Congressional candidate Dr. Bill Cassidy has officially embraced the dark side of American politics by inviting Vice President Cheney to a fundraiser in Baton Rouge on October 6.

“VP Cheney represents the disasters and excesses of the Bush administration even more than President Bush in some respects,” said Grassroots Baton Rouge Democrats Steering Committee member Irv Peckham. “His contempt for the Constitution has been demonstrated and documented repeatedly for the last eight years. He has played a major role in every disaster that the Bush administration has inflicted on America.”

Interestingly, Cheney’s Baton Rouge visit comes after the publication of a new book, Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman, a reporter for the Washington Post. Gellman interviewed former Congressman Dick Armey (R-TX), who states clearly that Cheney lied to him about Iraq’s supposed development of weapons of mass destruction, resulting in Armey’s reluctant vote to support the war resolution in the House. Subsequent events showed this to be a fabrication. Armey’s vote could have changed history.

The book also details Cheney’s unprecedented concentration of power in the Vice President’s office, promoting the bizarre and radical theories of the “Unitary Executive” developed by neo-conservative lawyers; and the VP is part of the legislative branch of government.

Cheney also played a decisive role in development of the Bush administration’s energy and fiscal policies, both of which have been disastrous for America.

“Cheney and Bush entered office knowing that global oil production was going to peak in a few years, and did nothing to prepare the country for it,” says Peckham. “He also famously told more fiscally astute members of the Cabinet that ‘Reagan showed that deficits don’t matter,’ when they expressed concern about the irresponsible budgets being put forward by the White House.”

“The Republican-led Congress was totally complicit in these policies, which have almost doubled the national debt, now approaching $10 trillion, as well as left America in an energy crisis. By inviting Mr. Cheney to help him raise money, Dr. Cassidy has sadly embraced his legacy and its consequences,”
said Committee member Barbara Nielsen. “It shows his campaign against ‘pork-barrel spending’ in a new light.”