Claquewatch NY: On Civil Society

When Blueskygirl witnesses supporters of Ann Marie Buerkle behaving uncivilly toward some of the people who attend Buerkle's town hall meetings, and when Buerkle allows this to go on, meeting after meeting, Blueskygirl has to ask if these are actions similar to those that occurred at recent televised Republican debates.

Claquers: ask yourselves:

• Does a death sentence, carried out, deny the commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill?

• Does letting an uninsured person die without medical care fit with your moral teachings?

• Does rejecting people who are not like you, any people, fit with Loving Thy Neighbor as Thyself?

Yet, on national television recently, carefully chosen audiences at Republican debates:

• cheered for Texas governor Rick Perry's high number of executions;

• shouted "let him die," drowning out a question to Ron Paul about an uninsured person with a fatal illness and no insurance;

• booed a gay US soldier on active duty in Afghanistan who, in a video question segment, asked candidates' opinions on the US military's reversal of don't-ask-don't-tell.

US HR NY25 Claquers: are these audiences the people you want to be allied and associated with? 

Blueskygirl wishes she had evidence that local Claquers are different, but she has none. Unfortunately the intolerance she witnesses at all of Ann Marie Buerkle's meetings causes her to suspect these people are quite similar to the Republican debates audiences.

And the presidential candidates, and Ann Marie Buerkle, do nothing to interrupt the divisiveness and hate. That speaks volumes. 

As a civil society we must deplore this behavior in any leader or prospective leader, and in their followers. 

We are a nation built on tolerance not hate. Every one of us has a responsibility to help promote an atmosphere where all people are treated humanely. 

Town Hall Meeting Thursday Evening in Town of Onondaga

Thursday evening AMB will again graciously stand up at the front of the room and avoid answering questions. 

She will thank everyone for coming and let us know that we are meeting in her own current home town. Then she will offer special thanks to the public officials from the Town of Onondaga for having us over for another chance to "find common ground."

She will give us a brief update of her most important work in Washington.

Then she begin to take, from a box, questions written on pieces of paper by constituents as they came through the foyer.

Her claque will vigorously defend her. 

The people who have come with serious concerns will become frustrated when she avoids serious consideration of tough lines of questioning. She may even cut people off. (She has before.) 

Watch Buerkle lose her cool when questioners try to pin her down.

She will continue to defend the wealthy, attack the US Senate and "the president" (not President Obama), and claim need for "certainty" for the "job creators", whatever the hell that is and whoever the hell they are.

So, come along but don't plan to have much fun, that is, unless you are in her claque:

Town Hall Meeting

Onondaga Town Hall

5020 Ball Road

Syracuse, NY

Thursday, September 29, 2011

6:00 to 7:00 pm

Ball Rd. is off McDonald Rd. in the Town of Onondaga.

McDonald Rd. completes a triangle between Rt. 173 near Howlett Hill Rd. and Velasco Rd. 

at Kelley's restaurant.

Directions from Syracuse: 

at Kelley's restaurant and the Mobil station at the corner of Velasco Rd. and McDonald Rd., 

head west on McDonald Rd. toward Howlett Hill Rd. 

(not south on Velasco toward Onondaga Hill). 

Ball Rd., on the north, is a residential loop with two entrances. Take the western-most entrance. 

The new town hall is visible from McDonald Rd. 

