Seneca County Republicans Present Garbled Political Message

November 1st, 2012 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Economy | Election 2012 | Politics | Republicans | State and Local - (0 Comments)

Every day brings me new campaign advertisements promoting the congressional re-election campaign of Tom Reed, each ad making less sense than the last.

Yesterday’s Tom Reed screed came in the local Pennysaver, a non-news newspaper that advertises local businesses and organizations. The ad, from the Seneca County Republicans, promoted not just Tom Reed, but Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan as well.

The first message in the ad is that voting Republican is the way to “protect your personal freedoms”. That’s an odd message, given that both Tom Reed and Paul Ryan have repeatedly voted to attack Americans’ personal freedoms. Both Reed and Ryan voted to approve the National Defense Authorization Act that gave the President of the United States the power to imprison American citizens without trial or criminal charge. Both Reed and Ryan voted to extend the Patriot Act’s unconstitutional spying powers, without reform, and both support the similar extension of the FISA Amendments Act, which has created a massive electronic surveillance network that gathers’ Americans’ private communications on a regular basis. Mitt Romney supports these anti-freedom policies as well, though he has never held any national office which would have given him the opportunity to take real action on such issues.

The message in this little Pennysaver ad that really tickles me, however, has to do with taxes. The ad complains that Seneca County has the 9th highest property taxes of any county in the nation.

The thing is that electing Tom Reed, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney won’t help with that particular problem. Congress and the White House don’t set property taxes.

The Seneca County Republicans might as well have complained that Seneca County has a terrible highway superintendent. Voting Row B at the top of the Republican ticket won’t do a darned thing to affect such local issues.

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Fact Checking Tom Reed: Did He Really Vote Against Government Spending?

October 30th, 2012 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Election 2012 | Legislation - (2 Comments)

The flood of campaign advertisements from the re-election campaign of Republican Congressman Tom Reed continues. Today, Tom Reed is telling voters that he will “reign [sic] in government spending by working across party lines”.

It’s time to do a fact check on this campaign advertisement. What has Tom Reed’s actual record in the U.S. House of Representatives been? Has he worked across party lines to rein in government spending?

Tom Reed’s typographical error, substituting “reign” for “rein”, turns out to better represent his position on wasteful government spending.

On February 15 last year, Tom Reed was given the opportunity to cut over $415 million in government spending on an airplane that has been behind schedule, failed to meet project specifications, and has been so poorly made that it’s actually killed many of the people trying to use it. Tom Reed voted to keep this outrageous boondoggle of wasteful government spending in place.

Also in February last year, legislative amendment H.Amdt. 109 proposed the elimination of wasteful spending on two programs that merely duplicated other government programs that had already been successfully implemented. Tom Reed voted NO, saying that the federal government should just keep on throwing good money after bad.

H.Amdt. 150 would have cut over 100 billion dollars in government spending. Tom Reed voted against it.

On March 17, 2011, H.Con.Res. 28 would have eliminated a big government program that has cost American taxpayers $1.2 trillion without successfully meeting its objectives. Tom Reed voted against this significant cut in government spending.

On July 7, 2011, a proposed amendment would have eliminated 8.5 billion dollars in unnecessary government spending. Tom Reed voted to keep this spending in place.

Tom Reed has moved to protect $40 billion dollars in wasteful big government spending by refusing to cosponsor the End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act, H.R. 601. The oil industry is one of the most profitable businesses that has ever existed. So why does Congressman Reed think that Big Oil needs a welfare check from the American people?

government spendingTom Reed defended big government spending when he withheld support from H.R. 2665, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act. The Stop Outsourcing Security Act would have ended the practice of paying private mercenaries higher wages to do the same jobs that American soldiers are supposed to do. Tom Reed seems to think it makes good sense to spend extra money, suggesting that American soldiers aren’t skilled enough to get the job done themselves. I suspect voters in Tom Reed’s district don’t interpret his embrace of this extravagant spending in the same way.

