Offering Solutions

One other thing that I saw yesterday while perusing the Sunday chat fests (besides the ongoing obsession with Sarah Palin) was the democrats talking point mantra that the Republicans are "just saying no" to President Obama. Besides being just a tiny bit disingenuous (remember the Democrats said "NO" to President Bush plenty of times - especially on judicial nominees) it is also horribly untrue. I have mentioned before some of the solutions that are coming out of the House GOP caucus in the past, and there is a new one that came out yesterday that needs to be highlighted. This time it is from my dear friend and former representative John Kline (MN2).

For those of us in Washington concerned about job creation, the first Friday of each month has always been a notable occasion. That’s when the U.S. Department of Labor issues its monthly employment report detailing how many jobs were gained or lost in the previous month, along with the current unemployment rate. When I first came to Congress, these reports generally brought good news. In fact, from 2003 through the end of 2007, we saw a record 52 consecutive months of job growth. Unfortunately, that all changed in early 2008, when we saw the first job losses in more than four years. Since that time, the U.S. economy has steadily shed more jobs as the recession has deepened. Just last week, we learned that an additional 467,000 jobs were lost in June of this year, and the unemployment rate has reached 9.5 percent, its highest level in more than a quarter-century.

From the moment we saw those first 17,000 jobs lost in January of 2008, it was clear to me that we needed to embrace pro-growth policies. Now, about a year and a half later, more than 6.5 million jobs have been lost and evidence is mounting that the tax-and-spend policies advanced by congressional Democrats are not only failing to stem the tide of unemployment, they are actually making our economic problems far worse.

The Democrats love to yammer about the "failed policies of the past" but remember, they controlled Congress for the last two years of the Bush Administration and policies that they enacted (and to be fair President Bush signed) in 2006 lead to those early job losses in 2008 so when they talk about "failed policies" we need to remember THEIR culpability in the failed policy generation.

I serve as the Senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. It’s ground zero for legislation that impacts American workers and employers, and under the control of Democrats, I believe it has failed to project jobs and promote economic growth. From legislation that will increase litigation in the workplace to the notoriously anti-worker card check scheme, Democrats in Washington have put special interests ahead of the people’s interests. Add to that a failed “stimulus” that cost close to $1 trillion yet still hasn’t produced the jobs it promised; a national energy tax in the form of cap-and-trade; and the impending government takeover of our health care system, and a future of permanent economic stagnation seems almost inevitable.

OK you say - where are these solutions you talk about? Here they are....

It doesn’t have to be this way. Republicans are committed to pro-growth policies that will get our economy back on track without saddling future generations with unmanageable debt. We offered a stimulus plan that would have created twice the jobs for half the price. We have developed a health care proposal that will make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and increase quality – all at a price our country can afford. And we plan to continue acting as the party of better solutions, rejecting Democrats’ plans to expand government at the expense of individuals and pushing for commonsense, bipartisan solutions to the many challenges we face. With the right policies, I’m confident we can return the first Friday of each month into an occasion worth celebrating once again.

Whether the topic is job creation, restoring savings, cutting government spending, stimulating the economy, health care reform, solving the housing crisis, energy or any other issue that this country is facing, the House Republican Caucus HAS been putting forward solutions - not just saying "NO" to the President. Anyone who propogates this talking point is flat out lying to the American people. Haven't we had enough of that?

Unhinged

As Lassie reported earlier, there have been multiple reports of vandalism involving the metro Congressional delegation. Both Senators Coleman and Klobuchar and Reps. Kline, Bachman, Ellison and Ramstad are reporting similar threats being spraypainted on their garages or homes. The threat "you are a traitor/sell-out/criminal resign or die" is being taken very seriously by local law enforcment - as it should be.

Condemnation came quickly (before all reports of vandalism were in) from the Franken and Barkley campaigns as well as the MNDFL. However, not everyone in the metro thinks that this behavior is reprehensable and deserving of condemnation. One City Pages blogger thinks she understands the passions driving the vandal.

We're not surprised. A mean and dirty campaign season from all candidates will likely lead to response that is undesirable. Have we learned our lesson yet?

Please Emily - mean campaigns have nothing to do with this. Remember that Rep. Ramstad is not running for re-election as he is retiring this year and Sen. Klobuchar is not up for re-election for another 4 years! These actions are NOT excusable - they are criminal and they have absolutely no place in our political discourse.

I hope that the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments are able to solve this quickly...for the sake of our elected officials, for the sake of our cities and for the sake of our society! We simply can not excuse this type of activity. It is not healthy for our country.

The Audacity of.....Rage?????

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting the stunning story.

When Laurie Coleman, wife of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, hauled her trash to the alley at 7:30 this morning, a chilling sight greeted her.

Spray-painted in black on the wooden siding of the garage in the couple’s Summit Hill neighborhood was this angry graffiti, in letters nearly a foot high: “U R A CRIMINAL RESIGN OR ELSE! PSALM 2”

On the alley side, each double-bay stall door had the word “SCUM” spray painted in black ink, as a did a wooden partition in between.

St. Paul police say Coleman is at least the fourth Minnesota member of Congress to be targeted in a similar fashion. Police spokesman Pete Panos says detectives are aware of U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann, Jim Ramstad and John Kline each having their property vandalized.

