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.  

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. 

"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?

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.

Town Hall Meetings in Penfield and Clay, and Questions for AMB

Penfield Town Hall Meeting

Start: August 31, 2011 6:00 pm

End: August 31, 2011 7:00 pm

Location: Penfield Town Hall - 3100 Atlantic Avenue, Penfield, New York 14526

Town of Clay Town Hall Meeting

Start: September 1, 2011 6:00 pm

End: September 1, 2011 7:00 pm

Location: Clay Town Hall - 4407 Route 31, Clay, New York 13041

Questions for Congresswoman Buerkle:

When will you stop making citizens at your town hall meetings write out their questions ahead of time and having your staff screen them? Are you afraid of direct questions? Are you afraid of controversy?                                                                                                                                     

Where do you stand on the validity of creationism? Intelligent design?

Why didn't you criticize John Boehner, or he you, after the final Debt Ceiling vote?

If you were to be voting tomorrow for a Republican to run against President Obama, who would he/she be?

What, specifically, have you done to create jobs? Have you introduced a single bill that would create jobs? 

What are you doing to reduce the disparity between the wealthiest 1% of our nation and the children, 20% of all children in the United States, who live in poverty?

Why are you using Tea Party support but not joining Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus in the House?

Why do you not maintain civility at your town hall meetings, instead letting your ardent supporters boo and jeer at questions coming from people who don't support you and are trying to ask legitimate questions that deserve thoughtful answers?

Why did you accept lobby money to pay for your recent trip to Israel?

What is you view on recent/current US involvement in Libya, and why? Do you know that there is a CIA presence on the ground in Libya? How long does the US military intend to remain in Libya?

Buerkle Town Hall Meeting in Penfield Week of August 22-26

Update: Any meeting week of 8/22-26 is scratched, as AMB is on a lobby-provided jaunt to Israel. Check her congressional website....

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported late yesterday that Annie will hold a town hall meeting in Penfield next week. 

The article doesn't say where or when.

There is still no info at Buerkle's Congressional web site (as of Thursday late afternoon).

One hopes that very soon we can check her web site or call her office for more information.

We also hope she will have at least one other meeting here in her district before she leaves for Washington.

The telephone "town halls" are so highly orchestrated as to be useless for people who seek real answers to tough questions.

Softball T Ball is the name of the game.

Ann Marie Buerkle: Keep An Eye Out For This Guy...

...at the Community Forum, in Manlius, June 28 (more details to follow when they become available).  Thanks to...

...for this gem:

Representative Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY 25th) 1st-term Republican from New York. Letters To Leaders All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is: Defense/Military  Subject: war/jobs/taxes To: President Barack Obama Sen. Charles Schumer Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle June 10, 2011 To Al Concerned: I believe we should bring out troops home, put them on our borders and don't let anyone in; deport the terrorists that already live here.....they hate Americans and shouldn't be here. Jobs: There is an easy way to create at least half million jobs by making a nations bottle bill, this could create jobs such as vice presidents of operations, secretaries, accountants, manager of plants, plant workers, truck drivers and many other positions Taxes: Stop taxing the very people who employ us....we have already lost so many jobs due to high tax rates.....everyone thinks the millionaires should pay more....but most of these millionaires are our employers....doesn;t make sense to tax them and lose more jobs! manlius , NY

Vacation Time For Blueskygirl; Town Hall Meeting and More Questions for AMB

Blueskygirl is taking off about 10 days to clear out the cobwebs. If you can imagine becoming obsessed with Buerkle, then you have a head start on understanding why it will be so fun to go somewhere cool without a computer.

In the meantime keep an eye on her (Buerkle) .

One more thing: Buerkle is having another town hall meeting, this time at the Palmyra Town Hall on June 8 from 6-7 PM.  She's keeping the meetings good and short: a 15 minute talk at the beginning and answering easy questions in the remaining time.

If you go, you might like to ask her how she liked the bad press she and the rest of the Financial Oversight committee garnered by giving Elizabeth Warren, possibly the most upright person in Washington, a hard time?

And also maybe ask her why she questioned Elizabeth Warren about a proposed salary of $70,000 for a position in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Warren is trying to set up, no thanks to the Republicans? [The answer: so that the Bureau will be competitive in attracting well-qualified people.]

After all,Buerkle herself is making $170,000 to be a warm body in a position she is uniquely unqualified to hold. P.S.:She probably made in the neighborhood of $70,000 as an Assistant Attorney General back in Syracuse, an unglamorous paper-pusher job.

Oh yeah, ask her how the "magic of the marketplace" is working out for poor people in Joplin and Tuscaloosa who lived in public housing with no government requirement of a safe room in the basement?

See you soon!

