New NY 23rd

• His relations with foreign leaders are suspect.
• He fails to recognize that the Constitution limits his powers, but attacks Congress, judges, and courts.
• His understanding of issues is sketchy, based on news reports rather than study or expert advice.
• He cites “alternative facts,” some reflecting Russian propaganda.
• He is out of step with past administrations, Democratic and Republican, on many issues–free trade, climate change, foreign relations.
• His administration is rife with corruption.
• He encourages divisiveness, racism, intolerance.

• He enjoys the support of a significant fraction of us.
• He threatens war and makes nice erratically.
• He nominates judges, some to lifetime positions.
• His administration fails to fill many important offices with little notice.
• He appoints senior officials, often cronies and family members, with the consent, if not the advice, of Congress.
• He has provoked the longest shutdown in history.
• He has imposed tariffs on foreign goods disrupting the world economy.
• He has used the military in questionable ways.
• He quarrels with allies and makes nice with dictators.

This entry was posted in Constitution, Trump. Bookmark the permalink.

Press Release

March 9, 2022 

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today released the following statement in response to the passage of an omnibus government funding bill for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). Tenney voted for the defense and security portions of the omnibus, which received bipartisan support and includes critical funding for Rome Lab. She opposed the non-security portion of the bill because it failed to deliver relief to seniors on fixed incomes, address the ongoing energy crisis, or reduce wasteful spending.

The non-security portion of the bill also received bipartisan support. Rep. Reed, whom Rep. Tenney seeks to succeed in office, voted for both parts.

First, Tenney claims:

Unfortunately, the non-security portion of the omnibus package failed to address the severe crises facing our country, while wastefully increasing spending in many areas at a time when inflation is already at record levels. The bill does not defund President Biden’s vaccine mandates and does nothing to jumpstart American energy production, despite the unprecedented energy catastrophe we now face. Further, the bill includes a 21% increase in budgets for congressional offices, while not providing any relief for seniors and those on fixed incomes, who are suffering due to Biden’s inflationary policies.

From a different perspective, Tenney writes:

While I could not support this (non-defense) portion of the bill, I am pleased that the bill includes several Community Funding Projects I advocated for to benefit our local communities. This includes a water systems improvement project in Frankfort, a broadband expansion project in Sherburne, among several others. I vetted these programs thoroughly and worked with all recipients to make sure the funding requests were targeted and responsible. I am extremely disappointed these important priorities were tied to a partisan spending package that overall is irresponsible and reckless.

These programs said to benefit Tenney’s district would not likely have passed had they not been included in the Omnibus package.

Why non-defense spending is partisan and reckless while defense spending isn’t, Rep. Tenney doesn’t say.

https://tenney.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-tenneys-statement-passage-government-funding-bill-fiscal-year

The House Ways and Means Committee, which includes Rep. Tom Reed, voted to approve the American Health Care Act,  before the costs of the proposed ACA replacement has been determined.

Reed, who has constantly complained about the national debt, the deficit, and the debt ceiling, has conveniently had a change of heart when it comes to a bill that would affect hundreds of millions American citizens’ health care and add to the deficit.  It is not a coincidence that the committee whose job is fiscal oversight was one of the first two committees to review the proposed bill. It approved the AHCA by a party line vote.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan would like to have the AHCA rushed through the House by their April 7 recess. They will be “working in their district” from April 7 to April 25. If they have not approved the AHCA by then, the constituents will have many opportunities to let their representatives know their feelings.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office still has to review the AHCA and will estimate the cost in real dollars and how it affects real Americans. Business Insider reports “Because of the last-minute changes, however, House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a press conference on Wednesday that he did not expect the CBO score until sometime early next week.”  Thursday, March 16 seems to be a good guestimant of when we will learn of their study.

The GOP has already dismissed the numbers that the CBO will come up with, citing their track record when the scored the ACA. If fact their estimates were lower than what actually happened, which the GOP are hoping will happen to the AHCA.

Although Reed’s constituents have many concerns, saving the ACA has been the cornerstone issue at the rallies at Rep. Reed’s offices and Town Hall meetings. Knowing that he has approved of it without knowing, or caring, about the cost is not going to be forgotten.

This entry was posted in Health Care, pro-life/pro-choice and tagged ACA, AHCA, CBO, Cost of AHCA. Bookmark the permalink.