Now I am not going to claim that this is the doing of partisan Democrats, but I will point out that the 4 targeted Legislators ARE the only Republicans in Minnesota's federal delegation so many are already making that particular link. I will say that this has no place whatsoever in political discourse. It is one thing to disagree on the issues - that we should all be able to handle. It is another thing to spray paint threats on the homes of elected officials.

I know several people, including Michael from MDE are running down the story so stay tuned. As I find out updates I will post them.

The Star Tribune has updated their story with this quote from Congressman Kline's press spokesman Troy Young.

A spokesman for Kline, Troy Young, said similar language was spray painted on the congressman's garage door, although he declined to say what the words were or when the incident occurred. He said that what was written wasn't phrased a threat. Young would not say whether Kline was home at the time.

I wonder if we will hear the same from Bachman and Ramstad? Stay tuned.

UPDATE 2: Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Keith Ellison are on the list now.

Also vandalized in similar fashion: U.S. Sen Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, John Kline, Michelle Bachmann and Jim Ramstad. Klobuchar and Ellison are Democrats; Coleman, Kline, Bachmann and Ramstad, Republicans.

Ellison's appears to be the only incident so far in which the home itself was vandalized. Campaign manager Larry Weiss said that Ellison's wife, Kim, went out this morning and found graffiti that said "Traitor. Resign now. Psalm 2" across the side of their corner home. The word "SCUM" was spraypainted above the garage door -- high enough, Weiss said, that the culprit probably would have needed a stepstool.

So this now appears to be a bi-partisan vandal. It appears that the MN LEO's are going to have their work cut out for them.

Michael has pictures of the vandalism at Rep. Bachman's home and it is frightening.

The verbiage that has been used in this is telling. The tagger called Rep. Ellison a "traitor" and Rep. Ramstad a "sell-out" which possibly indicates that the person involved in this had some expectation for the two on an issue and it didn't come to fruition, thus invoking the taggers ire. The comment "still a target" in front of Rep. Bachman's home indicates that the person responsible may have had a previous dealing with Rep. Bachman. Are there other threats that were never reported? It seems that what ever is driving this person is personal and not political which makes it all the more chilling.

UPDATE: Welcome Hot Air readers. Check back often as this is a very fluid story.

Congressman Kline Conference Call

Congressman Kline returned to DC last night to demand that the House be called back into session. This is the 2nd time he has returned back to DC for the House Rebellion. This morning he held a conference call for bloggers to talk about the American Energy Act, the Republican Rebellion and anything else that was on our minds. We started with statements from the Congressman.

90 Congressmen have returned to the floor to discuss the policy and to demand a return to session. A little over a week ago, the Speaker gaveled to adjourn for 5 weeks (for vacation and politics) - this is normal. What is not normal this year is the high price of fuel...I don't know if any of you saw the Speaker on "This Week" last Sunday. George Stephanopolous put her words (as then Minority Leader) out for her. When she was Minority Leader she promised a common sense plan that would bring down the price of gasoline but she never delivered. She has blocked consistenly moves to bring energy bills to the floor...When she said the miniority "had to use their imagination" in order to get a vote I don't know what she meant...did she mean we have to trick her into allowing a vote? This is not just something the Republicans just picked up there were 6 bills (see this post) put up by Republicans that the Speaker has blocked this session.

American Energy Act is an all of the above solution. We think the American people deserve a vote on it. I was heartened to hear that the speaker suggested that she might be open to more drilling provided certain conditions were met. We don't know what that means yet but we would love to know.

Congressman Kline then opened the floor to questions from the bloggers.

Rob Napell of Kithbridge.com asked - do you think she is softening her position?
John Kline - I think the pressure is coming to bear on her. She knows that if the American Energy Act were brought to the floor it would pass. She knows that the American people want it. However, I am skeptical from her statements that she will allow the bill to come to the floor...it just shows that she is feeling the pressure.

Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com - Do you think there will be a shut down if the OCS drilling moratorium is added to the CR?
John Kline - We have only passed one spending bill this whole session. Rep. Steny Hoyer said that the Congress might not get to the spending bills due to the majorities aggressive legislative agenda. The congress is not doing their Constitutional business. If they put the OCS on the CR I would encourage the President to veto it and work hard to get the votes to sustain the veto.

John Hinderocker of Powerlineblog.com - do you think that the democrats will put forward bills that appear to be promoting drilling that actually prohibit or curtail drilling?
John Kline - They did it before with the Drill Act they will likely do it again. That is why we are pushing for a vote on the American Energy Act.

Unidentified blogger on the call - Do you think that the Gang of 10 is that a valid compromise? John Kline - No it is not. I consider these guys to be friends and pretty solid but I think their ideas are usually fine but this quickly gets watered down so that it is so timid (one of my colleagues called them the "Timid 10")that it would fall into the category that that John Hinderocker suggested.

Janet Beihofer from SCSU Scholars - my question tails off of John H's - I am sure that the environmentalists will tie this up in court for years. While bloggers are helping to push this agenda forward is there any plan to pull the media into this?
John Kline - passing lawsuit proof legislation is hard to get. We are getting the word out to local radio media. I have a reporter from the Star Tribune here in my office as we are doing this call and I have been on WCCO, KSTP, with Jason Lewis on KTLK and we are reaching out every way that we can to get the word out.

Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed - are you the only member of the MN Delegation doing this? What about the Democrats in softer districts - like Congressman Tim Walz?
John Kline - As far as I know I am the only Minnesotan. When we adjourned we did let Michele's (Bachmann R - 6th Congressional District) office know our schedule. I don't know what her schedule is - whether it will allow her to come out here. What about Congressman Walz? There are democrats who want a vote on this bill - some of them have been very outspoken. I know that Congressman Walz has said he is leaning toward supporting more drilling. We think we have 40-50 Demcrats who support us but they are unwilling to confront the speaker on it. They refuse to sign the discharge petition and take on their speaker

Jerry Ewing from Freedomdogs.com - I'm still concerned that Republicans have not learned to play the "game" of politics. I understand that it is our nature to solve problems, but isn't there a way that we can use this to retake the house in November. I am afraid that we will get a bill passed that will take this issue out of our arsenal.
John Kline - it has always been our nature to compromise in order to get things done. All we are asking for now is an up or down vote. The Speaker, however, does not want to put her members in a position of making an up or down vote. She does not want her "vulnerable" members on the record of making an unpopular vote so nothing is getting done. We are now insisting that is what she do.

That was the last of the questions. Congressman Kline noted that they would be liveblogging today's floor action at his website and that he will be on the floor in 30 minutes (that was at 8:25 MTN). You can expect 5 or 6 updates through out the day. That ended the call. All I can add was that it was good to see the heavy hitters (Powerline, Kithbridge and Hot Air) that were on the call and engaged in this. I know Ed lives in Congressman Kline's district and he has posted on this subject and poor Rob has been neck deep in the #dontgo movement from almost day 1. However, their readership will bring the movement to more people and make the numbers so that the Speaker ignores the movement at her peril. I guess we will see what happens in the next few days.

Independent No More

The Independence Party of Minnesota burst onto the scene with the victory of Jesse Ventura over Skip Humphrey and Norm Coleman in the Governors race of 1998. It was hailed as an opportunity for 3rd Party candidates everywhere and was seen as a blow to the two party system that most voters are sick of. Many conservatives claimed that the Independence Party was just another branch of the DFL (Democrat Farmer Labor) Party - a claim that both DFL and Independence Parties roundly denied. Well they can no longer deny the obvious.

The Independence Party has endorsed Steve Sarvi, the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District, according to a joint announcement from Sarvi and the IP.

This comes on the heels of the IP endorsing DFL candidate El Tinklenberg in the 6th Congressional District.

Many have said that the IP is a place where DFL wanna-be's, has-been's and never-were's go to run for office. This election cycle they confirmed it.

Stepford Democrats

Those of us who are of a certain age (and yes I know that I am dating myself here) remember the 1972 novel "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin. Some of you may have seen the 2004 remake (starring Nicole Kidman) of the 1975 movie based on the book. If you did, you know where I am about to go here.

Today's St. Cloud (MN) Times ran a op-ed from Susan Gaertner - the Ramsey County Attorney and announced candidate for the DFL (for my Utah readers Democrat Farmer Labor party aka Democrats) endorsement for Governor in 2010. In her Op-Ed Susan writes:

I filled up my Saturn recently and the cost per gallon was $3.78, down about 20 cents from the week before. Michele Bachmann’s plan to get the cost of gasoline back down to $2 a gallon must be working.

The congresswomen’s plan, announced a couple weeks ago, was simple: Drill. Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, drill in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the inner shelf, the outer shelf, the Gulf of Mexico, and in Lake Mille Lacs. (Just kidding about that last one.)

In addition, Bachmann suggests there is great potential in oil from shale that could be mined in the Rocky Mountains. Another part of the Bachmann plan is to “fast track” permitting for new drilling rights, and presumably because all this drilling will cause a need for increased refining of the crude oil, a “fast track” permitting process for the building of additional refineries.

To be fair to Ms. Gaertner, the plan in question is not just Rep. Bachmann's plan, although Michelle has become one of the most vocal proponents of this plan. However, what Ms. Gaertner misses is that Rep. Bachmann's plan also includes things increased nuclear, increased clean coal, increased alternative fuels research, increased conservation, increased..... you can find the plan here. If you follow the link, you will see a video of the announcement of the program and trust me, Michelle is not the ONLY Republican standing on the House steps behind the microphone.

Ms. Gaertner is not the only one to make the claim that the Republican's only solution (to high energy prices) is to drill, drill, drill. Just about every Democratic candidate for the House, including Bennion Spencer (UT 3), Rep. Tim Walz (MN 1), Steve Sarvi (MN2) and El Tinklenberg (MN 6) have all said the same thing about their respective opponents. As I mentioned last month, it does not matter where you are on the ticket, there is only one answer to the current high price of gas - drilling is off of the table. No straying is allowed from the pre-approved Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi/DNC talking points. No matter which of the Democratic candidate websites you go to you see the same thing (when talking about energy policy) - conservation and alternative fuels. That's it. No deviation (except Ben Spencer who goes out on a limb and briefly mentions clean coal technology) is allowed from these pre-prescribed talking points. No mention about how shale oil development (a very red hot topic in Utah) might work for Utah (and Utah candidates).

