Ann Marie Buerkle: Feeding the Cat

With huge thanks to the ever brilliant Tom Toles.

Ann Marie Buerkle: Fodder for the Machine

The Tea Party-line, right wing and Conservative utterances of Ann Marie Buerkle could be said by anyone who is willing to keep a spot warm and vote with the Republicans. She happened to be at the right place at the right time to get a nod from monied interests who are using her, and the Tea Party and teabaggers in general, to promote their own aggressive agenda of profits-first, people-last values. 

Buerkle is but a foot soldier who will never rise above her tiny position as one vote among many who will vote 100% of the time with her bosses and against the common good. She is void of a public conscience.

Ann Marie doesn't give a damn about more jobs, finding compromises, building small businesses, the value of education, or anything having to do with bettering the circumstances of most people.

That the people who voted for her entirely voted against their own self interests is sad commentary on the lack of suspicion slightly over half of our voters had last November about power, influence and wealth.

Sunlight on Ann Marie Buerkle's Dark Support of Bills that Would Cut Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs

From The Washington Post this morning:

Posted at 6:00 AM ET, 01/31/2011

DCCC targets 19 with first media offensive

By Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza

In the first major media salvo of its effort to reclaim the House in 2012, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching an advertising campaign against 19 targeted Republican incumbents.

The radio ads, web ads, phone calls and e-mails are aimed squarely at Republicans in mostly Democratic-leaning districts. The message is that these members want to cut spending at a time when it could lead to further job losses.

"But Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle supports a plan in Congress that would cut education by 40 percent," says one radio ad. "And her plan would cut science and technology research by 40 percent, too. Research and development is how we get the new products that create new jobs."

The radio ads will begin running Monday and run through the week during drive time.

The targets are Buerkle and 18 of her colleagues: Reps. Lou Barletta(Pa.), Charlie Bass (N.H.), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Chip Cravaack(Minn.), Bob Dold (Ill.), Sean Duffy (Wis.), Blake Farenhold (Texas),Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Nan Hayworth (N.Y.), Joe Heck (Nev.),Robert Hurt (Va.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Pat Meehan (Pa.),Dave Reichert (Wash.), David Rivera (Fla.), Jon Runyan (N.J.), Joe Walsh (Ill.), and Allen West (Fla.).

Almost all of these members come from districts that Obama won in 2008, and the DCCC appears to be doubling down on the president's popularity in those districts. The president has seen his approval ratings increase recently, as optimism about the economy returns.

The media blitz is a part of the DCCC's "Drive for 25" -- the slogan it chose for its attempted return to the majority. If Democrats are to win back the majority, they will need to win many of the 19 districts featured in this media campaign.

Power and the Unbearable Obligation of the Elected Leader

After the election in November 2010, we heard that John Boehner met with Randall Terry in Washington. 

Terry is the extremist Right-to-Life founder and leader you may remember exhorted people to violence in his fight against abortion. He was bankrupted and spent time in jail.

He's back in public view in Washington now that the Republicans have regained the House.  He is fighting for traction.

Turns out that Boehner's chief of staff, and not Boehner as far as we know, met with Terry and a group of people he brought with him.

This led me to think about who is present at public meetings and who is not, and thus what messages about power and favor are being transmitted.


I created this handy chart, in which power is reduced to formula. All the combinations represent public meetings. Who knows what kind of dealings go on in private and over the internets?

[The principals are each given values of 10; their respective groups of people, staff, supporters etc., are represented by 4s.]

I meet with you  10:10      (indicates approximate equality of power and influence)

I meet with your people  10:4      (you are somewhere else but important to me)

I meet with you and your people 10:10+4      (ceremonial and/or you may have something I want) 

I and my people meet with you and your people 10+4:10+4      (indicates a party going on, lots of note-taking)

I and my people meet with your people  10+4:4      (you definitely have something I want; unusual)

My people meet with you and your people  4:10+4      (I am "busy" and that is all you and your people will get or, as I suspect is the difficulty for John Boehner with Randall Terry, I need to keep my public distance but you have something that I want or fear)

My people meet with you  4:10    (I am "busy" but not rude)

My people meet with your people  4:4    (blah blah blah)

Ann Marie Buerkle, of course, knows Randall Terry and worked closely with him during her early activist years. She may be working with him still. We shall find out who dares to be seen with him these days.