Rapture's Over, Back to Business: Buerkle's Promises

Ann Marie Buerkle wrote a letter to the editor of the Syracuse Post Standard in December 2010 to thank the voters for participating in the election process and to assure us that she would be "accountable, accessible, responsible and independent."

We are approaching the five month mark since Buerkle took office, and Blueskygirl wishes to comment about her (Buerkle's) promises and her approach to her job since she was sworn in and missed her first vote in the new congress.

Accountability? Buerkle knows she may not have a chance at another term as she may be relegated to the dustbin of history after redistricting. There is some proof that this is reality as she is making no attempt to fundraise. 

Of course she knows, as she discovered last time, that wealthy donors, interest groups and secret "educational" groups will step up, and she knows she can depend on Boehner, Cantor, Romney, Palin, or whomever are the Tea Party/Conservative darlings, to show up or blog and tweet, or run dishonest TV ads, when she needs them. 

That is, of course, if she keeps on voting with her party, narrowly along party lines...which she will. She is batting .970 voting with Boehner, unswerving in her loyalty to the boss. Buerkle will always be looking upward and not back here when she feels the pull of loyalty.

Accessibility? Buerkle shows up. She smiles and blinks. She nods her head. She mumbles "uh huh" more or less at appropriate times. 

She has begun to answer constituent letters, more or less on topic but shallow as a muddy delta. She has already mastered the art of answering with generalities and not getting anywhere near the meat of the question.

She is a super meet n' greeter, happy to see the troops who show up to support her every word and hassle the people who want some answers. Does accessibility mean throwing a town hall meeting where your supporters like to openly intimidate the rest of the people?. If she had a bit of backbone she would caution those supporters to remember their manners. Where is the civility at Buerkle's town halls? She does little or nothing to encourage meaningful discourse, though she professes to want dialogue.

Responsibility? She has voted against decades of progress along party lines in DC. She has consistently voted to hurt schools. She doesn't ever mention that there are more poor people in this nation than there ever were before, and especially more poor children., She is responsible to the likes of Randall Terry, Sarah Palin, John Boehner, the Koch brothers, Paul Singer, Susan B. Anthony List, Lila Rose, and a huge cast of other ideologues and rich people. 

Independence? Batting .970 is anything but. Ann Marie Buerkle has no more spine than a jelly fish. 

Here is that letter to the Editor:

syr.com

Letter to the Editor:

December 14, 2010

To the Editor:

When I began my run for New York’s 25th Congressional District seat, I knew the race would demand more of me than any single endeavor I had yet pursued, but I also knew the effort was worth it to have the honor of representing the great people of this district.

The campaign was just the beginning of what I hope will be a successful and rewarding relationship with my constituents — those who voted for me, against me and didn’t vote. As your congresswoman-elect, I recognize my most important job is to represent the needs and best interests of the 25th District. I can only do so by building a strong, cooperative relationship with you.

I am grateful to all of my supporters for their hard work and enthusiasm. Thank you to all who voted for me. Thank you, all who voted, regardless for whom you voted. You may have disagreed with some of my positions, but your role as a voter is essential to maintaining a free society.

However, your civic responsibility doesn’t end in the voting box. Please come to the town hall meetings I will hold often throughout the district. Visit my congressional offices. Write me about what you want to see accomplished in Congress.

Thank you to the Congressman Dan Maffei for a strongly fought election and a gracious concession. Thank you to the Board of Elections commissioners and workers for their complete professionalism.

During the campaign I had an ongoing conversation with voters about the kind of representative I would be — accountable, accessible, responsible and independent. I am grateful and humbled by the trust placed in me by the voters, and will not take my role lightly.

Ann Marie Buerkle 

Member of Congress-elect
Onondaga Hill

The Ann Marie Buerkle FAQ Answer Sheet

Can't get to a town hall meeting? Haven't been able to get in to see your Representative in person? 

Finally there is a time-saving aid for Ann Marie Buerkle's constitutients who have missed hearing her speak in person and want to know what she thinks about important issues.

Here, at last and in one place, is the Ann Marie Buerkle FAQ Answer Sheet. You can now easily locate common answers to all the tough questions. Become familiar with words and phrases that slip easily off her tongue as she tackles your neighbor's hard questions. Here is everything you need to know about Ann Marie's work in Congress and her approach to the many demanding and complicated problems she is being called upon to solve.

Another idea: use the Ann Marie Buerkle FAQ Answer Sheet as a check list if you go to the town hall meeting this Wednesday. How many of these responses can you collect in a single evening?  Good luck!