Buerkle Confuses the Hippocratic Oath and the Hypocritic Oath

VA doctors and dentists, according to Ann Marie Buerkle's recent amendment to H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act, can pay for continuing medical education out of their own pockets from now on. This is her especially cynical approach to cutting the budget. She was a nurse one day long ago. As she graduated from nursing school she may have taken the "Florence Nightingale Pledge," similar to the Hippocratic Oath: I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, .... I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, .... With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his[sic] work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care. Don't ever confuse her with Florence Nightingale. She is hard as nails. Especially galling for veterans and those who support them in every possible way is that she wraps herself in the flag of veteran-love at every public opportunity, shaming anyone who would question her or her loyalty to her rigid beliefs and to her handlers and funders. Documentation from the American Federation of Government Employees' website: NVAC [National VA Council] Successfully Defends Medical Education Reimbursement: AFGE’s National VA Council recently blocked another attempt to eliminate reimbursement for continuing medical education (CME) programs for VA physicians and dentists -- and with bipartisan support. The full House Committee on Veterans' Affairs last week had a markup hearing to consider a number of health care bills, including an amendment introduced by Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle to H.R. 2074. The Buerkle amendment would have completely eliminated all reimbursement currently payable to full time, board certified VA physicians and dentists. This proposal to eliminate CME reimbursement was also included in the VA’s list of requested legislation submitted to House Speaker John Boehner earlier this year. The existing reimbursement amount of $1000 is very modest compared to the cost of the courses that clinicians must take to remain employed and certified, and it has not been increased since 1991. AFGE is working with lawmakers to increase the CME amount and expand eligibility.

Blueskygirl Appointed to Right-To-Life Board

Well, not really.

That would be as ridiculous as Ann Marie Buerkle being appointed as a Congressional Representative to the UN.

Fortunately the UN position is a ceremonial position with no power.

Blueskygirl hopes AMB will learn something while she is in NY about the complexities of the world and that Israel, for instance, is not without blame in the failure of the Peace Process with Palestine.

G. Gordon Liddy Interviews Ann Marie Buerkle

Ann Marie Buerkle interviewed by the G Man:  

Interview here  

(btw, Liddy's tech crew spelled AMB's name incorrectly in the link.)

Ah, yes, remember G. Gordon Liddy. Plumber. Felon. Sex icon. Misogynist. Conservative radio talk show host. Just the sort of upstanding mature man to interview Ann Marie Buerkle.

Bio of Liddy's Career Highlights:

Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers [Blueskygirl - both with the blessings of President Richard M. Nixon]. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.)

Thanks to Media Matters for America.com

Still Trusting Women After All These Years

Thank you to ThinkProgress, 9-16-2011, for this Constitutionally and rationally good news amidst a week of particularly unattractive political dogfighting. It restores Blueskygirl's confidence that there are still plenty of people in the nation who actually trust women: 

POLL: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE PRO-CHOICE, DESPITE GOP PUSH TO BAN ABORTION

A new CNN poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Americans still believe in a woman’s right to choose, with 78 percent of respondents saying that they want abortion to remain legal under any circumstances or under certain circumstances. Just 21 percent said they would support outlawing abortion under all circumstances. 

The numbers are almost unchanged from a year ago — despite the concerted efforts of conservatives to severely restrict access to abortion on the state level. Seventy-seven percent of Americans identified themselves as pro-choice in 2009 and support has remained consistent over the last five years. 

"Get government out of the way," of Women's Reproductive Health Care

Several statements by AMB on non-governmental interference, as in: "Get government out of the way," amended:

• “We should be focusing on pursuing ideas and practices that encourage choice, innovation, and excellence in women's health care education,” said Buerkle      [AMB's statement on the recent HR charter schools bill, amended]

•  “If we’re talking about creating jobs and getting our economy back on track, that’s a big piece,” Buerkle said. “Beyond that, I guess the question is whether you want the government telling you what kind of women's reproductive health care light bulb you can use.”       [AMB's statement on BULB on her first day in office, amended]

• “The key here is not what I think — it’s what women who need health care the business owners think,” Buerkle said Monday. “I tell them that Darrell Issa has charged us to go out and talk to women who need reproductive health care the people about what regulations are impeding their success.”     [AMB's statement on federal regulations, amended]

And she finally gets it right:

Real health care reform ought to be enacted in incremental steps that preserves patient choice, protects access to health care, and controls costs without hurting job growth, reducing patient care, or slashing Medicare for seniors.  We need health care reform that puts medical decisions in the hands of doctors, families and patients, not an unaccountable bureaucracy.  In such a system, individuals and families would make the key decisions and control the dollars, not government bureaucrats.

[AMB on ObamaCare, not amended]

ClaqueWatch NY: Don't Like How Democracy Feels?

