Taking issue with Lempert

I take issue with Sue Lempert’s column, "Good News, Bad News/ Winners and Losers,” in which she summarizes her views of the recent California Primary.

Lempert says, "Steve Poizner, an impressive candidate, lost his integrity as he moved to the right as an out-of-control ultra conservative.” Exactly what integrity does Lempert believe Poizner lost through espousing principles of reduced debt and taxes? Is this more "out of control” than U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer quadrupling the national debt in a year? Or U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier’s ultra partisan vote for a wasteful $800 billion "stimulus” rammed through over a weekend? Is ObamaCare’s "deficit neutral” accounting deceit more or less intellectually honest than Meg Whitman’s conservative principles of reducing government spending?

Lempert goes on to state, "Tom Campbell lost the race but kept his integrity,” implying that Carly Fioriana’s self financing of her campaign is "lost integrity.” Should someone remind Lempert that Barack Obama publicly promised to accept government campaign financing in the last presidential campaign only to renege on it when he found he could "self finance” his campaign outside of government rules we established for fairness? Lempert continues with her nonsensical bias, "Perhaps voters and our democratic system are the losers when candidates feel they must lie to get elected.” Does Lempert make the same comment about Obama’s campaign pledge for open debate on C-SPAN?

It is time we have a more honest discussion about these issues based around actual data, and not more "out-of-control” liberal left anachronistic intellectual dishonesty. If Lempert wants to debate integrity issues, then there are countless Obama, Boxer and Speier partisan governance deceits that have negatively impacted more people to a much greater degree than any of Lempert’s so called "integrity lapses” in the California Primary campaigns.

Glenn C. Rice Ph.D.

Hillsborough