Reports are due May 15 of the following year. The House has 30 days more to post them. It isn’t clear why they wait till the last minute. It appears that Tom Reed reported the same figures in 2018 for 2017 as he reported in 2017 for 2016 with the addition of a new family business: Twin Tiers Medical Billing.

~~~~~~~

Assets:

Tom Reed writes his constituents:

As you likely know, my opponent John Plumb worked for the Obama administration and is calling in every favor to help win this election. Plumb’s campaign is being flooded with out of state money being sent by Obama and his allies.

Here are the facts:

Tom Reed

http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do?candidateCommitteeId=H0NY29054&tabIndex=1

John Plumb

http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do?candidateCommitteeId=H6NY23518&tabIndex=1

I see no evidence supporting Reed’s claim that Plumb’s campaign is being flooded with out of state money being sent by Obama and his allies. I wonder how many believe it?

Tom Reed reportedly is getting less than one fourth of his funding from within his district. He has no basis for complaint about his opponent John Plumb.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00030949

This entry was posted in 2016 and tagged Campaign Finance, John Plumb, Tom Reed. Bookmark the permalink.

Just tell the truth.–Chris Cuomo Truth will out.–Shakespeare President Trump, referring to truth, reportedly said: “It doesn’t matter, we won.” Trump explored this fact with his birther campaign. Repeated claims that Barack Obama wasn’t born a citizen took their toll. … Continue reading

Posted in 2018, Trump Tagged Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Saudi Arabia, Truth

This letter was written by Lee Marcus from Arkport. You can read more of Lee’s writing at “Lee Marcus, writer and activist” Facebook page. Dear Hillary, For just over six months our country has suffered the humiliation of Donald Trump … Continue reading

Posted in 2016, Uncategorized Tagged 2016 Election, Hillary Clinton

Carolyn Thompson, in an article written for the Associated Press, advises on how to spot fake news. Here are her suggestions: Consider where it was first published? Is there a source? Is the source reliable? Has it been “fact checked?” … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Political, President Tagged fake news, fake websites, Hillary Clinton, Obama, Trump

If Donald Trump attacks Hillary Clinton for enabling Bill Clinton’s sexual escapades, how should she answer him?

Posted in 2016 Tagged Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton

Trump claims 88 endorsements, Clinton 95 and counting.. Candidate Endorsements Reference Donald Trump 88 CNN 9/06/2016 Hillary Clinton 95 The Hill 9/07/16 Mitt Romney 500 The Atlantic 9/06/12 John McCain 300 CNN 9/06/2016 Barack Obama  ? Several important ones per … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Political, President Tagged Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, ISIS, Military endorsements

Word Salad–a confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases, specifically (in psychiatry) as a form of speech indicative of advanced schizophrenia. Tom Reed is noted for word salads–incoherent jumbles of words and phrases. Newt Gingrich’s pronouncements are … Continue reading

Posted in 2016, Reed’s Views Tagged Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich

Until 1980, during any Presidential election for which reliable data exist and in which there had been a gender gap, the gap had run one way: more women than men voted for the Republican candidate. That changed when Reagan became … Continue reading

Posted in 2016 Tagged Carrie Catt, Democratic Party, Feminism, Hillary Clinton, Jill Lepore, League of Women Voters, Phyllis Schlafly, Republican party, Trump, women

Dear Secretary Clinton, I am a long-time admirer and proud to say so. Without giving away too much personal information, let’s just say that I know a lot about bullying, and I know you know what that means. Only an … Continue reading

Posted in 2016, President Tagged Bullys, Fracking, Gas Free Seneca, Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton, We Are Seneca Lake

Democrats are lucky to have a choice of two excellent candidates. Here are some reasons that many might prefer Hillary to Bernie. She has administrative experience as Secy. of State. She has been thoroughly vetted–it is unlikely that anything new … Continue reading

Posted in 2016 Tagged Bernie Sanders, Gender, Hillary Clinton

Second of two in a series about the NYS Federal Primaries for President, to be held on Tuesday, April 19 (Noon to 9 PM). The article about the Republican Primary was posted on March 28. The Process: New York Democrats … Continue reading

Posted in 2016, Data, NYS Government Tagged Bernie Sanders, Delegate allotted formula, Hillary Clinton, New York Debate, NYS Primary, Super Delegates

Here are some things I would like:

• Responsible persons elected to Congress.
• Effective action to combat climate change.
• Effective measures to reduce firearm violence.
• Effective action to reduce poverty in America.
• Responsible immigration reform.
• Less militarism.