Tom Reed has also refused to support H.R. 492, the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act of 2011. H.R. 492 is legislation that would reduce big government spending on oil spill cleanup by forcing private sector oil companies to pay for cleaning up a larger portion of the pollution that they create. Tom Reed seems to think it’s just great for the government to spend lots of taxpayers’ money to pay for Big Oil’s dirty mistakes.

Why did Tom Reed vote to keep all this big government spending in place? The legislation summarized in this article was introduced by Democrats. So, contrary to his promise, Tom Reed voted for wasteful government spending simply so he could avoid working across party lines.

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Is Tom Reed Really Voting As A Bipartisan To Support Job Creation?

October 29th, 2012 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Economy | Election 2012 | Legislation - (0 Comments)

Another day brings me more advertisements promoting the re-election of Republican Congressman Tom Reed. Today, an ad asserts that Tom Reed has demonstrated a spirit of bipartisanship in order to support legislation that will create jobs.

Is this claim true? Let’s look at Representative Reed’s actual legislative record from the last couple of years.

Tom Reed has refused to be bipartisan by giving his support to H.R. 336, the Interest Rate Reduction Act. The Interest Rate Reduction Act would refocus spending on actual consumer goods, creating manufacturing jobs. The bill would prohibit credit cards from charging people more than 15 percent. Instead of supporting the Interest Rate Reduction Act, Tom Reed has taken his stand with the big banks that are holding consumer spending back with the pointless drain of credit card debt.

One factor holding back many Americans from full time employment is the expensive cost of child care. Many working Americans have to pay almost all their wages to pay for the care and education of their children while they are at work. H.R. 555, the Universal Prekindergarten Act, would remedy this situation and create jobs in every community across the nation, by creating pre-K educational programs for all children. Tom Reed refused to support this jobs bill.

Why did Tom Reed oppose these bills? They were introduced by Democrats. That’s not a very bipartisan attitude. Contrary to what his paid advertisement suggests, Tom Reed has been partisan in opposing bills that would create jobs.

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National Association of Realtors Brags About Paying Off Tom Reed

October 27th, 2012 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Election 2012 | Ethics | Republicans - (1 Comments)

This morning, like most Americans, I got a new load of congressional campaign advertisements in the mail. Among them was an advertisement supporting Tom Reed, paid for by the National Association of Realtors.

national association of realtorsThe National Association of Realtors isn’t located in our congressional district, here in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. No, their headquarters is located about a thousand miles away from where we live. They’re over on the ritzy, high-priced section of Michigan Avenue in Chicago that has been nicknamed The Miracle Mile. Still, from its comfy high rise offices, the National Association of Realtors feels free to stick its nose into our business over here, and tell us how we should vote.

As if that wasn’t arrogant enough, the content of the advertisement uses imagery of explicit corruption. There’s a photograph of Tom Reed, paper clipped to a check register, and a fake check that’s made out to “Congressman Tom Reed”. The image creates the appearance that the National Association of Realtors has paid off Tom Reed, and is proud to let the voters know about it.

Has Tom Reed actually been bribed by the National Association of Realtors? Who can say, with all the secret money flowing through “independent expenditures” of the sort that paid for the advertisement I got in the mail today. Even the FEC isn’t able to investigate the slippery financial relationships supporting congressional campaigns.

The mailing from the National Association of Realtors, however appears to be bragging about the weight that its financial contributions have had in the offices of Congressman Tom Reed. That in itself is a shameful representation of the corrupt connections that have been created by the free flow of industry money – and it doesn’t make me at all more likely to vote for Tom Reed on Election Day.

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Tom Reed, Fix Thyself

September 25th, 2012 | Posted by jclifford in Election 2012 | Politics | Republicans - (0 Comments)

An award for the Most Obtuse Campaign Advertisement goes out to Tom Reed, who is running for Congress in Western New York. The advertisement reads”

campaign advertisement 2012“Working to Fix Washington. Washington is Broken. Hardworking Taxpayers Deserve Honest Accountable Solutions. Join Our Team as We Work Together to Take Back Washington.”

There’s just one thing that Tom Reed’s advertisement doesn’t say: Tom Reed is not separate from Washington. He’s a part of it.

