New NY 23rd

This article was submitted by a Southern Tier Patriot .

I write this to you as a former Republican who believes that the politics of our communities are more about involvement than division. What we need in Congress now is someone who will represent us in Congress, stand up for all of our communities. We don’t need someone that tries to divide us by saying that we are left and right. Or that somehow our concerns as constituents are only worthy to our geographic location and their election. The idea that somehow someone can play politics with our tax dollars is what is wrong with this equation.

Let me also say this. Someone who condemns us to an existence of poverty in the name of special interests does not represent us, and has no business in Congress other than the business of special interests.

While Congress debates on whether working people are worthy of tax increases in the name of distributing our wealth to those who pay for access instead of voting. It is our civic duty to stay involved, because the idea that somehow out of state donors and those who pay can control the process over those represented is unamerican.

Rigging the Market in the name of monopolies like this tax bill will do is going to bring about another era of robber barons and company towns. An era our predecessors fought so hard to defeat because you are not empowering individuals by saying that the market is free yet rigging it for the largest contributors. It is not a free market when you have elected representatives putting into law that Corporation A gets a check from the government while businesses on places like Corning’s Market Street hurt or Elmira’s Water Street hurt is not standing up for our communities. This has nothing to do with the free market and everything to do with crony capitalism, and its not Republican or Democrat to oppose that in the name of a market that is competitive it is American.

My family fled communism and the idea that somehow demanding that the government doesn’t rig the market is somehow a left idea is just rhetoric topped on politics. This is going to hurt the Southern Tier, Appalachia, our State and rural communities across this state. No one special interest has a right to buy our elected officials, thats not our Southern Tier, or our America. This is not a Republican-Democrat fight.

This article was written and submitter by Cath Kestler, activist and resident of Silver Creek, NY (#ReedsLastTerm)

“A great victory for the American people. We are finally on the path to fixing our broke and broken health care system.  The AHCA upholds protections for pre-existing conditions and the expansion of Medicaid, which help our most vulnerable populations.  The bill will also provide much needed tax relief for New Yorkers who are unfairly forced to foot the bill for Medicaid.  We care about giving people the freedom and flexibility to make their own health decisions…” –Rep. Tom Reed

The above statement is the memorized version of what Reed wants and hopes you believe—lock, stock and barrel.  But the bottom line is the AHCA will again benefit Reed whereas the ACA hit him in his wallet.

I hope most of you know Tom Reed, the lawyer was and still is benefitting from R & R Recovery, a medical debt collection agency where he would buy up medical debt at pennies on the dollar and in-turn sue the patient or the survivor(s) of those who couldn’t afford health insurance.  His actions could garnish your wages or Social Security checks, seize your tax returns, and yes even cause you to file bankruptcy, which the latter would allow him to have inside information on whether you owned property with minerals rights and we all know how he was snapping those up with greed over the chance to frack New York—but I digress.

Professor Ken Thomas, a political economist had wrote that medical bills were one of the main reasons, if not THE biggest reason for a person to file for personal bankruptcy, in Consumer Reports.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) played a considerable role in the marked decline of people filing for personal bankruptcies which hit a substantial high of 1.5 million cases in 2010 alone.

In 2006, the US had a rate (6000 per million population) which was twice of Canada’s (3000 per million population), which in turn far outstripped #3 Germany (1200 per million population).  The US and Canada rates have long been the highest because they had the most debtor-friendly bankruptcy systems, so debtors, like Reed, took advantage of it when they could.

Back in 1982 we (Canada and the US) had similar rates, but after US rates increased substantially more rapid than Canada.  At this time US health care costs rose exponentially outranking other OECD countries—evidence medical bills were contributing to our higher rates of bankruptcy.

We can thank the ACA for the rapid decline in personal bankruptcy rates in the US due to the consumer protections built into the ACA.  Those protections included a ban on yearly/lifetime limits, guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions and allowing adult children to stay on their parents’ policy until the age of 26.

With the possibility of “Trumpcare” passage could reverse many of the protections with the conclusions being obvious that personal bankruptcies will rise again.  This bill was rushed through the House in March and it was withdrawn at the last minute because it didn’t have the support it needed to pass; not to mention it didn’t have a CBO score (which would determine the outcome financially for the population) and it was brought up again last week and passed the House.  Now it is up to the Senate to come up with their version and the committee is made up only of men, absolutely no representation or voice for women.