That is where the "Stepford Wives" reference comes in. What the Democratic Party is giving voters is a class of "Stepford Democrats"...candidates that can be taken from one district (MN 2 for example) and plugged into another (Utah 3 for example). No free thinking is allowed here, just strict adherence to what party leadership says.

Now before my liberal friends in Minnesota and Utah start jumping in with the "Yeah, but Republicans...." realize that there IS debate between Republican candidates (and office holders) on this issue. You have Governor Pawlenty (R-MN) who is a huge grain ethanol advocate, Governor Schwarzenegger (R-CA) is against drilling on the OCS where Governor Charlie Crist (R-FL). Governor Sarah Pallin (R-AK is leading the charge for expanding drilling in Area 10-02 of ANWR while Senator John McCain (presumptive Republican Presidential nominee) is still not sold on the idea. We are allowing our candidates to stray from the "talking points". Meanwhile, the majority leaders in the House and the Senate are refusing to allow votes on expanded drilling and all of the candidates are on the campaign trail saying the same thing - we can't drill!

What's the matter with these candidates? Don't they have thoughts of their own? Or are these candidates afraid that they will end up like Joe Mullery and Willie Dominguez - who paid the ultimate price for daring to break from leadership's demands for fealty to leadership - as opposed to loyalty to the voters back home.

Kline Conference Call

As I mentioned earlier, I participated in a conference call with Congressman John Kline (MN-2 and my former Congressman). The purpose of this call today was to launch a new microsite Stop The Pork (www.stopthepork.com) . On the call with me were Rob Neppell of Porkbusters and my dear friends and fellow True North contributors Gary Gross from Let Freedom Ring (who live blogged the call), Janet Beihoffer from SCSU Scholars, Leo Pusateri from the Ice Palace and Derek Brigham and J.Ewing from Freedom Dogs.

Congressman Kline started off by talking about his conversion to the "no more pork" fold.

When I got to Congress I thought that this was the way things got done. I have since learned that this (the process of deciding which project gets funded) is not based on the merit of the project but by who you are, what party you are in and what committees you are on...

He then went on to note that last year, 12 members signed the no pork pledge - a number that has moved up to 50 this year and it does include a couple of Democrats (Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Henry Waxman of California).

The Congressman kept his remarks brief to allow questions from the bloggers on the call. Jerry lead us off by asking if there was a difference between earmarks and pork. He wanted to make sure that legit projects didn't get a short shrift in the march toward reform. Congressman Kline said that legit road funding projects are the ones where the money goes to the DOT and the state decides which projects are a priority - as opposed to those where the Congressman (or woman) goes in and dictates which projects are more worthy. Congressman Kline reiterated that the projects do not compete on merit - just on who the requesting party is.

Derek asked if Senator McCain was on board with the Project. Congressman Kline replied that while Senator McCain is on board with stopping pork, he has not "signed on" to this project specifically.

Rob asked what the long term goal of this project was - was it to stop pork altogether? Congressman Kline replied that a short term goal was a moratorium on all pork spending. He reminded us that Congress is granted the Constitutional authority to spend money, but that the process for doing so was broken. The long term goal is to reform the system into a rational merit based system.


Janet asked if we need to get more "seats" before we can make any progress on the "no pork" front. Congressman Kline mentioned that the movement has momentum - right now Congressional leaders are not putting spending issues on the floor to vote on because they know that the public sentiment is against irresponsible spending. He said that they are "afraid" to put these issues on the floor where they can be held to their voting record. He said that they are "playing on the calendar" - waiting to see what the outcome of the election is before they do their job. This will be an issue during the campaign.

Carrying forward on the momentum question I asked if there was a mechanism to get non-incumbents (like UT 3 candidate Jason Chaffetz) on board - candidates who have made pork a central issue to their own campaigns. Congressman Kline answered that there wasn't really anything yet but that he would look into it. He mentioned that Brian Davis (challenger to MN1 Democrat incumbent Tim Walz) has also campaigned on earmark reform so he would try to find a way (other than signing the petition on the site) to get these challengers involved.

Mine was the last question and we ended the call. Those of you who want to know more about earmark reform can go to Congressman Kline's site (for the petition), Porkbusters OR Reagan21 which is a bi-cameral coalition of conservative legislators who are standing up for a 21st century Reagan Revolution of government reform.

Solutions

Congressman John Kline had an Op-Ed in yesterdays Star Tribune that speaks to many of the struggles that Minnesotans are facing in the current economy and what the House Leadership promised to do to address these issues...

Like most Americans, Minnesotans have had enough. They've become increasingly frustrated with the skyrocketing costs of everyday items such as food, household products and gasoline.

Just 16 months ago, Nancy Pelosi accepted the gavel from John Boehner at a historic moment in our nation. She and the new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives were ushered into leadership bolstered by a repeated promise for change that included a "common-sense plan" to lower gas prices.

...and what they have done to fix these problems...

Rather than seize the opportunity, the majority leadership squandered it, and you are paying the consequences for their broken promises by the gallon every time you pull up to the pump. In January 2007, the average cost of gas in Minnesota was $2.14 per gallon -- already too high. Sixteen months later, Congress has seen no "common-sense plan," and the average price of gas in the Twin Cities earlier this week was $3.64 per gallon. Meanwhile, the only solution offered by the majority leadership was House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell's plan for a 50-cent tax hike on every gallon.

