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~From the desk of the Candidate~
Press Release
Monday, April 14, 2008
In a Monday editorial entitled “Road
in Park Nothing But a Boondoggle," the Hendersonville Times-News attacked
11th District Republican candidate Carl Mumpower, a persistent proponent
for completing the North Shore Road, for his insistence that the federal
government follow-through on its original promise." It was the
position of the editorial that "a handful of Swain County families want
the road instead of having to take boats to some family cemeteries."
“The Editorial board of the Hendersonville
Times-News seems to love tweaking the nose of Republicans –
especially those of us who put principle above politics, party, or
self-service,” said Mumpower. “I find it
interesting that a paper in Henderson County - owned, mind you, by the New
York Times - would show such a strong interest in the affairs of Swain
County. That was, until I realized that
they support a team led by Senator Lamar Alexander, who is obviously supporting
Tennessee’s interests; his back-up quarterback Heath Shuler, supporting
who-knows-whose interests; and environmentalists and National Park Service
who, with their own interests in mind, never saw a piece of land they didn’t
want to claim.”
“I am a fiscal conservative, and have a
consistent voting record to prove it, but the value of your
word supersedes that consideration,” noted Mumpower. “The
practical arguments offered in the Times-News article follow the same train of
thought as those who find justification for sidestepping our promises to
Veterans. What it amounts to is
"sure we'll keep our word, but only as long as it's convenient.”
“It may not be very politically smart to joust
with folks who buy ink by the barrel – especially when they are preparing to
hand out endorsements," said Mumpower. “But the Times-News
editorial staff sometimes grabs headlines before they grab facts. It
is easy for folks who do not live in or near Swain County to blow-off the
promise to build the North Shore Road. The
naysayers are not affected by the loss of jobs and opportunities that
occurs when 80+ percent of your County is owned by the government - much less
the loss of community identity that comes with that honor."
“Aside from indications that cost projections
for building the road are inflated, it remains that the North Shore Road –
and the resulting access to some of the most beautiful and pristine forests in
region – have major potentials as an economic engine to uplift the people of
Swain County and WNC,” asserted Mumpower. "Much as Cades Cove and other roads
through Tennessee have uplifted those communities.”
“The proposed buy-out amounts to one-half of
the annual budget for just one WNC city – Asheville – in a
'pennies-on-the-dollar' settlement with a small-down payment and a promise to
pay later,” said Mumpower. “And, I would
add, that is a promise that's backed by the same government that's violated its
word to the people of Swain County in the first place.”
Mumpower concluded: “The real "Road to
Nowhere" ends in Washington...and begins any other place that puts
dollars, convenience, and politics before promise and principle. That includes, apparently, the doorstep
of editorial staff of the Times-News.”
#80
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