Against Abortions? Then Don't Have One...and Other Slogans

Slogans are easy. They are way too easy, and ineffective, when it comes to convincing other people about the wrongness of their beliefs and the rightness of one's own beliefs.

I would like to approach the question of abortion from a very different angle.

What really scares me about the "no-abortions-under-any-or-all-circumstances" way of thinking, and then making and enforcing laws to that effect, is that control of child bearing in this way is no different from requiring abortions under any or all circumstances. Governments that want to have it one way just might, in another time, want to have it the other way. Governments and legislative bodies tend to be like that if they are left unchecked.

Black-and-white thinking, and the dictatorial powers that satisfy it, are not compatible with Democracy. Period.

And while I have the floor, I would like to remind anyone who doesn't "believe in" abortion and will never have one: that is YOUR personal choice. I personally support and embrace your choice regardless of your belief. But your beliefs and values do not, in a free society, extend to telling me what I may or may not do with MY body. That is MY personal choice. Period.

Don't Know Much About History...So the Tea Party Line Will Do

January 14, 2011 11:26 am ET — Matt Finkelstein, WRVO Oswego Public Radio

Freshman Rep. Buerkle: Obama Is 'The Worst President' In History

Earlier this week, in an interview with New York's WRVO, freshman Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle (R-NY) doubled down on her campaign statement that President Obama is the worst president in history:

HOST: For the worst, I think you said Barack Obama. So I wanted to ask you — were you just being a little cheeky there or do you really think he's the worst president?

BUERKLE: Well, and I think it's so important in politics, this isn't personal. This isn't an indictment against President Obama and his personality or who he is as a person, but if I look at his policies and what's gone on in the last two years, I think that they've done a lot of damage to our country, and I think that's what the November election was about — the country saying we've strayed too far from our principles and our core principles, let's go back to it. I think his agenda and the agenda of the leadership at that time, I think they brought us in that direction. So for that reason I would say yes. I wasn't being cheeky.

from: Capitol Tonight, November 2010

Buerkle: Obama Worst President In History 
While we were reviewing the tape of last week’s debate between Republican congressional hopeful Ann Marie Buerkle and her target, Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei, we came across this moment that stopped us cold.

Asked by Bill Carey, of YNN Syracuse, to name the country’s worst president, Buerkle replied:

“With all due respect I would say the one who’s doing the most harm to our country is our current president. (Carey: Barack Obama?). Barack Obama.”

....

Back in August [2010], another GOP congressional candidate supported by the Tea Party, Ben Quayle, son of former VP Dan Quayle, made headlines when he said in a campaign ad: “Barack Obama is the worst president in history. And my generation will inherit a weakened country.”

Ann Marie Buerkle, Mental Health Services, and the Role of Governments

Ann Marie Buerkle said something that caught my attention regarding Jared Loughner and the federal government's role in providing mental health services. 

The following is from an article by Brian Tumulty, Gannett Washington Bureau, the text of which appeared on the WGZR Buffalo website yesterday:

               

               Buerkle, a registered nurse and attorney, said the Arizona shootings highlight  gaps in mental health treatment that might be an issue for Congress to examine.

               [The article went on to say...]  "The issue was that a very mentally ill person somehow got control of a weapon," Buerkle said.                                                                   

I want to assist in educating Buerkle and her supporters about this area as governments pertain to it, so that she can be of real service during her time in the House of Representatives.

I believe she does not understand the role of the Federal government in mental health services. Furthermore, she seems to be suggesting that it might want to increase its role. But at the same time she was just elected on a platform of smaller Federal government. I hope she will come to understand that this is cognitive dissonance.

I do wholeheartedly support anything Ann Marie wants to do to strengthen gun control in our country.

                                                            ***

So, how have we come to develop our mental health services and how do they work?  How do our communities deal with the issues surrounding provision of mental health services issues? 

Unless you have yourself lived through a mental illness, or have or had a relation or friend with a mental illness, you may not know a great deal about how mental health laws and mental health services work.