...and what should be happening to solve the problems...

There should be debate on the House floor to find ways to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil and develop long-term energy alternatives.

Some say America has an addiction to oil. What is abundantly clear is our addiction to foreign oil, which is not only an economic issue but also a national-security concern. Congress should examine ways to increase domestic production, explore long-term energy solutions and advance a real energy plan that increases American supplies in all forms:

•Congress should consider opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to environmentally safe production and increasing offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Clearly, drilling for oil in Alaska or in the Gulf of Mexico is not a short-term solution, but if we continue down this course of inaction, we may still be discussing plans for rising energy costs when gas reaches, say, $8 per gallon. The Chinese are drilling for oil on the Outer Shelf because it is off the coast of Cuba. Yet, lawmakers -- Republicans and Democrats -- in Florida and California are standing in our way, blocking any efforts for the United States to drill on the shelf some 100 to 230 miles off our coasts.

•We should build new oil refineries. While production at our existing refineries continues to rise, we have seen no new refinery construction in 30 years.

•Clean-coal technology is another exciting energy resource that we must continue to explore; we have the domestic coal reserves to power our economy for generations.

•Renewable energies like wind and solar also should be part of the equation, along with nuclear energy, which is the top source of emission-free electricity.

Congressman Kline has long been a voice of reason and fiscal responsibility in the House. His recent Club for Growth ranking of nineteen (3 behind Congresswoman Michele Bachman and 82 ahead of that paragon of fiscal conservatism, Congressman Ron Paul) is just one more reason why his constituents have sent him back to DC as often as they have.

Congressman Kline understands how tight the voters budgets are right now and is working to provide ways to ease the crunch. We need a dozen more like him.

Bringing Home the Bacon

There has been a lot of talk, in the last two years, about pork-barrel spending. One of the things that the Democrats campaigned on last fall was earmark reform (which as with all of their campaign promises have fallen far short of their promises). It has turned into a bit of an issue with many activists across the country. Legislators from both parties are guilty of writing pet projects into bills - it's what is "done" in DC.

Today's Star Tribune is featuring a story in it's Politically Connected section on one Minnesota Representative's change of heart on pork. It is one of those rare stories where the Strib's natural bias against conservatives is actually more subtle than normal. While they devote a majority of the article talking to the Congressman's detractors on the issue, they also do talk to the Congressman's supporters on this issue. One sentence, in particular struck me.

Others on the Dakota County Board, including former Eagan Mayor Tom Egan, complain that the planned Mall of America bus corridor "is not a 'Bridge to Nowhere' " -- a reference the now infamous Alaska project regarded as the turning point in last year's backlash against earmarks.

Now I fully understand that the MOA bus corridore is important to some residents of Eagan and Apple Valley and Bloomington, but you know what - the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" was just as important to some residents of the Kodiak Island Alaska area! That in a nutshell is the problem with pork. To the residents of the district - that spending project IS important, but what is important to Norwood/Young America is not important to the residents of New Orleans or the residents of Atlanta. A spending project in Salt Lake City may be important to them, but it is not as important to the residents of Madison as their project is. If your representative or senator is senior enough or particularily adept at getting his/her pork put through (like John Murtha or Trent Lott) then your state wins the "pork" lottery. If you are represented by someone who is less adept at bringing home the bacon or change their mind on pork, you get articles accusing you of not taking care of your district!

Which is why real earmark reform is so important for all taxpayers. The more we can control the pork barrel spending, the more we can focus on important things like health care reform or Medicare reform or welfare reform or social security reform or any one of the hundreds of other reforms that are direly needed in this country.

What this country needs is more Congressmen and women like John Kline, not less. Some day we will all be forced to realize that and the sooner that happens the better it will be for all Americans.

UPDATE: - Welcome Captains Quarters readers. Get comfy and stay a while.

Congressman Kline On SCHIP

I missed this last Wednesday when it came out, but Drew Emmer at Wright County Republican didn't!

Minnesotans understand that we have a responsibility to care for and support our children in need. As a father of two and a grandfather of four, I appreciate the importance of ensuring that health care is available to children. That is why I have been a supporter of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) since I was first elected to Congress in 2002.

However, I am not supporting the proposed expansion of SCHIP, because it fails to put poor kids first and relies on reckless funding schemes. This bill the president vetoed is a huge expansion of a government program extending coverage to illegal immigrants and those already insured.

SCHIP was created 10 years ago by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton to provide health care benefits for low-income children not covered by Medicaid. Ensuring that all children have access to the care they need remains a priority for me, which is why I co-sponsored legislation that would provide an 18-month extension of the current SCHIP plan. This measure provides a stop-gap, not a solution.

Most, if not all, Republicans and Democrats in Washington understand the value of SCHIP. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in Congress are using uninsured children as a political bargaining chip. We must end this dangerous game of politics and come together in a bipartisan manner to expand the program with solid funding to ensure the children of the working poor do not fall through the cracks.

