Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 there are many other reasons to favor Fitzger- ald over Buchanan. Since the 2010 midterm elections, when Re- publicans regained control of the House of Representatives, Buchanan has been a devot- ed foot soldier of the Republican House lead- ership, whose avowed legislative agenda has been to deny Barack Obama a second term as president. In other words, they were not to work with Democrats to craft legislation that would, in com- promise, address the issues of chronic un- employment and a bal- looning national debt — compromise being something that, prior to 2008, was standard practice for 219 years. Instead, the Republi- cans almost exclusive- ly harry and hinder the president in the gov- erning of the nation. For example, Buchanan has been a co-spon- sor of a bill in the House to repeal the Afford- able Care Act, and he has voted more than 30 times to repeal the act. After the first failed attempt to repeal the act, it was obvious that the Senate would not cooperate, so the subse- quent efforts were merely piquish show, and they actually obstructed Congress in dealing with more substantive matters. Buchanan also voted for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's bill that would have parsed the meaning of "rape" in an attempt to further deny Ameri- can women access to legal abortions, belit- tling the severity of one of the most horrific crimes against women. Page 68 He has consistently voted with the House leadership in attempts to secure an additional $1 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Ameri- cans, while doing virtually nothing to mitigate the effects of the Great Recession on the mid- dle class, including the largest proportion of his own constituency. Were the apparent integrity of each aspirant to the 16th Congressional seat to be the sole deciding factor, it would be no contest: Keith Fitzgerald deserves to replace Buchanan. Congress. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, distinguished himself as a prudent and thoughtful public servant during his tenure in the Florida Leg- islature. His careful, deliberative ways, co- gent grasp of the issues affecting the nation in general and this district in particular, and his overriding concern for the people of Flor- ida's 16th Congressional District will serve all well. We urge voters to cast their bal- lot for Keith Fitzgerald for U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 6. In his time in Congress, Buchanan has estab- lished a reputation for playing fast and loose with ethical guidelines, unilaterally oppos- ing the president at every turn, favoring the interests of the richest Americans at the expense of the re- maining 99% of the na- tion's population and ignoring each and ev- ery rational approach to fiscal restraint that has been proposed to