Take a look at the name of the bill and it shows you who exactly the Republican Congress is protecting—it surely isn’t the people who they work for it the big donors and in Reed’s case, his business, which is still being run by the family.  Can you say ‘conflict of interest’???

With Reed’s vote, it doesn’t represent what his press release stated.  Reed and his co-horts voted to:

• Cut 76,000 from Medicaid in the NY-23rd.
• Cut $11 million from Medicaid funds to NY-23rd Counties.
• Allows insurance companies to charge seniors up to five times more than 18 year olds for the same insurance.
• Allows insurance companies to sell policies without outpatient care, hospitalization, maternity/newborn care, mental health services (but these patients can more easily access guns and ammunition), addiction treatments, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services/devices, lab services, wellness services, chronic disease treatments and pediatric services.
• Encourage patients to the use Emergency Rooms instead of going to seek treatment from your Primary Care Physician.
• Exempt Congress and their staff from having to use AHCA health care.
• To give people making over $200,000 (or a couple $250,000) per year a huge tax cut.

If “Trumpcare” is such a fantastic program, why did Congress exempt them from having to have these restrictions?

This bill was voted on by Reed because the ACA cut into his money-making abilities under his medical debt recovery business.  In 2010, there were 1,536,799 bankruptcies per year because of medical debt and with the implementation of the ACA personal bankruptcies per year fell to 770,846, which is a huge decline—the repeal of the ACA will see the filings of bankruptcies rise and Reed’s family will be rolling larger at the cost to his constituents losing their health care.

H.R.4155

Sexual harassment in the workplace is unacceptable. I’m proud to support this legislation tomorrow.–Tom Reed

The legislation requires members of Congress and staff to complete mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training during each session of Congress.

Reed said he believes there has been a shift in the culture when it comes to sexual harassment. He said he wants to stand “on the side of victims” and wants to make sure “their voices are heard.”–reported by Katrina Fuller, Post-Journal

But what Tom Reed didn’t say:

• He didn’t say those with complaints should be protected from retaliation.
• He didn’t say the Treasury shouldn’t pay for settlements.
• He didn’t say he opposed non-disclosure agreements.
• He didn’t say ethics complaints should be made public.

H.R.4155 (CRS Summary): “Congressional Sexual Harassment Training Act”

This bill amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require each employing office under the Act to ensure that its covered employees enroll in the Office of Compliance’s program of education that informs employees of the rights provided under the Act against sexual harassment: (1) within 60 days after first becoming an employee; (2) for existing employees, within 90 days after enactment of this bill; and (3) every two years.

Reed joins the choir with too little too late.

One thing is clear–members of Congress sleeping in their offices is wrong.

http://www.post-journal.com/news/local-news/2017/11/reed-backs-harassment-training-for-lawmakers/

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4155

1. Lowers tax rate for all Americans.
2. Doubles the child tax credit.
3. Delivers greater simplicity and fairness.
4. Helps grow paychecks.
5. Protects American workers and stops jobs moving overseas.
6. Keeps tax benefits Americans count on.
7. Encourages and rewards charitable giving.
8. Helps small businesses get ahead.
9. Creates more job opportunities.
10. Nearly doubles the standard deduction.

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/counting-new-year-new-tax-code/

This entry was posted in Taxes. Bookmark the permalink.

Tom Reed seldom explains his votes. On Tuesday, June 14, the House considered H.R. 5053, Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act. Under current law, the IRS requires certain tax exempt organizations to file a form which details all donors who have contributed over $5,000 in one year. The information is kept on file by the IRS, but not released publicly for certain organizations. H.R. 5053 reverses that policy, prohibiting the IRS from collecting any of this information. This could make it easier for interested parties to direct funds to political campaigns without any disclosure. Some tax exempt organizations, such as 501(c)(4) entities are not prohibited from participating in political activities. This legislation also raises the possibility that foreign interests could finance political efforts covertly since the only real deterrent for that is the oversight from the IRS. If no disclosure is required, there is nothing standing in the way of an increase in secret and potentially illegal political spending. H.R. 5053 passed on a party line vote. Voting with his party, Rep. Reed, as one might expect, voted AYE.