Instead, we have an SCHIP bill that is fatally flawed by funding schemes and budget gimmicks that should trouble anyone. The bill relies on a budgetary gimmick that drops SCHIP funding by nearly 80 percent in its sixth year - resulting in a "funding cliff" that will ultimately force a choice between increasing taxes dramatically or stripping health insurance from millions of children. Because it depends on a huge cigarette tax increase, its funding scheme would need 22 million Americans to start smoking a pack per day. While no one would like to see kids smoking, the fact remains that the funding mechanism for this SCHIP proposal is reliant on a dramatic increase in the smoking population.

As it was written the bill was a farce and a sham.....a legislative shell game and both Congressman Kline and Congresswoman Bachman showed their wisdom in voting to uphold the President's veto of the SCHIP reauthorization. Both stood up to the political gamesmanship of the left and did the right thing....killing a bad bill. Hopefully now a workable SCHIP reauthorization bill - one that really helps the children most in need - can pass through Congress.

Town Hall Video

Andy at Residual Forces has video up from the Town Hall meeting with Congressman John Kline. If you do not have the time (or the bandwidth) to watch the nearly two hours recorded I recommend that you watch Merrilee Carlson's remarks, SSG Thul's read remarks (link at RF is not working I will add as soon as AAA fixes it) and the remarks from the Iraqi national who was pleading for us to remain in Iraq. If you are not moved to tears by the end of their remarks.....well I don't know what to say.

Q&A Time Part 2

Questions again in italics.

Why are we still there when people like General Petraus says that the war can not be won militarily?

JK - the war can't be won ONLY by the military. We need a military and political solution along with oil sharing and everything else. Prime Minister al Maliki made some mistakes (mistakes were made by a lot of people including President Bush & Prime Minister al Maliki). al Maliki turned only to fellow Shia (including al Sadr) and now he sees that was a mistake. We need all pieces working in unison in order to be successful. Iraq Study Group recommendations ARE being implimented which is helping. The Iraq Army is making big progress, but there are big problems with the Iraqi Police which is not helping.

Saddam did not bomb the World Trade Centers - Osama bin Laden did. We should be going after bin Laden and we are not. We (the anti-war protesters) are not unpatriotic (even though you refuse to honor a Gold Star Mother because she happens to be the Anti-Cindy Sheehan) and we are tired of being called that (we will be addressing THIS in a later post). We are sick and tired of people who say the support the troops not voting for bills that help the troops. You voted for only one bill that helped the troops - I am not making this up (well yes you are but....). Your actions are dispicable.

JK - I understand and appreciate your feelings. Just as you dislike being called unpatriotic, I dislike being called dispicable. Pandamonium broke out at this point. The speaker (who was almost back to her seat in the middle of a row) raced back to the person holding the mic, yanked it out of her hand and yelled "I did not call you that". (Ed. - While technically she is correct, everyone knows (even the Junior Logician gets this) that calling someones action despicable is the same as calling the person dispicable. Her intent was crystal clear.) Someone yelled "sit down and let him speak" someone else yelled "let her talk" which was answered with "SHE ALREADY DID!" At that point, the moderator finally took control of the floor again - although there was much grumbling from the floor.

An Iraqi National spoke next and his words were powerful.

"I am an Iraqi National living here in the US for three years. I never imagined that I would ever see democracy in action like I am seeing tonight! We want the same democracy and freedoms that you have here. I want to address the concerns. I started working for the American Army when the war first started. I had to move here 3 years ago under political asylum because the insurgents threatened me and my family. We love and admire all American soldiers and we are in awe of those who died on our behalf. People who say we are not helping do not know what is going on in Iraq. We are helping and we are in danger because of it! To the speakers who say this is a religious war - this is not Christian versus Islam. To those who say bring the troops home now I say - GIVE US A CHANCE!!! WE NEED IT AND WE WANT IT! If you pull out now it will be a sign to those who wish to harm you that you are weak."

The last question was about war funding but I could not write anymore (plus I had to get a drink of water as I had a really bad tickle in my throat). All in all it was a very productive and informative meeting. I will have one more post that is just observations of the night and then pictures!

Q&A Time

Questions will be in italics.

Congressman Kline started off the Q&A session by answering a few of the questions that were asked during the comments (ed. how he remembered these without taking notes amazes me as I know I could not have remembered).

Regarding the question about Congressman Murtha's call for a draft, Congressman Kline said he would not support that. Our troops today are the best ever (with all apologies to the WWII generation). Regarding NCLD, Congressman Kline said that he was disappointed with the funding levels for NCLB as well as special education (based on the federal mandates) that that NCLB was getting reviewed as it is up for renewal. Several are pushing for NCLB to be applied to high schools, but the congressman is opposing that as it is not fully functionable in it's current format and until it is we should not expand it. Congressman Kline added that he thought NCLB was an over-reach by the federal government. Regarding the defination of terrorism (this was brought up by one of the commentors that I did not quote) Congressman Kline said that saying we are fighting "terrorism" is wrong because there is no real defination of what "terrorism" is. He said that there rare all new people (representing the US Government) in Iraq - from the ambassador on down. With the new people has come a new direction and they (General Petraus and his leadership team) deserve the opportunity to succeed. We should not make it illegal for the troops to win the war!

One questioner got up with a series of questions that were all over the board. He lead off with figures from a debunked Lancet report that says that there are 40,000+ dead Iraqi's alone as a result of the war. He wanted to know why we don't here about the number of insurgents killed (body count)? What about the WMD's? What about President Clinton who said that Saddam was an issue? Why don't we hear about the faulty intel?