Quickly in the aftermath of the awful events in Tuscon last Saturday, came statements about the alleged shooter Jared Loughner. Universally the comments demonstrated that most people, observers, newspeople and pundits, have little understanding of mental illnesses and mental hygiene laws. This is understandable. We usually don't become informed about personal misfortune until we are forced to do so. Similarly, who wants to say the "c" word, much less talk about it, until you've come out the other side?

We saw descripters such as"troubled", "deranged", "sick in the head", "monster", "evil". Descriptive yes, but they leave out an important aspect of understanding what appears to me to have happened: serious and persistent mental illness. I am not talking about "situational depression" or temporary anxiety over a life event. I am talking about illnesses as serious as diabetes, heart disease or cancer, or injuries as serious as a broken back or head trauma. In fact, mental illness is in many ways a head trauma: the brain is damaged.

We heard that Jared Loughner had been asked to leave a community college, and we were able to view his disturbing appearance and speech on his UTube and twitter posts.

Someone said Loughner is a lunatic and therefore justice should quickly be rendered. 

Someone else said, "I hate this situation. Insane or not he deserves to be removed from humanity. He ended a life and inflicted an amount of damage I can't even wrap my brain around. The 9 year old who died speaks volumes to my soul. Death sentence." 

This rhetoric is meaningless and cruel. Do we want a country where an accused person with obvious serious mental illness is quickly put out of his misery and ours? Do we draw a line and not afford every person our dearly won protections? If so, then we are no better than every repressive regime.

                                                            ***

Having worked in the field, I want to draw for you an outline, the barest minimum of information, so that you can more wisely interpret the events past and coming in regard to the alledged shooter.

First of all, there will be very little reliable information available about him coming from any service providers past or present because there are strict standards of confidentiality. This is a good thing. In general, who wants providers talking about you, even to other treatment providers, without your explicit permission? Mental illnesses are stigmatizing. Your career or job, your friendships, your impending marriage, can be destroyed by merely revealing that you received the mildest form of counseling, never mind taking even mild psychotropic drugs or a hospitalization in the past.

Federal laws in this area have mostly to do with Constitutional protections and approving psychiatric drugs for the market. We are all familiar with HIPPA, which guarantees confidentiality. Federal laws also regulate certain aspects of gun control. The Federal government does not control exactly how states regulate and deliver mental health services.

                                                            ***

The states have the responsibility to draw up laws and regulations regarding mental health hospitalizations and treatment. They provide some services directly, and they contract out to agencies in communities for many others.

Most states, including NY, can hold and hospitalize someone for 72 hours for evaluation if he or she is deemed by a court to be a danger to one's self or others. This is a good thing and yet it makes families extremely frustrated. I cannot tell you how many times professionals see someone who desperately needs help, and yet there is no legal way to give it. People with mental illnesses cannot be forcibly sent into treatment unless they are a danger to themselves or others.

On the flip side is personal freedom and liberty, rights we cherish in our country. Mental hygiene laws are purposely made and interpreted strictly, to err on the side of freedom, because we have seen what happens in countries where a government can argue that someone it doesn't like can be labeled "insane" and imprisoned indefinitely.

These competing interests, our Constitutional guarantees of liberty and freedom, and protecting individuals and communities from the ravages of serious mental illness, are often difficult to reconcile and take a great deal of consideration. This is a good thing.

If you don't believe me, look around our own community. There are people walking the streets whom we understand intuitively have a mental illness. They mean no harm to themselves or others, and they are free to come and go. It also means they are free to be homeless, or to refuse medical care.

The 72 hour rule is meant to help people who are suicidal or in some other way are found to be dangerous, and help keep the community safe from them and them from themselves.

Beyond that 72 hours, someone may be hospitalized involuntarily (this is an operative word) because professionals and the court, in consultation with family and friends if possible, are persuaded that the person continues to need serious help.

And sometimes one may actually choose to continue hospitalization or accept out-patient treatment and medications. The side effects of these powerful drugs is another story, and an important one, whch I will not go into here.