Tom Reed is a sitting member of Congress. In fact, he’s a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, which is controlled by his own political party. Tom Reed is working to support the very same politics that are at the center of the Washington D.C. establishment, and have been for generations.

Tom Reed isn’t working to fix anything in Washington. He’s working to protect the old system from political reform.

Tom Reed is against fixing the system of special tax favors given to millionaires and billionaires that’s thwarting economic growth.
Tom Reed is against fixing the corrupt system of campaign finance that props up Washington elites.
Tom Reed is against fixing wasteful Pentagon spending.
Tom Reed is against fixing the industrial establishment that’s blocked action to confront climate change.
Tom Reed is against fixing the system of expensive and excessive Homeland Security bureaucracy that’s turned the United States of America into a big government surveillance state.
Tom Reed is against fixing America’s energy infrastructure, working to protect the big oil and coal interests instead.

Tom Reed is defending the status quo in Washington D.C. He’s had his chance to help fix things, but at every opportunity, Reed has thwarted genuine efforts at reform.

If voters really want to fix Washington, the best thing they can do is to vote to kick establishment politicians like Tom Reed out of office.

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Stop Tom (G)Reed

June 29th, 2012 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Bumper Stickers | Economy | Politics | Republicans | State and Local - (2 Comments)

Yesterday, a postcard wrapped in plastic arrived in my mailbox. It was from Congressman Tom Reed. Right above a photograph of Representative Reed was the sentence, within quotation marks: “Washington is broken.”

If Washington D.C. is broken, what does that say about Tom Reed? Tom Reed is a part of the politics of Washington. He’s a member of the majority party that controls the U.S. House of Representatives. With Reed’s Republicans in charge, the U.S. House has been riddled with corruption and partisan posturing. Tom Reed and his allies are part of the reason that Washington “is broken”.

Tom Reed certainly wants to fix Washington, but not in the way he’d like voters to believe. Congressman Reed has been working to fix the system to that he gains a personal economic benefit.

Unlike more than 99 percent of Americans, Tom Reed is a millionaire. He’s got huge amounts of money at his disposal, but he’s not satisfied. He wants more for himself. So, as a member of Congress, Tom Reed has been promoting legislation that will give millionaires like himself special loopholes, so that they have to contribute less. At the same time, Tom Reed’s economic plan will force working American families to pay more of the burden.

There’s a simple, old-fashioned word for the attitude that Tom Reed brings to Congress: Greed. The people of western New York don’t live in wealthy gated communities. They don’t drive expensive cars and go on extravagant vacations. They live simply, out of economic need, and their economic needs just aren’t being represented by Tom Reed.

That’s why we’ve created this bumper sticker against Tom Reed – to Stop Tom GReed.

against tom reed

… also see our related button against Tom Reed…

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Republicans Fail To Pass Light Bulb Law

July 12th, 2011 | Posted by The Green Man in Environment | Legislation - (1 Comments)

H.R. 2417, the Better Use Of Light Bulbs Act, was backward from the start. The legislation, written by Joe Barton, didn’t promote the better use of light bulbs. It promoted the use of light bulbs with low efficiency. It was based on the claim that there is an incandescent light bulb ban about to come into effect, but there isn’t. It was rushed onto the floor of the House of Representatives without any hearings or committee review.

The result from this sloppy approach was seen this evening: The Republicans failed to get the bill passed in the House of Representatives. Because the Republican leadership was trying to pass the bill without obeying the standard rules of the House, the anti-efficiency legislation needed two-thirds approval to pass. It got much less than that: 233 in favor, and 193 opposed.

All but 10 Republicans voted for H.R. 2417. The 10 Republicans who had the intelligence to vote no were:

Charles Bass
Brian Bilbray
Scott Garrett
Morgan Griffith
Richard Hanna
Tim Huelskamp
Tom Reed
David Reichert
Scott Rigell
Glenn Thompson

All but 5 Democrats voted against H.R. 2417. The 5 dim-witted Democrats who voted for the legislation were:

Dan Boren
Jerry Costello
Jim Matheson
Collin Peterson
Nick Rahall

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