FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #40 Buerkle Doesn't Publicly Admit to Climate Change

So far to the right on climate change, she is one of the Flat Earth Five according to the League of Conservation Voters. Blue Sky Girl thinks that Buerkle is pandering to her base of science-free Tea Drinkers.

According to the League of Conservation Voters:

...Rep. Buerkle ... has claimed that “a lot of the global warming myth has been exposed.”

“Rep. Buerkle’s extreme views put her at odds with scientists, the Pentagon and her constituents,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters.

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that humans are contributing to climate change, Rep. Buerkle has referred to “the global warming myth” and claimed that “the jury is still out” on the issue. 

In response, Central New York scientists have condemned Rep. Buerkle’s climate denial. The Syracuse Post Standard quoted Cornelius Murphy, president of the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry, as saying of Rep. Buerkle’s stance, “This has been known by scientists for decades…This demands action, not denial. Climate change is real.”

Blue Sky Girl wonders if Buerkle would like to take her pandering to the people of New Jersey and lower New York right now? To Governors Cuomo and Christie, and to Mayor Bloomberg?

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #39 Buerkle Gives a Warm Welcome to Ursula Rozum

Setting up forums that favored Buerkle, at town hall meetings on her home turf with her claque for support, she invited Ursula Rozum and Dan Mafei to several "debates", knowing she couldn't lose. Green Party candidate Rozum got press coverage; Democrat Mafei got criticism for declining to go to a forum that could not be fair. 

Votes for Rozum can only hurt Mafei. Buerkle is cunning and cynical. Rozum looks naive.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #38 Annie Won't Raise Your Taxes

Actually, yes she will. Sure, she signed that tiny man Grover Norquists's "pledge". And never mind that that act in itself is unpatriotic because signing it says Buerkle promises, in the name of politics, to do something that may not be in the best interests of this country and its citizens. She gave Norquist more power to influence her decisions than the US Constitution.

But the fact is that Buerkle broke her promise to Grover and to her supporters by voting for the Cooper-LaTourette bill in Congress last March. She along with several colleagues even received an award for their bravery in endorsing a bi-partisan budget balancing bill. 

She didn't ride home on a parade horse about it, did she? When she actually made an attempt, however lame and unconsidered, to do the right thing, she kept it a secret from her Tea Party and ultra right winger voters.

Flip flopper? She knew Cooper-LaTourette wouldn't get far, and that the people back at home who mattered wouldn't notice. 

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #37 Buerkle Fights the Sex Trade

Maybe, but she will not protect the victims. She would require any woman or girl, pregnant from rape in the "sex trade", to complete the pregnancy. Compassion is not her strong suit.

Sex trade is slavery. Ann Marie Buerkle says that allowing abortion in this instance would create a "second victim". Her sick thinking disempowers, yet again, victims who are made pregnant in this sick business.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #36 Buerkle Stands With Rape Victims

Ann Marie "fœtus in a jar**" Buerkle

[** see bottom of page]

+

Todd "legitimate rape" Akin

John "the rape thing" Koster

Richard "God intended it to happen" Mourdock

Rick "rape is a gift in a very broken way" Santorum

Chuck "double ultrasound" Winder

Paul "rape is a method of conception" Ryan

Roger "some girls, they rape so easy" Rivard

Rape Hall of Shame 

Buerkle stands with all these prominent men who pontificate about rape and abortion: no abortion in the case of rape.  (Hey guys, never mind that abortion is legal. Not your Constitution? That's unpatriotic!)

PS This list is not exhaustive, not even close.

**Blue Sky Girl is still puzzled about AMB's complete and utter lack of respect for that fœtus, aborted then stolen from a clinic in another state in 1989, transported across state lines, and brought to a protest at Planned Parenthood in Syracuse, and her lack of respect for the women entering that clinic. She is a loose cannon, unethical, and cruel.  Then again, if you have ever experienced her looking you in the eye with her cold blue eyes and telling you a lie without blinking, then you know that she is capable of knocking over anything that stands in her way. 