Within the 72 hours framework, patients are protected and observed. They may also sober up and/or come down from drugs, and otherwise begin to give trained staff time to evaluate their mental state. Sometimes time is all that is needed. The person may begin to regain rationality with the help of psychiatric drugs, lowered stress, and the lifeblood of human contact. Little is completely resolved within 72 hours. Sometimes a person must be released at that point because he or she has stopped demonstrating a danger to self or others.

With the severe budget cuts every state is experiencing, these very services, crisis interventions, are curtailed and eroded, as is longer term care. Because of stigma, these very services are not valued, and they are more easily cut by legislatures. 

Find me a legislator who resists cutting mental health services and I will show you someone who has somewhere, somehow, experienced mental illness first hand and understands services' vital role in our communities.

                                                                    ***

It is also important to note before concluding that once someone is arrested and incarcerated, the rules change. Once the person is in jail, other considerations having to do with safety and keeping order apply.

                                                                   ***

I'll stop here. I am certain there will be more chances to help Ann Marie understand the other side of things as she explores her role vis a vis competing interests and, especially, the size of government.

The Tea-and-Crumpets Party by Tom Tomorrow

Ann Marie's New Friends

Ann Marie has joined 14 other Congresspeople to co-sponsor her first bill in Congress:

Better Use of Light Bulbs Act or BULB Act, H.R. 91. [not making this up]

15 Co-sponsors Reintroduced the Bill this week. Let us see who Ann Marie's new friends are:

Todd Akin, R-Missouri

This guy is a superior class act. 

He wants a Constitutional Amendment barring marriage for gay people.

He likes to make lynching jokes about Democrats.

He blew the Pledge of Allegiance at a protest on the Missouri Capital steps.

Joe Barton, R-Texas

This is the guy who apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward. 

Reminds me of when Harry Whittington, Dick Cheney's "friend",  apologized to Cheney for being in the way of his drug-induced shotgun blast. I think "ingratiate" is the word.

Rob Bishop, R-Utah

Votes 100% pro business.

Voted NO on reducing greenhouse gasses

Made the Club for Growth happy 91% of the time.

Made Gun Owners of America totally happy; Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, zero.

Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee

Leading the charge against the Clean Air Act (again).

Paul Broun, R-Georgia

Believes President Obama is a Marxist.

"I tell ya, we’ve got some new problems in Washington. Big problems. Just today, Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said people in America are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. They want to give all the power to the federal government to force you to eat more fruits and vegetables. This is what the federal, CDC, they gonna be calling you to make sure you eat fruits and vegetables, every day. This is socialism of the highest order!"

Screw loose, threads stripped.

Our Own Gal...Ann Marie Buerkle, R-New York

Showed her respect and compassion for women by bringing a foetus in a jar to a demonstration confronting women going into Planned Parenthood in Syracuse. She says that was years ago and her priorities are different now. That is totally scary.

Michael Burgess, R-Texas

Would like to be able to build a nuke in his back yard if he wants to. Suck on that, Federal Government.

Dan Burton, R-Indiana

Voted against the Lily Ledbetter Act which gives workers the right to file a discrimination claim late against the workplace if they waited until they actually found out they had been discriminated against. No mother? No wife? No sisters? No daughters?

Howard Coble, R-North Carolina

[I am getting a little tired of looking at pictures of older white guys]

Beware anything called The Freedom Project

Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming

"U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis said Friday that some of her Wyoming constituents are so worried about the reinstatement of federal estate taxes that they plan to discontinue dialysis and other life-extending medical treatments so they can die before Dec. 31." ...in case you ever wondered about the meaning of the word "hyperbole."

Tom McClintock, R-California

Pro-life and pro-capital punishment. This combination always puzzles me.

Ron Paul, R-Texas

Gun Owners of America give him a 100% approval rating.

Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana 

On Cap and Trade: “We’re setting up a global warming Gestapo.” What is it with the knee jerk comparisons with Hitler?

Another Congress member who thinks science is piffle. Asked whether he worries that he could be wrong [about doubting climate change], Scalise cited an “increasing number of scientists who are raising major questions about the global warming theories.” Read: is being paid to believe lies of coal interests.

Cliff Stearns, R-Florida

Votes 100% of the time for Right to Life issues.

On Energy and Commerce Committee: can you guess who his major contributors are?