The GOP, irresponsibly, often campaigns against the IRS as if taxes were unnecessary. Tom Reed, with a poor record of paying his taxes on time, joins with his fellows. This isn’t the first time that Reed has voted for bills hindering the IRS from performing its duties.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll303.xml

We should view the crises in Greece and Puerto Rico as canaries in the coal mine. Countries around the world are over promising and financing obligations with borrowing. You can’t live on credit forever. People are beginning to question why their leaders didn’t prevent these problems.–Rep. Tom Reed, July 7, 2015

On Puerto Rico, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) writes:

Last week I traveled to Puerto Rico with other members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to assess firsthand the efforts underway to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Maria. I was hoping to get a clear sense of just how much more work remains to fully restore services to Puerto Rico’s residents.

We met Friday with volunteers from the Massachusetts State Police, who have been assisting recovery efforts in a number of ways. Officers are responding to 911 calls, helping with traffic management and filling in as needed so local officers can focus on helping their own families recover from the hurricane.

We toured Hospital del Nino, a pediatric hospital where 34 patients are currently receiving treatment in its extended care facility. The hospital also offers rehabilitation services for children and is Puerto Rico’s only long-term care facility providing services to low income families.

Our time in Puerto Rico included a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the Joint Field Office (JFO) which is where FEMA and all other agencies coordinate relief efforts. We talked at length with FEMA officials about the ongoing energy and public health needs on the island as well as issues involving security.

As part of the FEMA briefing, we used helicopters for an aerial assessment of Puerto Rico, particularly the areas still in need of attention. We witnessed some significant storm damage along the coast as well as inland, including damaged power lines and communities still devastated by storm debris.

At the Concilio de Salud Integral de Loíza, a community health center near San Juan, we learned more about what officials need to more fully serve the medical needs of island residents. This includes longer term care as well as health needs resulting directly from the hurricane.

We concluded our trip with a stop at what was the largest shelter on the island. In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, over 350 people were housed at this shelter. There are still about 80 people living in the shelter.

While progress has been made toward Puerto Rico’s recovery, there is so much more that our fellow citizens still need.  I am working with my colleagues to increase the level of federal assistance provided to Puerto Rico.

To my knowledge, Rep. Tom Reed has never mentioned the disaster in Puerto Rico–que diferencia!

This entry was posted in Reed’s Views and tagged Puerto Rico, Rep. Capuano. Bookmark the permalink.

Congressman Tom Reed today voted in favor of H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, which prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas under the Clean Air Act. –April 7, 2011

Citing the 41,662 pages added to the Federal Register thus far in 2012, Congressman Tom Reed today voted in favor of the Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act. The Act, a package of seven bills,  puts a moratorium on new regulations which cost the economy $50 million or more. “The costs of compliance with all these regulations lead to higher consumer prices and reduced hiring,” Reed observed.–July, 2012

Regulations are the problem per President Trump. Excessive, illegal, unnecessary regulations stand in the way of economic growth, he says.

I wonder if this can be true. Is it reasonable to attack regulations in general without looking at the problem addressed? I think not.

For many years I was employed as a machine tool engineer. Machines manufactured in the 1960s were clearly less safe than those manufactured today. They lacked adequate guards, they filled the factory air with fumes, designers focused on function using available technology and not so much on safety. Many times, after an accident, the machine manufacturer was sued.

At first manufacturers made cosmetic improvements. Machines were covered with warnings–“danger, keep your fingers away from here.” When an accident occurred, engineers like me looked after the fact to see how similar incident could be prevented.

Today there are elaborate standards for machine safety. There are procedures and checklists for evaluating hazards, safety features must be shown to be adequate, safety features must be fail-safe. Sometimes safety features are inconvenient, but the inconvenience is necessary for safety.

Do we want to return to 1960 as President Trump suggests? There would be a human cost–lost limbs, loss of vision, death. Would it spur the economy if manufacturers could once again ignore safety? I don’t see how.

Would we return to automobiles without seat belts, to working without safety glasses or ear protection, to unregulated hospitals and drug manufacturers, to burning coal, to lead paint, to energy inefficient light bulbs, to freon in the atmosphere? Hopefully not.

https://reed.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=322

https://reed.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=347

Tom Reed opposes regulations in general, favors limits on airline crew hours, but proposed to remove restrictions on the hours truck drivers can spend behind the wheel.