• we’re losing the American dream

• I must work hard to find the common ground

• real reforms that lower health costs without growing government

• we need to have a discussion

• the key here is not what I think — it’s what the business owners think

• lower taxes, less government spending, and limited government interference are the building blocks for economic growth

• I’d be happy to look into that and set up a meeting

• this isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue

• we simply must make the tough choices

• put together a roadmap and put all our efforts into achieving these goals

• I'll have my staff look into it

• there’s a legitimate role of government in some places

• I am planning to be around often to listen

• I am looking forward to being back in the district and having the opportunity to listen to my constituents

• we don't have a taxing problem; we have a spending problem

• look at what obstacles the government puts in place for businesses to succeed

• put your faith in the magic of the marketplace

• create certainty and not regulate businesses to death

• we need to find common ground 

• overspending and bloatedness 

• why do we want to punish the rich? They work hard for their money

• the time is upon us where we’ve got to let the market take hold in so many things

• the middle class is not being hurt by the wealthy; they are being hurt by the federal government

• the government has to create an environment where businesses are not regulated and taxed to death

• we have to get this government under control

• I will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind as we move forward

• my position is to find a balance, to protect the environment while not impeding businesses in their success

• job creation and getting the economy on track is the priority of this Congress 

• we need to stop spending money that we don't have in this country

• a victory for big government; an affront to our Constitution

• we’ve got to have a system where we talk about tort reform

• right out of the gate

• I need to thoroughly review the budget

• we need to create certainty for businesses so they can plan

• you just wish there was an easier way to do it

Don't Worry, Be Happy

In Cato at the Town Hall Meeting last month, Ann Marie Buerkle dismissed a couple of serious concerns and the audience never got to ask followup questions.

• Asked about hydrofracking, Buerkle extolled the virtues of natural gas, like how it will solve all our energy problems forever. She explained with great authority that "someone" at ESF,  SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, said that hydrofracking was safe and, anyway, the gas is too deep to be reached economically up here in Central New York. If development goes forward in NY, it will be where the gas is close to the surface down by Elmira and Corning. 

            So long, Elmira and Corning.

• Asked to explain vouchers in Medicare reform, she told us that it wasn't a voucher system. A couple minutes later she called it a voucher system but  said that no one over 55, which was a large percentage of the audience that evening, would not see any change in their Medicare and so not to worry. 

            So long, under-55s.

Buerkle's assumption that everyone in the audience is happy to be self-serving doesn't, fortunately, apply to everyone. Virtually half of the voters back in November, the people who didn't vote for her, are concerned about issues that affect more than just themselves and their own back yards.

Questions for Ann Marie Buerkle at Her Next Town Hall Meeting: Wednesday, May 18 at Pompey Town Hall

Hey, join in the fun and ask Ann Marie questions this coming Wednesday, May 18, 6:00 PM in Pompey!

PLEASE NOTE: The village of Pompey is on Route 20, 6 miles south of the village of Manlius. "Manlius" in the announcement sent out by Buerkle's office is the mailing address for the Pompey Town Hall.

Town Hall Meeting
Start:         May 18, 2011 6:00 pm
End:          May 18, 2011 7:00 pm
Location:   Pompey Town Hall: 8354 U.S. Route 20, Manlius, NY 13104

Here are some questions Blueskygirl is sure Ann Marie will welcome at her town hall as she continues her quest for common ground. She is a strong proponent of finding areas of agreement, and of listening to ALL of her constituents, and so it seems important to let her know just how far toward the center she will have to move if she is truly seeking common ground.

Beneath this list of questions for Ann Marie Buerkle at her next town hall meeting is a list of questions that Blueskygirl originally posted on March 18, 2011. Some of the older questions have become somewhat irrelevant or outdated, at least for now.

Since then, Blueskygirl has continued to build the list.

Now, the current questions, please:

• What do you know about the loss of $1,000,000 for Syracuse in the Community Block Grant program that the House Republicans cut from the budget this year? 

• Who is your choice at this time for Republican candidate for president? and why?

• Do you intend to collect your monthly Social Security when you retire?

• What is your current connection (today) with Operation Rescue?

• Do you like the health insurance our government provides for you during your time in Congress?

• What do you think is the cause of the massive retreat of glaciers all over the world?

• Unions? yea or nay? Did you ever belong to a union?

• Were African Americans active in your campaign? What are you initiating to bring people of color into your tent? Why do you think there are few (or no) African Americans here at this town hall meeting?

• Where do you stand on gun control?

• What is your postion on nuclear power?

• What is your position on hydrofracking? Why do you think the City of Syracuse and the City of New York water authorities successfully insisted that their drinking watersheds be permanently excluded as possible hydrofracking sites?

• Do you know who Paul Singer is? Elliott Associates? Elliott Management?

• What is the Frederick Douglas Foundation?

• Do you like to listen to Public Radio?

• Can you please say a few words about the importance of the separation of church and state, an important judicial and constitutional concept?

• Why don't you just resign, since you are not doing any good for the district?

from Blueskygirl's March 18 post: 


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?