+óGé¼+ôThelma has been the best return on any investment that I have ever made,+óGé¼-¥ noted tux-attired Rob DaPour II, who claimed to be the CEO of a small family oil company. +óGé¼+ôWhy for the $151 million that I and the 50 biggest corporations, such as AT&T and Exxon Mobile, have made in campaign contributions to legislators, we have been granted tax breaks worth over $55 billion. That+óGé¼Gäós 55 BILLION dollars!+óGé¼-¥ Da+óGé¼GäóPour chuckled while rubbing his hands together. +óGé¼+ôWhy that+óGé¼Gäós better than a 36,323% return on investment!+óGé¼-¥
Nodding her head in agreement, Mrs. Iona Cenator noted, +óGé¼+ôThelma Drake has fought hard for the repeal of the Death Tax which affects 8,000 of the wealthiest Americans. Without Thelma+óGé¼Gäós hard work, how could I be assured that my great, great, great, great grandchildren would live as well as I and my husband do without having to work hard?!+óGé¼-¥ Mrs. Cenator smiled approvingly, +óGé¼+ôI owe so much to Rep. Drake for working so hard for her wealthiest constituents.+óGé¼-¥
Representing Virginia+óGé¼Gäós second congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Thelma Drake, is running for re-election against a member of a prominent Virginia Beach (VA) political family member and commissioner of revenue, Democrat Phil Kellam.
A virtual rubber stamp of the Bush policies, Drake has a record of voting with Bush 97% of the time, breaking rank only on such locally hot topics as beach sand replenishment.
Despite representing an area with a significant military presence, Drake has consistently voted against bills that would hold military contractors accountable, provide benefits and research for veterans, and adequately equip our men and woman to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan while Drake takes campaign contributions from defense industry lobbyists.
Deemed vulnerable for her voting record and funding from special interest groups, Drake has been the target of MoveOn.org T.V. ads emphasizing that the congresswoman has been caught red-handed accepting money from special interest groups and then voting favorably on their issues at the expense of her constituents.
To get out her message, Drake has been holding open meetings, +óGé¼+ôCoffee with Your Congresswoman,+óGé¼-¥ across her district during her summer recess from Congress. At each of these, Drake has been challenged by MoveOn members waving large red foam hands with +óGé¼+ôCaught Red-Handed+óGé¼-¥; holding signs with such slogans as +óGé¼+ôSupport Our Troops, not Halliburton+óGé¼-¥ and +óGé¼+ôCaught Red-Handed; and distributing information.
The emphasis changed this past Friday at the Drake coffee being held at the Princess Anne Area Library in Virginia Beach. Rather than encountering unhappy constituents waving red foam hands outside, Drake found herself the object of a street theater satire as the local Billionaires for Bush attended to show their +óGé¼+ôsupport+óGé¼-¥ for Drake.
Holding signs that read, +óGé¼+ôNo Billionaire Left Behind,+óGé¼-¥ +óGé¼+ôGovernment of, by, and for the corporations,+óGé¼-¥ and +óGé¼+ôSurvival of the Richest,+óGé¼-¥ the Billionaires for Bush group cheered Rep Drake whenever she mentioned legislation she supports, such as drilling for oil off the Virginia Coast or preventing insurance plans offered under Part D of the Drug Prescription Plan of Medicare from bargaining for a reduced rate on drugs as the Veterans Administration does.
The group also cheered wildly when Drake called the democratically elected President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, a communist and enemy of the United States for nationalizing the country+óGé¼Gäós oil company in an attempt to build a viable middle class in the country.
Rep. Drake was deft in framing her answers that often were characterized by misdirection, side-stepping the issue, or claiming that she had no answer, as she had only been a congresswoman for a year and a half. Another favorite response to questions whose answers might reflect unfavorably with those constituents who attended was to claim that she was not aware of the data that the person asking the question offered and would look into it.
Celebrating once again outside the library at the conclusion of the Coffee, the Billionaires expressed their pleasure at the congresswoman+óGé¼Gäós answers and their sense that they could count on her the next two years to significantly increase their profits and reduce their taxes if she were elected to another term.
+óGé¼+ôYes,+óGé¼-¥ DaPour+óGé¼Gäós wife, the beautiful Robin DaPour, exclaimed, +óGé¼+ôThelma is one of the best investments at any billionaire in Virginia can make!+óGé¼-¥
p.s. A comment by a Billionaire for Bush: "When we first went into the meeting room before Thelma arrived, many of the people waiting in there thought we were the Thelma people and began telling their stories to us!!!! Now, you can see from the picture how we were dressed, but what the picture does not capture was how cheap and tacky my tiara and clip-on earrings were as they were clearly cheap plastic from a child's dress up set!
If you ever questioned the intelligence of Thelma's supporters, then that reaction to us left no doubt!"
Concerned citizens in Hampton Roads are really finding their voice.