Note: take action from what you read here and sign the online petition demanding the Congressman apologize for these actions. Click on the "Get Active" link, here or above, to make sure your voice is heard.
"Do Nothing Dave", the newly crowned moniker of Dave Weldon has acquired over his tenure, is showing more clearly his demeanor. At the Congressional Representative for Florida District 15, his lack of accomplishments during his more than 6 terms in office is amazingly lengthy. Even after running originally on the failed Contract with American platform in the early 90s, a pledge that included strict term limits, "Do Nothing Dave" is still biding his time as an incumbent in Congress.
A clear example of his demeanor occured recently in the spring of 2007. It started with an opinion piece that Rep. Dave Weldon wrote in the Vero Beach Press Journal, published on April 7th, 2007:
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/opinion_columnists/article/0,2821,TCP_24463_5469129,00.html
In this opinion piece, "Do Nothing Dave" engaged in partison complaining about the "insidious Alternative Minimum Tax" and took blatant swipes at the Democratic Congressional majority. Considering his rating as one of the staunchest "W" supporters, ranking easily in the 95% category in support of everything Bush, it is no surprise that he authored such a secular diatribe published for his constituency.
Obviously, there were plenty of letters from the public that then appeared in the paper denouncing "Do Nothing Dave's" piece:
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,2821,TCP_24461_5476557,00.html
View as PDF (68K) Published April 11th, 2007
and
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,2821,TCP_24461_5476556,00.html
View as PDF (68K) Published April 11th, 2007
and
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,2821,TCP_24461_5481156,00.html
View as PDF (68K) Published April 13th, 2007
No letters were in favor of "Do Nothing Dave's" opinion article. Of note, though, on April 26, almost 3 weeks after the original article was published and after so many other letters were published, there was then one more letter published that was against "Do Nothing Dave":
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,2821,TCP_24461_5504818,00.html
View as PDF (70K) Published April 26th, 2007
This final letter from the public was written by Kevin Sawnick, a young adult in "Do Nothing Dave's" constituency and the Vice President of the Indian River County Young Democrats.
Though Kevin's letter was not harshly or inappropriately against "Do Nothing Dave's" article, it was clear in highlighting that the record of his Congressional Representative warranted much closer scrutiny from the public; the Congressman's voting record was shown to be clearly against the best interest of the large majority of his constituency.
Kevin's letter brought a very scathing and personal rebuke from "Do Nothing Dave". This response was published in the Vero Beach Press Journal on May 9th, 2007, and was a blatant attack against a young member of the community:
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,2821,TCP_24461_5526981,00.html
View as PDF (71K) Published May 9th, 2007
Having an incumbent Congressman attack so blatantly a young adult in his district in such a public fashion was unprofessional, to put it mildly. Insulting and disgusting, worthy of being removed from office, would be more appropriate for such actions. And, in no way did the response from "Do Nothing Dave" address any of the issues that were rasied by any of the letters denouncing his original article. In other words, "Do Nothing Dave" ignored the issues and attacked the people that had different opinions than his own.
The Indian River County Young Democrats have authored a response to this attack that will hopefully be published for the public to see:
View as PDF (198K) Authored May 12th, 2007
The Indian River County Young Democrats are asking for your support to make it clear to our Congressman that such actions are not acceptable. Get Active and sign the online petition to be sent to the local press and "Do Nothing Dave" demanding an apology for these nefarious actions.
Supporting materials for this chain of events, basically the original letter written by Kevin Sawnick and submitted to the Vero Beach Press Journal:
View as PDF (42K) Authored April 23rd, 2007
Read more about Do Nothing Dave and has lack of support for his constituents, Floridians, and all Americans.