Bob Murfitt, preeminent claquer, commonly known on YouTube as MrBobbis, was not content with simply posting videos of Ann Marie Buerkle's recent town hall meeting in Clay. Instead of letting the videos speak for themselves, he had to alter them by adding comments and graphics criticizing constituents who spoke up when Buerkle refused to answer their questions.

As Buerkle found herself over her depth and speakers got nowhere with her, she cut them off and they became frustrated.

So, if someone you don't agree with, Mr. Murfitt, is trying to ask a follow-up question, you call them a hothead? Is this the best you can do? 

Blueskygirl guesses the truth isn't good enough for the tea party faithful.

Ann Marie Buerkle Is Not Interested in You, Average Constituent

Blueskygirl is at a loss today, as she is many days, to understand why Ann Marie Buerkle continues to be such a powerful force in the lives of her right-leaning constituents.

Democracy requires participants to question the motivation of candidates, their qualifications, their ability to translate their life experiences into good policy and governance. 

In addition, democracy asks voters to separate their emotional reaction to candidates from a long hard look at whether candidates have the voters' interests at heart.

Ann Marie Buerkle represents a district in upstate New York straddling the NY Thruway, once a thriving manufacturing corridor from Albany to Buffalo.

Today that district is solidly in a region we know as the rust belt. Recently the carcass of Carrier Corporation, world leader in air conditioning, was sold for scrap. 

Oneida silverware, Buffalo china and Syracuse china are all manufactured in China. New Venture gears eventually came from overseas, made of inferior steel, and the last of New Venture Gear disappears by the end of this year. Crucible Steel's high quality steel is barely competitive with foreign, inferior steel. National Grid laid off 800 workers this year.

Inner cities are mostly in ruin, their inner city schools and neighborhoods increasingly deserted by professional parents who want the best education for their children, and who can blame them? Outlying malls surround empty storefronts in our  downtowns.

Rurally, small farmers struggle because their competition is huge and protected. Even the big farms here (with, astoundingly, 3 big barns!, which no one in the old days would have called a small farm,) struggle to compete.

In this landscape Ann Marie Buerkle, conservative, tea party sweetheart and "the pretty lady from Syracuse", tells us that she will never vote to raise taxes on the extremely wealthy people and corporations of this nation.

Glaringly missing from her vocabulary are words like poverty, homelessness, teacher layoffs, soup kitchens, living wage, unemployment. Missing from her intent in Washington are solving the home mortgage crisis, creating real jobs, improving the lot of farmers, and making good educations, from kindergarten to BAs, BSs, MAs, and yes, even MDs, accessible for the less and least fortunate among us. Missing is support for unions.

Rather, every single one of her decisions is made in favor of corporate interests. Thus she paves the way for increased contributions to her next campaign. Thus she pleases John Boehner.

Tea partiers, conservatives, Republicans: wake up and look at what Ann Marie Buerkle does every day. Is she looking out for your best interests and those of your neighbor? If she is not, push back and wake HER up. She needs to hear from you. 

Ann Marie Buerkle: Israel's New Best Friend

News Flash!! 

Let us all rejoice at Ann Marie Buerkle's quick study of Israel and the Middle East.

She was treated by the most powerful pro-Israeli lobbying firm in Washington to an all-expense-paid jaunt, educated and toured, wined and dined, day and night for 8 whole days. 

Her own House, in an act of piety, exempted the strict no-gifts-from-lobbyists rule so all the newbys could get the lowdown on Israel. 

Now she has returned home to tell us rubes back home in the District what's up with Israel and the peace process.

Care to bet whether the lobbyists will get their money's worth?

Captain Regulation on Women's Right to Choose

Captain Regulation: You rang?

Ann Marie Buerkle:  Why are there still so many regulations? They are just hurting my constituents. They tell me, "too many regulations."

CR: And yet I understand you want to add regulations limiting a woman's right to choose and hurting the providers of women's health services? Make up your mind. More or less? 

AMB: I want less unless I want more. I want to restrict things I don't like. 

CR: Make up your mind. 