JK - there was some pretty horrific (his wording) intel at first. I think the 9/11 Commission addressed that. Not to bash President Clinton, but there was an erosion of human intelligence during his administration. There was no malice on President Clinton's part (regarding the intelligence) and there were no lies on the part of President Bush. Why no body count? The daily body count (during Viet Nam) was disasterous policy. The President's senior advisors and I voiced the opinion that we should not do that. It (the daily body count) was the wrong thing to do.

An activist for the South Suburban Labor Advisory Council asked Congressman Kline why he did not support the Employee Free Choice Act - after detailing harassment that she (and her fellow coworkers got) when they tried to unionize a print shop.

JK - The coersion and intimidation by an employer that you experienced IS illegal. Coersion and intimidation by a union IS illegal. I voted against this Act because it took away the employees right for a private ballot in this kind of a vote. The private ballot is a hallmark of our society and the employees deserved to know that no one, not their employer, not the union and not their fellow co-workers would know how they voted!

What are you doing to strengthen the border?

JK - Last session Congress approved additional border guards and partially funded them (ed. - they should have FULLY funded the new guards). We funded fence sensors and the building of a 700 mile fence. Our problem right now is that the US government has not credibility (when it comes to border enforcement). Until we have credibility on border enforcement, we can not have guest worker programs or anything else.

Can you comment on the news report that the US government is actively trying to destabilize the Iranian government by funding excursions from Pakistan into Iran?

JK - I have not seen the report so I don't know the full context, but that corner of Iran/Pakistan/Afghanistan is very unstable. It is not under Pakistani, Afghani OR Iranian control. It is a source of concern for all three governments and part of the reason why the Taliban is resurging there.

The rising cost of college tuition is a concern for many people. What is your plan to address this issue?

JK - short of imposing price controls (which is impractical in this situation) we are doing what we can. The last Congress took $12B from the Student Loan Administration Program for more Pell Grants and to reduce the interest rates on loans. Congress is actively looking for a solution and if you have one I would love to hear it. (From the audience "Roll back the tax cuts" which got lots of hoots and hollers from the lefties and a hissed "YES" from the Code Pink lady next to me). Congressman Kline laughed and said "you will be happy to know that this Congress is working on the largest tax increase in history (which drew boos from the righties).

We are hearing many different reports about what happened to get us into Iraq and what is going on now. It is hard to know what to believe. Do you support complete investigations into what got us here and how things are being handled?

We have made some progress, but not enough. One recommendation (from the 9/11 Commission) was to reorganize Congress. The Republican leadership from the last session didn't want to do it because it was "too hard". The Democrats campaigned that they would impliment ALL the 9/11 Commission Report recommendations but once they got into power they said "except this one". We are working on it.

What is the goal (for Iraq)? It should be getting the troops OUT NOW (emphasis the speakers). We are not getting cooperation from the Iraqi civilian population. When are the Iraqi's going to be ready to take over for us?

Surprising and amazing progress is being made in places like the al Anbar Provence (Western Iraq). We ARE getting cooperation from the local sheiks who got tired of al Qaeda killing their people.

continued in the next post!

Comments part two

The next person to speak was Merrilee Carlson a Gold Star Mother. Her son Michael was killed saving the lives of members of his unit who were trapped in a submerged Bradley. Her words were haunting (especially to the mother of a son).

"On my son's 22nd birthday (February 14) my son got on a plane for Iraq...he never saw his 23rd birthday. On 9/11 he was finishing boot camp...he was mad that we were attacked like this - on our home soil and even madder still that we allowed this to happen. We OWE IT to our troops to let them finish the job." (emphasis hers)

When she sat down, 2/3 of the audience rose to applaude her and her son. One third not only didn't stand, they didn't applaud.

The next speaker rose on behalf of Sgt Thul, who couldn't attend himself as he is still on duty in Iraq. He read portions on the Star Tribune editorial that Sgt. Thul wrote:

"I won't pretend to speak for everyone in uniform over here, and in fact no one ever could. There are as many opinions in the military as there are in the civilian world. But I can tell you that a majority of U.S. troops want to stay in Iraq and finish the mission. How do I know this? Two ways.
The first is anecdotally, from the men and women I work with and talk to every day. I have yet to meet someone who thinks the long-term good of the United States and the Middle East would be served by an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Many of us are tired and frustrated and miss our families and just want to go home. But we want to go home after transferring our area of responsibility to another unit, whether it is U.S. or Iraqi. We don't want to abandon our posts.
The second way I know that my fellow soldiers want to stay is that they have been saying so in a petition to Congress. At the AppealForCourage.org website, more than 1,500 service members in less than a month have signed an appeal for redress, the officially authorized method for the military to ask Congress to right a wrong, asking Congress to stop calling for retreat and to support our mission.
Day after day we see and hear our elected leaders in Washington telling us that the war is already lost or that it is not winnable. Nothing could be further from the truth. The essence of the military mission here is really quite simple. Train the Iraqi army and police to do the job that we are currently doing, give them the reins, and then take our leave. It is a slow job, but steady progress is being made. Already entire provinces of Iraq are under Iraqi military control. In more than 70 percent of the country, the Iraqi army and police are in the lead."