This entry was posted in Reed’s Views, Trump and tagged machines, Regulations, safety. Bookmark the permalink.

This year’s Primary Elections have uniquely aroused political passions from all over the electorate spectrum. The political story of the year is how Donald Trump came from nowhere to get crowds to his rallies and the voters to the polls. By listening to the hoopla the so-called newscasters express, you would think that he will be anointed President.

It is true that Republicans have set a record of the number of voters in their primaries.  Through the May 10 primaries, the GOP had 26.1 million primary voters. Their previous record was in 2008 with 20.8 million. The Democrats had 22.2 million. Their highest primary turnout was also in 2008 with 36.8 million voters.

But, as the University of Virginia Center for Politics’s Sabato’s Crystal Ball points out that since 1972, the party with the higher primary turnout won the presidency only  four of the eleven elections (36%). The Democrats accomplished that in  1976, 1992, 2008; Republicans in 2000.

Real Clear Politics has the results for each of this year’s primary popular votes by party–Republicans and Democrats.

• Through the May 10 Primaries, Hillary received 1.6 million more votes than Trump,  received 12.5 million to 10.9 million. Bernie had 9.4 million votes.
• Of the 35 states that had primaries for both parties, Hillary received more votes that Trump in 21 states. He had more that her in the other 14 states.
• Bernie had more votes that Trump in 16 states, and Trump had more tan Bernie in 19 states.
• Both Hillary and Bernie each had more votes that Trump in 12 primary states.
• As of May 10, Trump received 41.7% of the republican votes (10.9/26.1) and Hillary received 56.3% of the democratic vote (12.5/22.2).

Yes, you can make the argument that there are more Democrats than Republicans primary voters and that Trump had more opponents. You would be correct–but in the real world of the Electoral College getting one vote more than your opponent earns you that state’s electoral vote.

Trump’s boasting that he has brought out “millions and millions’ of new voters who will help him turn traditional blue states red in the General Election is unfounded.    Politico, looking at data from state’s that have released voting data has found that new caucus goers have traditionally voted in November. Two examples:

• In Iowa 95% of the caucus voters has voted at least once in the last four presidential elections–80% in at least three of the last four.
• In Florida, a battleground state, 6% (142,000) of their primary voters  did not vote in 2012 or 2014 General Election. That may sound like a lot until you realize that Florida has added more than a million voters since the 2012 election.
• The article also pointed out that Trump’s rhetoric has alienated many groups (young people, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and African-Americans), and they will vote against him.

The data gives us a fuzzy picture of this year’s primaries. In our democracy, each state creates their election procedures–the rules that they will follow to elect the President. New York  had closed elections–only Democrats decide who they want to nominate to be President, or, only Republicans will be able to decide who will represent them on the ballot. Voters can not change their party within six months before the general election.  Other states, like Virginia for example, will let voters  decide which ballot, Republican or Democratic, you will use right before you vote. We will never know how many Republicans voted for Bernie because they don’t want to run against Hillary in November.

In New York State barely a third (34.1%) of the registered voters bothered to vote in the primary. The NY 23rd had a sightly higher turnout rate (38%). Both parties are working to get their battle plans drawn and their supporters ready motivate like thinkers to exercise their power to chose their leaders. The real race will begin soon. Hold on.

Rep. Tom Reed was part of WXXI (Public Radio from Rochester) “Connections with Evan Dawson” on Tuesday, November 14 “Discussing GOPs New Tax Plan” program. With him were Michael Kink, Executive Director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition and Dr. Amit Batabyal, Professor of Economics at Rochester Institute of Technology. Since he was in Washington DC, Reed was interview first and did not interact with either of the other guests. After Reed’s portion of the program, Kink and Batabyal responded to Reed’s comments and answered listeners’ calls and emails.

