A Guest Column by Eugenio Cifelli: Gosar Watch, Episode One: Nine of His Bad Policies

1. He is a climate change denier and blamed the AZ wild fires on "extreme environmental groups"

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/07/07/263226/climate-denier-paul-gosar-blames-arizona-wildfires-on-extreme-environmental-groups/

(History Question: Who was one of the the first world leaders to recognize the threat of climate change? Reagan's female clone Maggie Thatcher:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSrBO4_qPzo

That goes against him since Thatcher is a conservative icon in the US, even though had she been born in the USA, she would have been kicked out of the Republican Party for being too much of a moderate. She at least would have never had a political career in the South as a Republican.


He also opposes the carbon tax, even though countries such as Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, have already created and implemented such tax. Even some US businessmen support such a tax. The Netherlands uses the money it collects from its carbon tax and uses it to subsidize the alternative energy industry. 


2. He oppose cap-and-trade:

 http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/2012questionnaires/results.php?id=gosarp

"The government should not pick market winners and losers.” Further, “global warming” now known as “climate change” is likely not in our control in any event. Historical records clearly demonstrate vast temperature swings long before Man arrived, from temperate zones in Alaska to ice ages in New York. Cap and Tax (Trade) is just another Big Government goal of taking over private markets and dictating lifestyle choices."

Cap-and-Trade was a Republican idea, and George H.W. Bush supported this and signed it into law in 1990:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Presence-of-Mind-Blue-Sky-Thinking.html



3. He thinks that Iran is an existential threat to Israel and the USA.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/2012questionnaires/results.php?id=gosarp

North Korea already has nuclear capability yet is viewed as a joke, yet Iran which doesn't have nukes, and couldn't defeat Iraq during the 1980's is a legitimate threat.  Plus, the Supreme Leader issued a fatwa against Iran having nuclear weapons. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57564199/iran-religious-decree-against-nuclear-weapons-is-binding/


I see this as the US using Israel as a proxy to impose the USA's power in the Middle East. Iran has much wealth in oil, but it needs to diversify its energy resources. Even though North Korea has nukes, it doesn't have any natural resources for the US to exploit, plus South Korea on it's own is more than capable in defeating North Korea in a conflict.

The US would be in a better position to advise Iran to not have a nuclear program due to the hazards of nuclear energy, and there should be a movement to halt the nuclear industry in the USA and world wide. It's too dangerous to harness. 

4. Gosar’s answer to this: “What steps can or should the United States take to ensure that nations such as Iran don't get nuclear weapons?”

"We should support Israel, its peaceful right to exist and its right to preemptive self defense. I have done just that with my amendment in H.R. 2219, which prohibits U.S. funding if a country does not acknowledge Israel’s right to peaceful existence and H. Res. 630, which reaffirms Israel’s right under international law to defend itself from existential threats from weapons of mass destruction. We should ensure Iran is an international pariah through sanctions."

 Also, Israel already has nukes, they have built illegal settlements in Palestinian land, they've used excessive military force on the Palestinian people, and they persecute Palestinian Christians.  

Why don't the American evangelicals ever call out Israel over how it treats the Palestinian Christian community?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/christian-palestinians-israel-manipulating-facts-by-claiming-we-are-welcome-1.420718


5. He opposes federal spending on education and wants the private sector be more involved in this matter:

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gosar-school-spending-not-sacred/article_09c5fe4a-5a5f-5bc6-a507-dc434e8e3210.html

So he would have called Dwight Eisenhower a socialist for signing the National Defense Education Act of 1958 ?

http://npaphistory.wikispaces.com/National+Defense+Education+Act



6. He wants to underfund or eliminate federal agencies like the EPA:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/2012questionnaires/results.php?id=gosarp

"by severely reducing, if not eliminating, some federal agencies such as the NLRB, the EPA, Dept. of Education, and other agencies"


So Gosar wants corporations to regulate and police themselves, because they are trustworthy and look out for the safety and well being of others. Ironically, a Republican President Richard Nixon created the EPA and supported the Clean Air Act of 1970. Today, he probably would have been purged by the Republican Party or would have chosen to join the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party. 

7. His position on District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, (H.R. 3803)

Here are Gosar's own word's about it:

“I am deeply saddened and disgusted that this simple, humane and moral bill failed to pass the House today. I find it deplorable that our nation’s capital allows the genocide of its unborn children,” said Dr. Gosar. “These procedures undeniably rob the world of a human life in a most cruel fashion – and can often cause severe complications and health risks for the child’s mother. It is worth noting that these procedures are more lucrative to the abortion industry, however. The right thing to do is to ban these procedures.”   

  “Just yesterday, a federal judge upheld Arizona state law to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, unless the mother’s life is at risk.  As a father and a health care provider, I applaud Arizona in protecting the unborn from ending their short precious lives in excruciating pain. I hope that those in Congress who supported the District of Columbia’s genocide can one day join me and other pro-life members of Congress in banning these gruesome and inhumane procedures, which have no place in a civil society.”   

Yet, he doesn't care if the mother and her baby have to rely on food stamps in order to survive if they are poor. They are moochers and not makers like the Kochs and the Waltons. 


Here's a website that deal with this matter:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/do-fetuses-feel-pain/27805

8. Indulging Racists for Political Gain: Birth Right Citizenship Act 2011

This was supported by far right organization such as the John Birch Society and the American Resistance Foundation....to me this is just a scheme to disenfranchise Hispanics, so that they can't gain political power by creating a voting bloc. You should poin out that the oldest US city is St Augustine, Florida which was colonized by the Spanish. Spain's colonies and the Spanish language had just as much significance in the USA the British        

  http://www.ilw.com/articles/2011,0204-mehta.shtm



9. He refuses to compromise on taxes, even if they mostly affect the rich he ants to shrink the federal goverment, and have the state governments have more power. 

"But by comparing spending on these needed programs to an "addiction" that is "out of control," Gosar insults the intelligence of local voters, most of whom either rely on these programs or know someone who does. And compared to spending in other countries, U.S. outlays for these programs, and its debt in general, are hardly out of control -- interest rates on U.S. Treasury bills, a key indicator of the faith by the financial markets in this country's long-term fiscal viability, have never been lower."

http://azdailysun.com/news/opinion/editorial/gosar-marginalized-with-stance-against-tax-hikes/article_51e8d39b-598d-5e86-a6e8-4e996eaf5209.html

The federal budget would be better off if tax deductions, tax credits and exemptions were eliminated, and the USA changed it's trade policies: raise tariffs, leave the WTO and create fair trade agreements. A financial trade tax and a federal value added tax would help the country as well.