, but some in the press claim he has raised more than a half a billion, much illegally donated.

So if you want to exhibit that you are politically correct, or are not racist, or are a good union member, or perhaps even a loyal Democrat voter who doesn’t think but only follows the party line, then vote him into office, and I hope you don’t live to regret it because unfortunately we will be in the same boat.

I’ll comment on Gregory Way’s hallucination on Nov. 16.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne



Price for changes



I have always felt real blessed to live in America.

There are times when we realize that too many changes have been made, and we need to revert back to the old themes, but overall, it is still the best place in the world to live.

Why else would the immigrants keep coming here?

Most people here have had good lives with work, food, entertainment and security from outside theft of our many freedoms.

Yet here we are on the verge of having a unknown, insider pied piper trying to take away a number of our strengths and freedoms. He is a suspect insider who has no character background of worthy mention and who wishes by glibness and sly subterfuge to entrap the American people into a socialistic life.

A very important election is right on top of us, and the outcome of it could spell some real drastic changes if the very secretive Hussein Obama is allowed into the White House.

Although I may not agree with all of McCain’s ideas, at least I have confidence that he is a smart and experienced true-blue American with the country’s best interests at heart, and I feel secure in his feelings for all of the citizens of the USA.

He has laid out every inch of his life’s activities, his philosophy and his plans for close inspection, while Obama, on the other hand, has kept a tight lid on all of his records, including his birth facts and certificate, his early and more recent Islamic ties, his Occidental College records, his Columbia U. records, his Harvard U. records, his indoctrination by devious-minded associates, much of his Chicago activities and political ties there, and only recently has his wife’s college thesis been released.

Her thesis and other activities in college, as documented from other attendees, indicate she was a very antiwhite advocate, to say the least, and seemingly still harbors those feelings with a chip on her shoulder.

B.H. Obama hasn’t done anything worthwhile in his political career except gather gullible or dubious backers as he aimed for the highest office. I can only hope that everyone who has any compassion for the American way of life will take into consideration what drastic changes to that way of life may result from an Obama presidency.

His sympathies and ties to radical, even anti-American individuals have been a trend of his for most of his life. His appointment of judges and other critical governmental jobs could be heavily influenced by these sympathies. His promises of changes to gullible and disappointed voters might well be changes to alter our way of life in this republic.

It has been proven by a number of relatively recent events that we can not rely on the present Congress to keep us safe and secure.

That makes it doubly important that we have a reliable doer as president instead of a secretive and suspicious talker.

Many congressmen are liberals, and should there be a liberal Democratic president, liberal ideas could be rampantly enforced throughout our country, leading to dire socialistic consequences.

Obama has a reputation as being the most liberal senator in office and wants more government encroachment into everything and more give aways to the nonworkers.

Throughout America, there must be a majority of free-thinking voters who cherish the blessings of American life who will vote for John McCain for his value to us as president or vote against Obama because of what his presidency will surely bring — U.S. tragedy!



Monte Swatzell

Cleburne



Monte Swatzell on the hot seat



I have some comments for Monte Swatzell:

Do you not realize that the Christian religious “right” in this country holds almost all the same moral beliefs held forth in the Muslim countries that submit to sharia law?

Women have no rights of choice, the rights of males prevail over the rights of women, and the “submission” of women to the males in both their cultures is paramount!

So, please do not impute to our next president, Barack Obama, that he will appoint judges who support sharia law simply because of his heritage.

Quite the contrary, Sen., or should I say President, Obama will appoint judges who are fair and impartial, and will not, most certainly, be supporters of “sharia” law.

Even if your assumptions were true, the 60 plus Democratic majority in the next U.S Senate would never let that happen!

As president, I am confident Obama will nominate federal judges who are in the mainstream of political thought. They will most certainly not be from fringe elements of either Christian or Muslim beliefs.



Bill Conover

Cleburne



Commissioner backing Orr



On Nov. 4 we will have an opportunity to cast our votes for many candidates, from president of the United States to state representative and a variety of county and city leaders.

When Johnson County voters step into the voting booth, I encourage you to remember what’s important to Johnson County and the state of Texas. The national races are significant, but it’s vital that we vote for candidates who can best represent Johnson County on the state and local levels.

I’m proud to support Rob Orr in his re-election to the Texas House of Representatives and encourage all Johnson County voters to join me in sending Rob back to Austin. He has the experience, leadership and dedication that this position requires.

It is crucial that you take the time to get out and vote for Rob in this election. Rob will fight for the issues that concern each of us. Issues like eliminating waste in government, fraud and abuse in state spending.

He is the first member of his class of 2005 who has been named to a leadership position in the Texas House of Representatives. He chairs the Committee on Land and Resource Management, which handles such important issues as eminent domain and annexation.

Rob Orr is standing up for our interests in Austin. He has worked to:

• Pass private property rights protections that ensure fair compensation for landowners and prevent unfair private land seizures.

• Fight appraisal creep and keep property taxes low.

• Help lower the cost of energy — Rob Orr supports more drilling and domestic energy production.

• Pass a law to protect homeowners from mortgage fraud schemes.

Join me in voting for Rob Orr, state representative, District 58.



J W. Matthews

Johnson County

Commissioner

Precinct 2



Vote no in Rio Vista local option election



Again on Nov. 4 we will go to say “no” to the sale of liquor in Rio Vista.

My name is Pamela West, and I would like to set the record straight.

I exercised my legal right and filed an election contest on June 19. On Oct. 9 District Judge Ken Curry signed an order to void the local option election held on May 10 because three votes, not two, were improperly cast and therefore illegal. Other discrepancies were stated in Judge Curry’s order.

These three illegal votes were counted in the final canvass. I did not file this contest to void the election; I filed the contest to keep the election process legal and above board, as all elections should be.

I take my privilege to vote very seriously, as I believe we all do, and I believe just as our military fights and protects the right to vote around the world, we must surely keep our right to vote free from impropriety and illegality here in America.

This is not, nor should it be, just about Pamela West, The Rio Vista Liquor or The Hall Family. It should be about what is best for the community, not what is convenient or profitable. We must look at other cities that have chosen this path — the crime rate, family violence and traffic accidents all increase. And the sales tax from the sale of liquor is nothing compared with the increase in costs to the city for extra police officers to protect citizens, work traffic accidents and keep our community safe.

The city of Rio Vista will receive, for the 7.75 percent sales tax the state collects on every $1,000 in retail sales, $77.50. The state is entitled to 6.25 percent, or $62.50, and the state pays 1 percent or $10 to the Rio Vista city general fund and half percent, or $5 to the economic development fund.

How far will that amount go on lowering property taxes, hiring more police officers, providing city services and maintaining and updating infrastructure such as roads and utilities?

So the city can’t get rich from sales tax on liquor. During slow economic times, retail sales decrease so city revenue will go down. We cannot rely on the projections of retail sales to secure our city revenue.

The owner of a liquor store’s profit margin can be as much as 33 percent on all sales. Who makes the money? The state of Texas and the liquor store; the city is left to clean up the mess!

Please exercise your right to vote; your community needs your vote.

Vote “no” to the sale of off-premises liquor.



Pamela West

Rio Vista