We would like to preface this to say this has not been an easy decision and one that took us many months to implement. ~Liberty Candidates Team
Dear Representative Bentivolio,
Liberty Candidates would like to convey our disappointment concerning
your voting record since being in office. You ran on a liberty platform,
promising to buck the status quo. Your actions, however, indicate you
have changed your position.
You voted “Yea” to H.R. 325, allowing an extension of the debt ceiling
as part of a compromise package in lieu of withholding the pay of U.S.
Representatives. Representatives who continue to fail our nation and
leave our federal government without a much-needed years-overdue
constitutionally-required budget again! The kicker is that it’s no
compromise at all: you all will be paid, you just may have to wait for it.
The concept behind initiatives such as “No budget, no pay” is to remind
legislators that the needs of the public come before the needs of
Congress. The “No budget, no pay” initiative should have easily passed
without a debt ceiling compromise because it was desired by an
overwhelming majority of the people. Not only that, the trade-off serves
only members of Congress, allowing them another chance to slide without
making tough decisions.
When the people’s support for a specific initiative is leveraged by
Congress to accomplish an agenda as unconstitutional and self-serving as
raising the debt ceiling, it is an insult to both the people and the
process.
The Liberty Candidates team has discussed your votes from the very
beginning. We wanted to see if perhaps you were just getting your feet
wet and would turn around. Yet, you did not: you voted for Speaker
Boehner. You called yourself a Reagan Republican, specifically stating
you are not a “Ron Paul person.” You voted to raise the debt ceiling
despite a clear mandate from the people. Your recent vote in favor of
the Monsanto Protection Act made it crystal clear you are NOT a Liberty
Candidate.
The intent of Liberty Candidates is to endorse candidates who support
the Constitution above all else. Those who see the Constitution as
negotiable are refused endorsement. Once elected, a Liberty Candidate is
expected to adhere to the principles set forth by Dr. Ron Paul, outlined
on our homepage.
You have deviated from these principles, Representative Bentivolio. Your
Liberty Candidates’ endorsement is hereby withdrawn.
Gigi Bowman and the Liberty Candidates Team
[…] by actually gaining the “notoriety” by being the first seated legislator to ever be voted out of Liberty Candidates because in his first few congressional votes he voted for the Monsanto […]