FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #22 Buerkle Will Go to Washington With an Open and Independent Mind

Buerkle voted with the Republican/Tea Party block 95% of the time so far in her Congressional term.

She did this in spite of saying the following in Compact25 in August, 2010:

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.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #3 Jobs Creator

Her declarations notwithstanding, Buerkle has yet to create or even vote for a single new job in her district.

Ann Marie Buerkle Does Not Save the Day

At the eleventh hour, 2 freshmen House of Representatives Republicans wrote to House Speaker Boehner recommending that he direct his Republican bots to vote in favor of the Senate-backed two month extension of the pay-roll tax cut. In addition the bill extends unemployment benefits for nearly 2 million people and stops threatened Medicaid cuts to doctors. 

Is is even necessary to say that Ann Marie Buerkle was not one of the two Republican freshman urging Boehner to come to his senses?

According to the Associated Press' website

Dec 22, 4:41 PM EST

AP sources: House leaders accept Senate tax terms

By ANDREW TAYLOR and LAURIE KELLMAN 

Associated Press  

...  

Two members of the uncompromising class of House GOP freshmen piled behind the growing call for a short-term extension, developments that suggested the conservative opposition had begun to crumble. Republican House leaders were expected to convene a conference call to discuss whether to change course, according to a House GOP aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"I don't think that my constituents should have a tax increase because of Washington's dysfunction," said freshman Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., a former reality show star.

"An `all or nothing' attitude is not what my constituents need now," Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., wrote in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. "We are now in a position...that requires Republicans to not only demand a willingness to compromise, but to offer it as well."

The statements were fresh signs that House Republicans may not be able to withstand pressure from their constituents and almost every corner of the GOP to get behind the Senate's two-month tax cut extension passed last week with the support of 39 Republicans.

Duffy and Crawford got inspiration earlier in the day from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who urged the House to do what Boehner has refused: pass a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut before it expires and paychecks shrink just as Americans begin paying their holiday bills. Meanwhile, McConnell said in a statement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should convene negotiators to work with Boehner's team and craft a longer-term renewal. The legislation also includes jobless aid for millions and relief for doctors facing a huge cut in Medicare payments. Two Republican senators, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Mike Johanns of Nebraska also endorsed McConnell's plan Thursday.

...

Buerkle: Snake Oil and Death Panels

Back To The Future: "Death Panel" Myth Invoked At GOP Town Hall To Scare Voters

ThinkProgress filed this report from Manilus, NY

ThinkProgress posted a nice little summary of an exchange between Ann Marie Buerkle and several constituents at the Town Hall Meeting in Pompey, Onondaga County, last Wednesday night, written by Tanya Somanader:

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/21/buerkle-death-panel/

Does Buerkle think we are morons? It is pretty easy to see that honesty does not play in Buerkle's world. Pathetically, she also cannot comprehend that other people can see what she is up to. We call it "insight" in the mental health field, and she lacks it. Otherwise she would know not to toss out garbage like "death panels" to living breathing human beings at her meetings.

Back in DC, Boehner sits Buerkle and the other novices down and feeds them these lies-gone-viral, and gives them crib sheets so they can practice. Then they are expected to go home to us rubes and tell us with a straight face stuff that even Sarah Palin doesn't try to peddle anymore. And that is saying a LOT.

Do you want Blueskygirl to tell you how she really feels?

Working Families Party Supports Kathy Hochul's Close House Race in NY District 26 and Update

The race for the NY 26th Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives, twelve days away, is close and the Democratic candidate has a chance of winning.

Kathy Hochul is the Democratic candidate. She is the county clerk for Erie County and is well liked. She has a serious chance of winning the race against conservative Jane Corwin and Democrat-turned-Tea Partier Jack Davis. Davis is splitting the Republican vote, giving Hochul a real chance.

From the Working Families Party website earlier this week:

"... [T]he other [Republican] side also knows it's close. Yesterday, Speaker John Boehner flew in from Washington and just moments ago we learned that Karl Rove has directed $650,000 into the district for the Republican [candidate]." 

Just as Ann Marie Buerkle got an infusion of BIG money in the final days of the election in November, the 26th Congressional District is attracting national right-wing attention now.

Here's a summary of the race from the New York Times on May 9:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/nyregion/boehner-visits-ny-to-bolster-flagging-house-candidate.html

Take a look. Give a bit of money via the Working Families Party if you can. It could be an important victory for Democrats.

To donate to this race on the side of Kathy Hochul, go to the Working Families Party page set up for that purpose:

https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1306/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=4903

Working Families', always supporters of progressive candidates, main page is here:

http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/

Update: 
The US House R. clowns from NY, including Buerkle, aren't lifting a finger to help Corwin.
Thanks to Roll Call Politics                                                                                                                        By Steve Peoples

• Roll Call Staff
• May 14, 2011, 12:24 p.m.:

              Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, whose 25th district is adjacent to Corwin's, does not appear to have done anything to help Corwin at this point.  
          "There's been some conversation and she's seeing what her schedule will allow," Buerkle spokeswoman Liza Lowery said Friday, noting that Buerkle, like most of the delegation, will be in New York this week during recess. "She would like to do something, but as you can imagine, there's a lot already scheduled for the Congressional district work week."

Just too busy (sigh).

