I have watched the negative television ads and accepted them as par for the course in an election year but now I received a smear piece in the mail that is one of the most misleading I have ever seen. The Democratic Party, in their effort to help Bobby Bright remain in Congress, is doing a disservice to the public.

Not once has Republican Martha Roby advocated for the elimination of federal aid to schools. The Democrats want you to think so. Not once has Martha Roby advocated for the elimination of the Alabama Department of Education. The Democrats want you to think so. Not once has Martha Roby called for raising our property taxes. The Democrats want you to think so.

The ads are a total misrepresentation of Roby’s position and are meant to mislead and scare voters in an effort to help the Democrats keep their majority in Congress. The direct mail piece does not even point out that Roby is talking about the U.S. Department of Education.

Roby believes the federal agency is too bureaucratic, forces unfunded mandates and ties the hands of state and local school officials. Decisions are best made by teachers, parents and school personnel at the local and state level instead of a career bureaucrat in Washington, DC.

Most importantly, let’s keep in mind that our schools are almost exclusively funded by state and local governments and not by the federal government.

Yet the direct mail piece spun by the Democrats want us to believe we receive $3 billion annually from the federal government for schools in Alabama.

That is ludicrous. And how do they back up their claims on their direct mail piece? They cite www.youtube.com. Don’t be fooled come November 2nd. Educate yourself and make an informed choice.

Joel Williams
Dothan