Captain Regulation on Chickens

Ann Marie Buerkle: Are you here again?

Captain Regulation: You called me, remember?

AMB: OK, I guess. Look, now I have to explain why I'm against regulations that would help small farmers and ranchers. I don't suppose you would consider helping me out here, would you?

CR: Ah, you must mean GIPSA and the chicken farmers. OK, here's the situation: a couple years ago, the Agriculture Department proposed new rules that would level the playing field between the giant corporate meat packers and the small farmers who supply them. 

Now, your House of Representatives refuses to support these regulations, and you have cut off funding to implement the new regulations that would definitely help small farmers.

AMB: What's wrong with that? Regulations take away the freedom of large corporations to dominate the market place, you know.

CR: And here I thought you liked small farmers.

AMB: Sure I do. Small farms are nice, but well, you know, they don't really donate much to my campaign. I want to be able to say I like small farmers, but I sure don't want to give them an unfair advantage, that interferes with the magic of the free market.

CR: Well, then, if you want small farmers to do better economically, you should support the new GISPA rules.

AMB:  I can't do that. My friends will be mad.

CR: OK then, I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

AMB: This meeting is over. Go away!

Thanks to The Daily Yonder for the heads up on this issue.

Captain Regulation Explains It All

Ann Marie Buerkle: Hi, Captain Regulation, thank you so much for stopping by.

Captain Regulation: You are welcome. How can I help you?

AMB: Well, you know I am against government regulations. In fact, I tell my constituents every chance I get that every new government regulation chips away at their freedom.

CR: Well, Congresswoman, I guess it would be true to say some regulations limit your freedom. For instance, a few years back Congress passed a lot of anti-terrorism laws and those regulations do substantially limit some freedoms.

AMB: That's not what I meant. I'm all in favor of anti-terrorism regulations, I'm against

business regulations.

CR: OK, I see. Well, almost all business people actually want the government to help regulate commerce to promote fairness and stop unscrupulous business deals.

AMB: Well, OK, that's alright, too. What I'm against is regulations that make it harder for small businesses to make a profit.

CR: OK, I think I'm beginning to see what you mean. I'm afraid I can't really help you out much, though. There's no doubt that some well-meant rules are out of date and do need to be revised, but it's not really possible to just be against government regulation.

You see, regulations are the only way to make laws real. They're the way the government explains in detail what laws mean, and exactly how they will be enforced. Laws are totally hollow without regulations.

AMB: Look, I am absolutely certain that business people want to reduce regulations in order to build their businesses. It's a major part of all my speeches. My business owner friends always clap when I say that.

CR: Well your friends may be clapping, but a poll published this week found that what business people really want, way ahead of less regulations, is more business. They want customers. With cash. Cash earned by working. Working at jobs in this country. Now.

AMB: Darn, and here I thought you would help me. This meeting is over.

Introducing Captain Regulation

Say hello to one of America's unsung super heros, Captain Regulation.

Years ago he was just a file clerk at the National Archives in Washington, DC, but even back then he knew that many members of Congress did not understand the central role that the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR for short) plays in providing order and justice all across our fair land.

One day when installing a new and much more powerful memory chip in his office computer, he accidentally touched the power cord while still holding the mother board. ZAP! FLASH!

When he came to, he knew something had changed. Every time a member of Congress said, or even thought, the word “regulation” he was instantly aware of it. He began to compile lists of the members who had a special interest in federal regulations and vowed to help them understand the intricacies of rule making.

In recognition of his unique role in protecting good government, the US Senate secretly built the Fortress of Regulation right inside the National Archive. From this sophisticated 21st century listening post in the heart of Washington, Captain Regulation stands guard.

He has sure had his hands full with the current crop of freshman Republicans.

Blueskygirl was very pleased to be able to meet Captain Regulation in person recently. Of course, she spoke with him about some of his recent run-ins with AMB. Now for the first time anywhere That's Our Gal is proud to release some excerpts from the Captain Regulation private archives.

"Living Wage" Question Confounds Ann Marie

How completely unfair for someone to ask Ann Marie about a "living wage." How is she supposed to know what that even means?