Member of Michelle Bachman's Tea Party Caucus in the House

Don Young, R-Alaska

On the BP oil spill: "This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon."                                              
On global warming: "It's a scam."

Dim.

Editorial: Tea Party as Symptom

I do not believe that the Tea Party is responsible for the mass violence in Arizona yesterday, not intentionally and certainly not directly. I will be very surprised if it is found to be otherwise.


Throughout the rise of the Tea Party phenomena, I've thought of it as a symptom rather than a cause.


The Tea Party seems to attract disaffected people who have lost faith, if they ever understood it or had it, in the democratic process.


Basic to our system of government is the fact that sometimes one party loses, and sometimes the other one does.


Meanwhile, sometimes a third and even a fourth party, rises and adds to the conversation, often bringing ideas and other options, and that expands the possibility of solutions to tough problems. It is a healthy way to govern.


I think most Tea Party-identified people are appalled by the act of violence in Arizona yesterday. I do not think they are bad people who would wish a violent death upon anyone.


I do think they are people frustrated by feelings of powerlessness in a gigantic country where many decisions are made at the top that do not reflect what they feel are in their best interests. OK, I get that and, believe me, I felt it mightily while George Bush was president. I try to understand.


At the same time, there are political figures who have and who will continue to try to manipulate people who identify with the Tea Party to benefit their own agendas.


I think of Sheriff Palin, swearin' and stampin' her feet, and posting a map of the US with Democrats to be defeated in the 2010 round of elections located with rifle crosshairs. This is inflammatory, and it is manipulative. It is easy to name dozens of other politicians who also play that game with ordinary peoples' emotions.


There is a growing, though still small, lack of common decency, boosted by media that rip at it like sharks. There is a refusal by the Republicans in Washington to accept the democratic process as enough of a safeguard for our country's and our citizen's futures, often stepping far outside what is acceptable behavior.


These Republicans proudly say that they will not, under any circumstances, work at governing cooperatively and collaboratively. They are undermining the basic tenets of a democratic system. It is that behavior that I deplore. Our country and our people deserve far better.

Local Blog "Veritable Pastiche" Asks Health Care Repeal Questions

The blogger Veritable Pastache spells out the folly of repealing 2010 health care reforms as supported by AMB.   


I especially like her thoughtful questioning of why Republicans want to carve out health care from their proposed mandate that any changes be matched with budget savings elsewhere.


Republicans are transparent in a bad way. 


http://veritablepastiche.blogspot.com/2011/01/rep-buerkle-why-repeal-ppaca.html

Buerkle's Congressional Committee Assignments: What Happened to All That Health Care Experience that Boehner Was So Hot About Back In August?

Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle will be serving on three committees: 

• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
• Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Recently famous for calling President Obama's administration the most corrupt in years, Darrell Issa, R-CA, is the new chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is from the 49th district of California.
He has since waffled on the corruption charges. His own criminal record will be harder to pull back from.  If you care to look, let Google help you.
Buerkle met with Issa sometime in the past couple days and was given her marching orders. Good tea soldier.



Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL, was born in Cuba in 1952 and represents the 18th Congressional District of Florida. She is the new chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
 She is still beating the "opposition to Castro's dictatorial regime in Cuba" drum, apparently a no-brainer in red-district Miami-Dade. 



Congressman Jeff Miller, R-FL, represents the 1st Congressional District of Florida, the Florida Panhandle. He is new chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Ann Marie joins this committee along with 5 other new Republican Congressmen, all from northern states plus Kansas and California.


One hopes that some of AMB's health care experience will be of use on Veterans' Affairs. Lord knows our Veterans need as much help as this country can muster, and more. 


My hope is that expanded health care help for public servants comes easier in the future than it did for the just ended Congressional session, the Republicans of which refused right up to the last minute to give extended health coverage to 911 First Responders.  That was a fight for years as the Republicans finely tuned their proud tradition of hypocrisy.

Compact 25: Left in the Dust?

Buerkle's campaign committee created COMPACT25 by early August 2010. It was a statement of the values by which Ann Marie Buerkle promised to govern if she were elected. A short series of town halls were scheduled to follow the declaration.


On August 10 AMB held four one-hour town hall meetings in Cicero, Cato, Lyons and Irondequoit, respectively, to roll out this campaign.