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #35 Buerkle Says FEMA's Insurance Requirements Will Devastate Communities

From ABuerk's own web site:

Apr 4, 2012

Buerkle Reacts to New FEMA Flood Maps

Today, Representative Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25) issued the following statement following the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) release of new proposed Federal flood maps for Onondaga County: "FEMA’s proposed flood maps are reason for considerable concern for the residents on the south side of Syracuse. Should these maps take effect this year, the consequences could devastate those communities in Syracuse least prepared to accommodate them.

Care to rethink that?

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #34 Annie Says We Have a Spending Problem

Over the last two years, Congressional Republicans have forced a 43 percent reduction in the primary FEMA grants that pay for disaster preparedness. NY Times, October 30, 2012

Some things are better left to national planning and response, fool.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #33 Buerkle Says All Life is Precious

Buerkle said. “I don’t think as a society we can pick and choose what life is valuable and what is not. All life is precious without exception.” [The Post-Standard, 8/23/12]

But she hasn't uttered word one about war...the massively expensive war in Afghanistan, the longest war in which the US has ever been involved; the massively expensive war on drugs both at home and abroad; the cruel war against providing all people in our great nation with health care insurance. She has been in a powerful position for almost 2 years, one of 538 Members of Congress, and what she might have said could have been so important to the national discussion of priorities. 

Buerkle says life is precious in utero. After birth she stops caring. 

Selective conscience is no conscience at all.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #32 Ann Marie Pledges Civil Discourse

Alan West is one of the most unpleasant people in national politics today. That is why he is at the outermost fringes of political dialogue. His divisiveness repels other politicians; most distance themselves because he makes outrageous statements, crude threats and insulting insinuations.

Buerkle accepts him and asked him to do a fundraiser for her. Ick.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #31 Buerkle Is For Jobs

And who isn't? Platitudes, empty platitudes. Buerkle has created no jobs here, nor would she if she goes back to Washington. And she hasn't fought for jobs that have been lost.

What she has done is supported legislation that sends jobs overseas. And taken advantage of Welch Allyn's decision to downsize. 

She doesn't give a damn about her constituents, even the folks who vote for her because they think she is smart, kind and compassionate.  She cares about power, money, status, and herself. Vote for her at your peril. Go ahead, vote against your own self-interest. 

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #30 Regulations are Killing Small Businesses

Actually lack of regulations and enforcement is killing people. 

This editorial from yesterday's New York Times sums it up:

The more that reporters and regulators dig into the cause of the meningitis outbreak that has sickened more than 300 people in 18 states and killed 24, the worse it all looks. The Massachusetts pharmacy that produced the contaminated injectable steroid linked to the outbreak has a long, troubled history. But the issues of shoddy manufacturing practices and lax regulation go well beyond one company.

The New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., has a record of violating state law by selling compounds in bulk without prescriptions for individual patients. It has also failed to follow standard procedures to keep its facility clean and its products sterile. In fact, it appears to have shipped the injectable steroid to some customers without even waiting for final sterility test results.

State regulators, who have primary responsibility for policing compounding pharmacies, did too little monitoring before this outbreak. A state inspection at the pharmacy last year found virtually no problems. Yet an inspection after the outbreak found dirty mats and hoods, and even debris floating in vials of medicine.

Manufacturing problems appear to affect many compounding pharmacies, whose products are not routinely tested by safety and effectiveness, as are the drugs made by major manufacturers. State regulatory tests in Missouri and Texas found that up to 25 percent of randomly sampled compounded drugs failed potency tests. And tests by the Food and Drug Administration on a limited number of drug samples from compounding pharmacies found that roughly a third of the products failed quality tests.

Gov. Deval Patrick has belatedly announced a new approach — periodic, unannounced inspections of compounding pharmacies and requiring annual reports on the volume and distribution of their products. Other states would be wise to look at their own laws and practices to see if they need tightening.

Meanwhile, Congress needs to grant the F.D.A. whatever additional powers it deems necessary to inspect the pharmacies, monitor their sales and judge the safety or effectiveness of their products. The problems need to be addressed on a nationwide basis, not just through states, which often have limited resources and expertise.