• Affordable higher education.
• Fewer homeless.
• Justice for veterans.
• Fewer instances of intolerance and prejudice.
• Less special interest money and corruption in politics.
• GOP to nominate a responsible candidate for President.

What did I miss?

Tom Reed has been my representative since November, 2010 when much of the NY23rd was the NY29th. One thing that Rep. Reed brags about is the number of Town Hall meetings  he has held. Usually once a month he dedicates a Saturday to visits three locations around the district; he calls them his chance to listen to his constituents.

Sometimes people video records all or parts of these meetings. I recently received an email that points out that Rep. Reed will:

 “likely to make countless statements that ignore his previous comments regarding advocacy against sexual assault, the importance of cutting the deficit rather than spending, etc. It would be great to have as many videos of him as possible. If several people could look back and find examples of what will likely end up being hypocritical statements, it would provide a solid based from which we could question and challenge him in the months ahead.” 

I have recorded  a few of his meetings. I will go through my collection to find statements that contradict his current thinking.

One meeting that comes to mind was the 2013 Dryden Town Hall meeting. I didn’t record the meeting, but ProgressiveTVvideo did and it can be found on Youtube. BoldProgressive.org reviewed the recording and caught Rep. Reed telling what we now call an “Alternative Fact”. The topic was about hydrofackinrg, and Reed was asked:

 Where did your $126,000 from gas companies come from? Which lobbyists? Which companies besides Chesapeake and the other lobbyists?

Rep. REED: No idea. No idea. We don’t keep track of that. I don’t keep track of that.

Of course that is untrue. By law Rep. Reed needs to keep track of who donates funds to his campaign. In reality every politician knows where his money is coming from.

I like this snippet because in it our congressman said something that at the time didn’t seem too controversial, but it would come back and bite him.  Rep. Reed said that he is a firm believer that the State (NY State, that is) has the right to regulate Hydrofracking. This was more than a full year before Governor Cuomo decided to ban Fracking. You probably remember the brouhaha Reed created when that happened. and proposed a law to over-ride Cuomo’s power to regulate. If you listen to the recording below remember what the question about Fracking was, and see how our Congressman didn’t answer it.

Another note about Town Hall meetings, Rep. Reed’s announces when and where is they are being held by mailing post cards inviting near-by constituents to attend. The cards are received about a week or two before the event. He then gives the rest of us a day or two notice; it is usually posted on his Facebook page.  Please, if you receive a post card telling about a meeting near you, let us know. Help give the constituents who are willing to travel good distances to let Rep. Reed know how they feel on  issues that they feel are important.

In his memoir, Travels with Herodotus, Ryszard Kapuscinski tells the story of a Persian potentate intent on making war with a neighboring tribe. The tribe’s queen predicts that the Persian will get his fill of blood if he persists. As it happens the Persians are defeated, and the Queen, overlooking the dead, brutally makes her threat real.

Rep. Tom Reed’s support for Donald Trump, hoping that he would “disrupt government,” reminded me of this story. Tom doubtless hoped disruption would boost his bill collecting business, cripple medicare, social security, and more generally disrupt the social safety net which he abhors. Tom was right in that Trump’s election did bring disruption, did reduce his taxes, promises to further cripple the social safety net, and much more–responsible government, civil peace, international relations, compassionate immigration law, our military, and efforts to combat climate change are examples. Will Tom someday get his fill of disruption and discord? There is no sign of it yet.

The pension fund was just sitting there.–Gary Trudeau

• Rent office space from yourself. Both Tom Reed and Donald Trump do this.
• Hold campaign events at properties you own as Donald has done.
• Hire a ghostwriter to write a book, then use campaign funds to buy thousands of copies at retail as Donald has done.

Doubtless there are many more ways to put campaign money into your family’s pocket. One is to hire family members as campaign workers. Watch for them in the news.

Who knows? Win or lose Donald may turn a profit on his campaign.

http://realtime.influenceexplorer.com/filings/1057851/SB/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/23/politics/trump-tower-rent/

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-s-campaign-candidate-also-landlord-n636656

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/23/donald-trump-quadrupled-rent-for-own-campaigns-trump-tower-hq-as/

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/24/donald-trump-used-campaign-funds-to-buy-his-own-book-report.html