It is worth reading. Blue Sky Girl will be interested to find out whether AMB sticks to her promise to accept no influence from special interest groups. Will she hold at least one town hall meeting every month? Will she do her homework and come to understand that "ObamaCare" will ultimately help to relieve our country's debt and decide to support it?


Since August a few pro-Buerkle writers have referenced Compact25. She has not returned to it.

Here is Compact25, as published in August 2010:

The Kind of Leader Upstate New York Needs

Upstate New York is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.  Those of us who have spent our lives invested in this community realize that the 25^th District of New York is facing the same difficulties as the rest of the country. Few Upstate New Yorkers believe that our country is moving in the right direction.

Upstate residents worry about their children leaving the District to find work. They worry about losing their businesses, their farms, and their healthcare.  Upstate New York needs new and better leadership.

The Kind of Leader I Will Be

There are certain things you should expect from your elected officials. If you support me with your vote, here is what you can expect from me:

I will be accountable

I recognize that as your Representative I will answer to you.  I understand that your support is not a blank check for me to go my own way without considering your wishes. While you and I may not completely agree on everything, I will welcome discussion and will approach every vote carefully.  I will post on my website an explanation and justification of every major vote I cast.

I will be accessible

I believe that all of the residents of the 25th District of NY are entitled to interact with their Representative in public forums. I will host at least one public town hall-style meeting every month. I will spend time in the district when Congress is in recess meeting one-on-one with my constituents to discuss issues of concern to them. My staff will understand and share my commitment to the people of upstate New York.

I will be responsible

I will approach any piece of legislation responsibly. This will include completely reading the bill and considering whether the legislation is Constitutional. I will consider how the bill might affect my constituents in the long-term as well as the short-term.

I will be independent

I will be the voice of the people and not the voice of a party, a President, or a special interest group. The only special interest group I’ll be listening to is the people of the 25th District of New York.

The Kind of Leadership America Needs

As our country faces some of the most challenging times in its history, its elected leaders must advocate for real, substantial reform that is effective without compromising the freedom of the American people. Areas that call for special attention and reform include:

Government Overreach

• Defund and Repeal Obamacare
• Review all of the federal agencies for efficiency and effectiveness and cut their budgets accordingly

National Defense

• Ensure that the Department of Defense is adequately and appropriately funded
• Adjust the timetable for withdrawal in Afghanistan
• Fully fund and support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Treat our allies like allies and our enemies like enemies
• Develop a strong and effective policy for holding Iran and North Korea accountable
• Secure our borders

Healthcare

• Make Health Insurance Portable
• Implement Significant Tort Reform
• Allow health insurance to be purchased across state lines
• Enhance Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
• Encourage Small Business Health Plans

Jobs & Economy

• Make the 2001-2003 Tax Cuts Permanent
• Eliminate the Death Tax
• Reduce or Eliminate Capital Gains Tax
• Simplify the tax code
• Reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses

Veterans

• Relax the requirements for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for businesses to include all recent veterans
• Launch media awareness campaign to inform veterans of  job and education opportunities
• Increase funding  for counseling of veterans and their families to reduce veterans’ suicides
• Insist that veteran’s preference is enforced in the filling of civil service jobs

Education

• Allow parents a tax-credit if they choose to send their children to private schools
• Give businesses a dollar-for-dollar tax-credit for donations made to scholarship organizations

Compact25

Upstate New York is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Those of us who have spent our lives invested in this community realize that the 25th District of New York is facing the same difficulties as the rest of the country. Few Upstate New Yorkers believe that our country is moving in the right direction.

As you may know, Compact25 is an agreement with the voters of the 25th District of New York. I have listened to voters concerns about the lack of jobs, the national debt, the overreach of the federal government, the need for true Healthcare Reform, and our National Security.

As the race continues, it’s even more important to me that people have a say in Washington and I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens by being accountable, accessible, responsible, and independent. Please join me in restoring Upstate New York’s voice. Join me in signing Compact25.

Check out a photo from the Compact25 Irondequoit town hall. Be sure to join Ann Marie in signing Compact25 today!

Cato Town Hall Photo