Buerkle would rather rely on the "magic of the marketplace." 

But in your position you have the public trust to protect, Annie. Did you skip that class?

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #29 Annie Will Protect Your Healthcare

If Annie returns to Congress, with some thoughtful help from her town hall sidekick Ursula, she promises to continue to try to dismantle not only Obamacare but Medicare. 

Promises to "seniors" aside, she would put the healthcare of this nation in a more precarious position than it is now. She thinks everyone who deserves healthcare already has it. And she thinks there are some people who are getting it who don't deserve it.

She inscrutably and conveniently forgets that we all pay, or are "taxed", if you will, for the healthcare of those who do not have it.

She also forgets that health care is a right of all people in a civilized nation.

She forgets that she is covered, now and for life.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #28 Less Public Sector Jobs is Good

Blue Sky Girl appreciates today's letter to Syracuse.com!

To the Editor: 

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is once again quoted asserting - as does Mitt Romney - that ''government doesn't create jobs.'' It is mind-numbing to think that two folks who have spent years - and millions of dollars - pleading to be hired by the taxpayers can suggest something so abysmally asinine. 

Who do these folks think teach our children, police our streets, put out fires and help care for our elderly? Who ensures clean water comes out of our faucets, and spares most of us from a septic tank or an outhouse? Who is there in a disaster, and protecting us against attacks and in times of war? 

You might wonder how Mitt Romney can promise us 12 million new jobs when he has spent the past six years trying for a job in the sector that supposedly doesn't create any. 

On Election Day, I suggest leaving Romney in the private sector and hauling Buerkle away from the public trough. If you can't figure out what government does - or who issues your paycheck - you shouldn't be in it. 

Edward Servatius 
Syracuse 

Thank you, sir!

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #27 Buerkle Stands Up for Veterans

"Our nation is the greatest in the history of mankind because of the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform." 

So says Buerkle's web site.

There is so much that is wrong with that statement. 

Certainly and without a doubt, people in the armed services have given and sacrificed everything when called upon to do so. 

But to make this statement without regard to any other elements of a "great nation" is dishonest.

Pandering to service people and veterans is a despicable thing to do.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #26 Ann Marie Loves Wild Places

She's a big paddler, right? Competes in the big canoe race in Auburn every year, right? She's tanned; she likes to be outside, yes?

The Sierra Club sums it up with a different story:

"[AMB] (r)ejects efforts to protect and preserve America’s public lands, national monuments, and public parks, consistently voting to turn over more land to drilling and mining"

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #25 Annie Cares About the Environment

AMB's grasp of science - earth science, environmental science, modern research, what is happening to glaciers and polar bears - is nil. Whether it's willfulness or stupidity, Blue Sky Girl cannot say, but Annie's dishonesty that embraces ignorance is stunning. Did her curiosity and imagination die in grade school?

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #24 Ann Marie Wants Jobs for Our Region

This is the BIG LIE. Every move AMB has made in Washington has played to the hand of big business, moving jobs offshore and removing protections for workers. 

Loyalty to the workers of this congressional district is the LAST thing she feels. Loyalty to AMB, her power and the 1% is where her heart resides.

FORTY LIES IN 40 DAYS: #23 "More Jobs, Less Government"

So say her signs. 

Offshore jobs? Trade agreements? Yes indeed. Jobs at home? Not so much. 

How about retraining for displaced U.S. workers? Definitely not. AMB voted against the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act.

What a gal!

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: #21 Buerkle's Commitment to Her Constituents

 

Buerkle's platform Compact25 from August before the last election, included the following:

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.

Buerkle has utterly ignored half her constituents, including a great many disenfranchised people who live in her district. People without resources simply cannot be heard by her because almost all of her "town meetings" are in the suburbs or in overwhelmingly Republican areas. 

She is never within range nor does she make a concerted effort to make disenfranchised people feel welcome at her homogeneous "town hall" meetings. In fact, people of different views or less means who come to her public meetings might well find a hostile audience sitting up front.