Ann Marie Buerkle Announcing Today She Is Switching Parties

In a move that has surprised people on both sides of the aisle, Ann Marie Buerkle, House of Representatives 25th Cong. district in upstate NY, is announcing today that she is abandoning both the Republican and Tea Parties and becoming an Independent. She cites a change of heart and irreconcilable differences as the major reasons for her switch.

She will be the third Congressional Independent in Washington, joining Bernie Sanders VT and Joseph Liebermann CT, both in the Senate, and the lone Independent in the House.

In a letter to House Chair John Boehner yesterday, Buerkle said she will step across the aisle immediately after her public announcement later today. She stated flatly she no longer can be a part of supporting the wealthy corporations in the United States while watching her own district, particularly the schools and other infrastructure, crumble. These circumstances, she wrote, have caused her to rethink how she wants to represent her district. She said that she has had several opportunities in past weeks to talk with constituents personally and that she can no longer support parties that are not willing to face the realities of working and poor people.

There was no immediate response from Boehner or his staff.  Boehner has been extremely busy this week trying to please everyone, so that is not surprising.

As a duly elected member of Congress Buerkle will retain her position and her current offices in the 25th Congressional district. She reports privately that she will also open a small constituent office in the near west side in Syracuse as well as one in the village of Clyde in Wayne county and another in an as yet undetermined site in a working class  neighborhood in Monroe County.

Buerkle will become the only Independent in the House of Representatives. She joins the two Senators,  Sanders of Vermont and Liebermann of Connecticut, the lone Independents on the Hill until today. When asked for a comment, Sanders said he could barely believe the news and would welcome Buerkle. Liebermann also said he looks forward to welcoming Buerkle to their group and that maybe three would be the magic number.

Where this occasion leaves the Tea Party voters in the 25th Congressional district can only be imagined. Unable to locate leaders, this reporter has given up seeking a spokesperson for reactions. 

Ann Marie Buerkle: "Yes, Mr. Boehner, Sir; Thank you, Mr. Boehner, Sir"

Among the many signers of the recent House of Representatives bill, House Resolution 3, that, among other things, restricts abortions except in the case of "forcible rape," is 25th Congressional District Representative Ann Marie Buerkle.

How does AMB sleep at night?

Does she ever stop to wonder at the redundancy of "forcible rape"? Isn't "rape" clear language? Do some women, does Ann Marie Buerkle reason, agree to rape? Volunteer for rape? Invite rape?


From House Resolution 3:
"Prohibits the inclusion of abortion in any health care service furnished by a federal or District of Columbia health care facility or by any physician or other individual employed by the federal government or the District. Provides that such prohibitions shall not apply to an abortion if: (1) the pregnancy is the result of forcible rape or, if the pregnant woman is a minor, incest; or (2) the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, as certified by a physician."


Ann Marie is a woman. She has daughters. She worked with women during her years of service to Right to Life and other anti-choice organizations. She volunteered to work with women in crisis at Vera House. 

Her sponsorship of H. Res. 3 can only be characterized as cynicism* in the extreme.                                             


So, and we feared this, and some of us knew it all too well: As Ann Marie Buerkle moves into her term in Congress she has left her conscience behind. She is now serving not her constituents but her bosses. 

*cynical: showing contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality by one's actions, especially by actions that exploit the scruples of others.

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.

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.

Boehnerland

Read Rolling Stone's current article about John Boehner by Matt Taibbi. The new US House of Representatives Speaker is a treacherous man.   
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105

Boehner recently met with Randall Terry [corrected: a staffer with Terry and his cronies], former head of Operation Rescue. Terry has been repudiated by some Right-to-Lifers as too extreme. He was and may still be friends with Ann Marie from when she was the local Syracuse RL party leader. I am interested to see whether she will keep her distance from him now.

Boehner is not, never has been and never will be the warm, emotional and fuzzy, full of good intentions for "getting our country back on track" kind of person he is trying to portray. He is a phony, he's mean, and he likes being king. The open weeping is pure manipulation. 

He will have his work cut out for himself riding herd on the Teabaggers he helped bring to the House of Representatives.

[photo : David Lassman, Syracuse Post Standard]

article: from the website Before It's News

Boehner Endorses Buerkle

August 21, 2010 4:11

Syracuse, NY - House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio traveled to Central New York today to lend his support to Republican, Conservative and Independence candidate for U.S. Congress Ann Marie Buerkle at an event in Skaneateles hosted by former Rep. Jim Walsh.


“Ann Marie Buerkle will bring a unique skill set to Washington,” said Boehner. “As a Registered Nurse and health care attorney, small business owner, mother and grandmother, Ann Marie has the experience and ability to help create new jobs, stop the Washington spending spree, fight for health care reforms that will lower costs, and fully represent the needs of Central and Western New York families – not the special interests – in Congress. Ann Marie Buerkle will worry more about your job security than her own.”


“I thank Leader Boehner for his endorsement today and urge NY-25 voters to elect me to Congress to make Leader BoehnerSpeaker Boehner come January,” said Buerkle. “It is vital to the future of this country that we elect representatives in Congress who will stand up to this administration and stop the excessive spending, cut taxes, and preserve the promises made to America’s seniors when it comes to their health care and their Social Security. A Republican Congress under Speaker John Boehner will do just that by restoring checks and balances in Washington.”


For more information on Buerkle’s campaign to restore NY-25’s voice in Washington and her recently-launched Compact25:
[1] http://www.compact25.com
[2] http://www.buerkleforcongress.com