In Clay last Thursday at Buerkle's town hall meeting someone confused Ann Marie, who thought the questioner was referring to the minimum wage. What IS a living wage anyway?

ClaqueWatch NY: Claquers Just Doing Their Job

 

ClaqueWatch reporters on the ground in Clay last week found the Claquers thrilled  to have so many speakers at which to direct their chorus.  

Non-tea party constituents, when given the opportunity to ask questions, were skillfully silenced as soon as, or even before, Ann Marie indicated she had adequately answered their questions.

Ann Marie's opponents are turning out at town hall meetings in ever greater numbers, and asking trickier questions, making the job of the Claquers increasingly demanding. Thankfully they are rising mightily to the task.  Fortunate is Ann Marie to have many loyal followers. 

Buerkle's Bad Faith Statement on Job Creation

Ann Marie Buerkle, HR NY-25, likes to make broad critical statements about the US Senate. 

Her own dear House is forever blameless. For instance, they in the House are working their tails off to come up with bills that will get us jobs, jobs, jobs! According to Buerkle at her town hall meeting in Clay last Thursday, the House has come up with "something like 12 jobs bills."  

And you know what? That darned Senate tabled them all!

Funny thing: all the Republican-controlled House "jobs" bills favor big business, wealthy people, and off-shore manufacturing. 

These bills would also gut everything from health insurance to public investments in education, public health, environmental safeguards, infrastructure, energy, and science and technology research and development, all of which Republicans see as bad investments. 

Good bye to the minimum wage and hello to union-busting. Middle America, get used to things getting a lot worse. 

The prizes and the winners, of course: greater profits for the folks at the very top and perpetual power to the conservative forces in Washington who hope to catch some golden crumbs when they retire (because we know they are not allowed to snack on those delicious golden crumbs while they are still in office.)

There are two great articles right now that examine the Republican agenda on jobs:

The GOP's Mythical Jobs Agenda on Think Progress on August 26, 2011, by Adam Hersh an economist at the Center for American Progress Action Fund

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/26/305252/gops-mythical-jobs-agenda/

5 Worst So-Called Job Creation Ideas From the GOP on Alternet on August 30, 2011, by Sarah Jaffe of Alternet

http://www.alternet.org/story/152232/5_worst_so-called_job_creation_ideas_from_the_gop/

Buerkle, Wrench in the Works

Ann Marie Buerkle came out of hiding last night, if only for a short and tightly controlled "town hall meeting". 

She played in Penfield near Rochester to a large crowd. She limited the meeting to an hour of carefully scripted message with no back and forth, keeping to the same story with one notable exception, and interestingly enough, she at least twice referred to "the government" as "they". 

"The government doesn't have any money — it's your money they're spending, and I think they need to do a better job stewarding it," she said....

Her use of this language says everything we need to know about her politics. Her carefully controlled image will not allow that she become part of the very government she must criticize. She will never accept that her election to the House of Representatives gave her the privilege and the enormous responsibility of working, from within, to strengthen our trembling nation. She chooses to remain an outsider and thus abdicates her responsibility. She has no business being there if she cannot honestly seek solutions to very complex problems, compromise and move forward. She is there, and only there, to be a wrench in the works, a placeholder in a governing body she will never join.

This was Buerkle's first public meeting since June. Judging from town hall-style meetings in other tea party-held Congressional districts recently, she had good reason to control access and content. Voters are increasingly holding tea partiers and conservatives responsible for taking the U.S. of A. to the brink of destruction with no change of tactics in sight. 

The only change in her message is that now the "rich" should pay "their fair share" of taxes, whereas earlier she was against separating another penny of hard-earned wealth from the wealthy. Blueskygirl thinks Buerkle's affinity with wealth runs deeper than jobs or any other concerns of a middle American.

She continues the mantra that taxing corporations little or nothing will make us all better off in the long run. If pigs could fly....

Buerkle will hold another town hall meeting tonight at the Clay Town Hall, 6-7 PM. Clay Town Hall is on Route 31 a mile east of Route 481.