Reed’s comments told us:

• he feels that the groups who published negative analysis of the GOP Tax Plan are  groups which manipulated of the data to push their political agenda
• those who present the Plan as a way that increase funds for the super rich are practicing Political Theatre
• a typical family in our district earns $40,000 and will pay $1,600 less in taxes when the GOP plan takes effect
• he is not fighting this fight for the 1%, but for the hard-working tax payer
• he defined the middle class in the NY23rd as families with incomes from 65K to 200K, who are struggling Americans who live from paycheck to paycheck
• he is concern about raising the national debt by $1.5 trillion in  10 years BUT feels that it can be reduced by a growing economy and spending cuts, even though history shows different results
• he notes that if people do not believe that cutting taxes leads to a growing economy, then they should be against Governor Cuomo’s Start Up  NY Program (giving tax breaks for new NY businesses)
• he claims that the Regean 1986 tax reform created long-term growth, but denies it increased the deficient and national debt
• spending cuts: we need to get Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security under control
• he believes the President will sign a GOP Tax Plan bill into law this year. (he said the same thing for the 3 failed GOP health care bills)

Reed used the terms : Polictical Theater and hard working tax payers often in this interview. He refused to comment about President Trump’s taxes. He also  remind us that his mother raised 12 kids on a single income and she would greatly benefit with an extra $1,600 a year.

After Rep.Reed left the interview, Kink and Batabyal took turns explaining where his logic was faulty, including:

• if Congressman Reed (and the GOP) really wanted to past a tax policy that helped the small businesses they could cap the benefits to the billionaires.
• Middle Class will get some benefit but doing away with  Estate Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax  will only affect a minuscule number of people.
• Reducing the  Corporate Tax Rate from 35% to 20% produces Red Flags–Most Corporation actually Tax Rate is lower than 20%.
• Most Americans believe that the Wealthy should pay their fair share. If you make more money you should pay a little bit more. We should be closing loop-holes instead of opening up new ones. See Patriotic Millionaires. 
• The Plan blows a hugh hole in the deficit. There are better ways to spend $1.5 trillion to create jobs.
• This plan includes new incentives to outsource businesses with the way it treats taxing foreign profit.
• We should be working on plans to help everyone, instead of the Political Donors.
• GOP loves to shout loudly about the deficit when the Democrats are in the White House. They are quiet about it when they are in charge
• cutting taxes does not create more jobs
• if you are going to give tax breaks, give them to people who will spend it quickly, getting it back into the market place

Phone and emails comments brought up included the following ideas:

• colleges will have to pay taxes on gradulate students’ stiphens (tuition breaks) that they give to students to entice them to bein certain graduate programs, or if their parent works at the college
• What is the goal of the tax reform? Once that is known and agreed on, then Congress should work on reaching that goal (Who should pay and how much they should pay?)
• a listener called to promote a Flat Tax, where everyone pays the same rate. The response–the Hedge Fund Manager who owns millions of shares of McDonalds should pay a higher rate than the worker flipping burgers. If you make more, you should pay more. That will fund the infrasture (for example: education, a power grid, highways, clean environment, a legal structure, ) that the industries use to make their profits. Those who benefit from the economy should pay a litle bit more.

Follow this link to listen to the program. Remember Rep. Reed is on for the first 13 minutes.

Read about Rep. Chris Collins in the article “Top GOP congressman: My donors told me to pass the Republican tax bill or ‘don’t ever call me again’ “

• Doomsday clock closer to midnight.
• Looming Constitutional crisis–President suspected of obstructing justice, said to have fits of rage.
• Congress dysfunctional.
• President attacking our free press.
• Unconcern over climate change.
• Unnecessary deficit spending.
• Frequent instance of mass murder in churches, schools, and other public places.
• Threat of trade wars.
• Threatened attacks on Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.
• Public Education under attack.
• Danger of economic collapse, environmental pollution discounted.
• Reckless repeal of regulations.
• Deteriorating infrastructure.
• Politically motivated nomination of judges with some rated “unqualified.”
• Universal health care under relentless attack.
• Economic disparity accelerating with tax cuts for the rich.
• Heartless and unnecessary attacks on immigrants.
• Nativism rampant with attacks on racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.
• Foreign interference with elections.
• Unrestricted money in politics; Koch to spend $400 million to influence elections.

This entry was posted in Campaign Finances, Congress, Economics, Education, Environmental, Gun Violence, Health Care, Immigration, Political, President, Racism, Trump. Bookmark the permalink.