Questions for Ann Marie Buerkle's Next Town Hall Meeting, and the One After That...

Ms. Buerkle, you promised us honesty and transparency during your campaign. You promised that you would try to find common ground. The election results indicate that you won by only a very small margin, so it is safe to assume that there are a great many people who would like to know you share their concerns about where this country is headed. 

Now that you have gotten your feet wet in Washington, would you be so kind as to answer some questions for us?

• You talked repeatedly about job creation and job recovery during your campaign. Since the election you do not talk about jobs. Why?  

• What are your plans, and your party's plans, for job recovery?

• Since you personally benefitted during your campaign from NPR public radio and PBS television, how can you now vote to defund public broadcasting? 

• Do you personally listen to or watch public broadcasting?

• What are you doing to keep several hundred jobs in NYS which are part of the 1200 jobs in the Northeast that National Grid is eliminating? Or do you support eliminating those jobs? Do you know why they are being eliminated?

• Do you subscribe to the idea that President Obama is not an American-born citizen? Do you need to see his birth certificate before you believe he was born on US soil?

• What do you think about what is happening in Wisconsin?

• Knowing what you do, from your multi-faceted career and volunteer experience, 
• about the needs of people and families without health insurance; 
• about people who need to be represented by an attorney and lack the funds to afford one; 
• about women (and men) who have experienced domestic abuse; 
• about the importance of family planning and reproductive health,                      

             then how do you justify cutting funds to or eliminating programs that help the neediest among us?

• What is your position on nuclear power?

• How do you respond to the idea of the threat that the nuclear power plants near Oswego and Rochester pose either by terrorists or by natural disaster?  We think about how relatively easy it might be for a terrorist group, domestic or foreign, to crash a plane into a plant or for employees and contractors to infiltrate a plant over time. Do you think continuing generation of electricity using nuclear power is sustainable given the enormous costs in treasure, safety and security?

• Why did you accept a large collective contribution from Paul Singer and several of his employees at Elliott Associates and Elliott Management, both powerful hedge funds? Do you know that Paul Singer is a modern-day robber baron who crushes whole countries for profit?

• Do you understand the importance of the separation of church and state in a democracy? Would you be willing to describe and discuss its importance so that we are all clear about this judicial and Constitutional concept?

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs...Will Ann Marie Buerkle Take Credit for Recent Job Increases Nationally?

Jobs, jobs, jobs...that was the rallying cry by Republicans, Conservatives and Tea Partiers all over the land leading up to the November election. Jobs was a major plank in Ann Marie Buerkle's platform...get government out of the way so more jobs can "grow."

But events in Wisconsin have shown the true colors of the Evil Empire to be quite different.

Their view of "jobs, jobs, jobs" does not include health insurance, benefits, pensions or even a living wage. Or reasonable work hours.  It would break up unions. It would further limit the ability of people to organize in the workplace. (Ask any Wal-Mart worker.)  It would seek to lower the minimum age requirements. 

The Evil Empire can only thrive on low wages, poor schools, and a greater and greater gap between the rich and the rest of us.

The Evil Empire will take 1200 well paying National Grid jobs out of the Northeast without a moment of conscience.

What Buerkle and people like her mean when they talk about government being too big is that rich people want the government to get out of the way of them making more money. Ann Marie is a mouthpiece for people even she may not comprehend are in the driver's seat.

If Ann Marie Buerkle can identify with real working people, then now is the time for her to retreat from the Republicans, the Conservatives, the Tea Partiers. Now is the time for her to speak out for working people. We need her voice and her compassion. Now.

Ann Marie Buerkle Not Interested in Saving National Grid Jobs?

Ann Marie Buerkle was all about jobs, jobs, jobs last summer. I well remember how she went on about 5 of her 6 kids leaving CNY in pursuit of jobs in greener pastures. 


Yet we haven't heard how she plans to try to avoid the 1200 layoffs at National Grid within the next month or two. How about a collaboration with other House members from the north east?  The cuts were announced at the end of January, and we fully expected that Buerkle would come up with a plan. And now she has had over a month to do so.


What's up with that, Ann Marie? What will you do for the many National Grid employees in the 25th Congressional District who are about to lose their jobs?

For your reference, from Syracuse.Com:

National Grid to cut 1,200 jobs in U.S.

Published: Monday, January 31, 2011, 11:35 AM     Updated: Monday, January 31, 2011, 11:39 AM

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- National Grid announced today that it will eliminate 1,200 positions from its U.S. work force under a restructuring plan designed to save $200 million a year. Company officials could not immediately say how many of those jobs will be cut from Central New York.

“The impact of these changes will be felt everywhere,” a company spokesman said. “However, we are too early in the process to pinpoint impact to any specific regions. The positions are in management and administrative roles.”

The British-owned utility also plans to install five new regional presidents to oversee portions of the U.S. business in hopes of improving relations with state regulators and with local customers. Kenneth Daly will be the regional president overseeing New York operations.