He then went on to advise Congressman Kline that it was their intention to present the Appeal for Courage Petition for Redress FIRST to Congressman Kline in the hopes that he would present it to Congress.

The next speaker (a self professed "scholar of history") then got up to express her "deep concerns" that we were losing our civil rights. She then called the prior two speakers remarks SPIN! (emphasis all mine). The murmers from the crowd were audible!

Ed. - let that sink in for a moment. The remarks and the experiences of our troops in the field who actually believe in what they are doing is SPIN to the anti-war crowd! What does that tell you about the depth of their "support" for the troops. It is clear to me that they ONLY support the troops as long as the troops are usefull tools to advance their agenda and if the troops DARE to disagree with them then the TROOPS are the ones engaging in spin.....oh my goodness....where is my duct tape?

The next speaker rose asking that we observe an minute of silence to honor Michael Carlson and all the Minnesota soldiers who lost their lives in the war. Classy way to defuse a tense moment.

The next speaker, a Viet Nam vet rose to thank the congressman for taking questions, remarking that when Candidate Coleen Rowley had Congressman Murtha in town for her, they did NOT allow questions to be asked. He then remarked that this was a legal war based on the August 2002 war vote which was based on the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act. He then asked if we were going to recognize Iran's violations of the Geneva Convention (ed. - a clear reference to Iran's taking those British sailors hostage) and if Congressman Kline supported Congressman Murtha's call (on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer) for a military draft.

That was the last of the comments. I would like to remind you that per my first post, there was no preset order of speakers so the order that these comments came in was pure happenstance.

Report from the Town Hall - Comments

As MDE, Kevin and Joe Tucci have already reported, the first hour of yesterday's town hall meeting was specifically for comments directed toward the Congressman. The people spoke, the politician LISTENED! Here are some of the comments from last night (I will try to keep the editorial remarks to a minimum).

The first comment of the night was from a Chaska resident who was an educator. Her concern (ed - one that is shared by many including parents of school children) was on the No Child Left Behind Act. She (ed- righty IMHO) called NCLB an unfunded mandate and wanted to know what Congress was going to do to correct that.

Our first anti-war comment of the night came from another Chaska resident who mentioned that the latest Minnesotan to die in this "misguided adventure" (Daniel Olson) was just announced. The commentor wanted to know how many Iraqi have been trained and when would they be able to take over? (ed. - I will be referring back to this later). The commentor then said that he was president of the group "Veterans for Peace" and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the troops. Approximately 3-4 dozen audience members stood at these remarks. Meanwhile there was polite applause from the rest of the audience. These remarks were followed by an Eagan resident who remarked on governmental "cronyism" and the gross mismanagement of funds by Paul Bremer and the Iraqi Government.

The next set of comments were about Islam, with a retired naval commander from Prior Lake commenting on how our government and the American people were ignorant of the threat of Islam - how Islam is a religion of War, not peace and how they were compelled to lie to infidels (Taqquiya) which lead to an Apple Valley minister who commented that Christianity had their moments of savegry (ed - true enough but that was centuries ago - we outgrew it!). He said that we should "respect Islam" (ed - well respect IS a two way street sir).

The anti-war comments were interrupted by a couple of folks who wanted to comment on the Union Free Choice Act - one supporting Congressman Kline's vote on the bill, the other against it (ed - this is how the evening seemed to go)

A woman from Apple Valley wanted to comment on Executive War Powers. She said that it always seemed like we were at war with SOMETHING like terror or poverty or drugs or immigration so doesn't that give the President unlimited powers forever? ED - talk about your mis-intepretation of the War Powers. She clearly does not realize that Presidential War Powers only (let me repeat that) ONLY come after Congress has officially declared WAR on an opponent. These powers do not apply in the war on poverty or drugs because there is no official Congressional declaration of WAR!

A Liberian national then got up to speak about extending their temporary sanctuary (this deserves it's own post).

Several more comments went back and forth on the war (including one with a call to extend Guard benefits) then one lady (who obviously was NOT paying attention when our moderator laid out the format for the evening) demanded that we be allow to "question" the Congressman.

The next batch of comments are so important that I am moving them to their own post.

Laying down the law (Town hall meeting rules)

As we entered the auditorium last night, we were all handed a set of rules for the night. General things about playing nice, respecting everyone elses opinion, not leaving your trash behind...the usual. I took a seat a couple of rows back from MDE, Joe Tucci, Kevin (from Eckernet) and frequent commenter J. Ewing. There were half a dozen of my fellow SD35 members in front of me and I saw several others wandering through the hall, so it was nice to know that our district was so involved.

The agenda for the night was as follows:

The town hall is open to discuss ANY subject at all.
The first hour would be for citizens to address COMMENTS to the Congressman
The second hour would be for audience members to ask QUESTIONS
Please follow the rules (an aside - there was no rule about live blogging, however, there was no public WiFi available. Since I don't have an Air Card I had to resort to the archaic practice of taking notes!)
Moderators with microphones would be stationed at both sides of the hall and at the back. Anyone with comments or questions should raise their hand and then move to the mic. Speakers would be taken in order that they were given the mic so whoever was standing the longest would speak first.

Congressman Kline took the stage to a standing ovation and we're off!