A video compilation by personman of Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) obsession with China expressed at recent town halls in the 4th Congressional District:
....Representative Hartzler: Shh. All right. China owns twenty-nine percent of our foreign debt. That is a real concern to me. I said I'm on the Armed Services Committee and I've got to sit in a lot of hearings and I can tell you, I don't know what China's doing, but it's concerning. They are building fourteen nuclear submarines right now. We're building one. They have been devoting over twelve percent of their budget to national defense. Uh, they just introduced their version of a stealth aircraft fighter plane recently. And they just unveiled a twelve hundred mile aircraft carrier busting bomb. So, it's a little concerning that they hold this much of our debt. In fact, with the interest that we pay China we would be able to buy three, or they could buy, three joint strike fighters and still have fifty million dollars left over. So, um, there's a lot of reasons I think that we need to get out of debt. But certainly this obligation, um, to China is a concerning one....
....Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons....
....The United States spends $711 billion on military spending each year, representing 48 percent of the total military spending in the world....
....The Middle East and North Africa spend $82 billion on military spending each year. This is 5 percent of the world's military spending. Australasia and East Asia together spend $120 billion on military expenses. This is 8 percent of total world military spending. China spends 8 percent of the world's total military spending with $122 billion spent each year. Europe spends a total of $289 billion on military spend annually. Europe's military spending is 20 percent of the world's military spending....
[emphasis added]
I wonder if she'll describe a bomber gap at the next town hall? Just asking.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
There was a letter to the editor in today's edition of the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal addressing Representative Hartzler's (r) expressed view on government regulation:
Get government off backs of business? Is that good?
I attended Congresswoman's [sic] Vicky Hartzler's town hall meeting in Warrensburg and am concerned about her comments about getting the government off businesses' backs.
She spoke about the Environmental Protection Agency and how it was out of control, that we needed to get rid of all these regulations for businesses to grow. It may be that Congress should start doing its job on oversight of government agencies but I am concerned with this notion that we have too much regulation, that we need to slash whole agencies....
....The EPA was founded to improve human health. It is fun to watch the eagles but the important thing about them is that, if they are healthy, then we humans have a healthy environment to live in as well.
[emphasis in original]
Interestingly enough, the paper had a lead editorial in the same edition on the same subject:
Business regulations beneficial to public
Without environmental regulations, many businesses would not self-regulate - either due to greed or ignorance....
....Businesses know the risks, but coal continues to provide a major source for business profits and for Missouri energy. This is not to suggest coal, for now, remains a needed source of energy, only that regulations have resulted in cleaner-burning coal at places such as Iatan II in Platte County. Such regulations should be strengthened, not weakened, for the sake of public health.
If you only get 50.4% of the vote in a non-presidential year election with relatively low turnout you probably shouldn't act like you won by a three to one margin.
Official Election Returns
State of Missouri General Election - November 2, 2010 General Election
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
As announced by the Board of State Canvassers
on Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) at the Community Center in Warrensburg, Missouri on August 10, 2011.
"...There's two types of jobs bill. One is the kind that Congress passed last year that borrowed more money from China, almost a trillion dollars worth and put it in a stimulus package where the government tried to force job creation. Supposedly we were gonna have less than eight percent unemployment. That didn't work. So there's the government type of job program versus private sector. Private sector is less direct and it takes longer and it involves what we're doing, it is getting Washington out of the way..."
Memory can be so convenient and short. As if dubya's administration and their policies weren't causing the economy to hemorrhage jobs? And the stimulus, while not extensive enough, played no part whatsoever in reversing that? Seriously?:
From the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D).
The final portion of the transcript:
...Question: When, when you have these town meetings do you get back to your leadership and tell them that the people are very dissatisfied, they're fed up, and like that gentleman said, they don't care if they're Republicans, Democrats, they want things done. Would you please make that known to your leadership in the House that the people are tired, they're tired and they're fed up. They want something done [crosstalk] from their elected officials.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): Sure. I will.
Question: [inaudible] answer, just take it to 'em and tell 'em.
Representative Hartzler: Thank you so much. Yes, ma'am...
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
"...you know, the, President Obama walked out of some of the talks. Anyway, yeah..."
Really? There was one meeting where after two hours of republican intransigence President Obama got kind of pissed off and left that particular meeting (the "don't call my bluff" incident) but that's a lot different than walking out on negotiations themselves, you know, cutting off talks. As Blue Girl is fond of saying, "When the president leaves the room the meeting is over..."
Only the republicans cut off the dialogue, once when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (r) did so in the talks with Vice President Biden and twice when Speaker Boehner (r) did so. You don't think Speaker Boehner or Representative Cantor would dispute that, do you?
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) at the Community Center in Warrensburg, Missouri on August 10, 2011.
The third part of the transcript:
...Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): Okay, wrap up your questions.
Question: My question is, my question is this, how are you going to fix the gridlock and how are we going to get things done? Because it doesn't matter what we think, nothing's getting done.
Representative Hartzler: Well, thank you. I appreciate, uh, your comment. First of all, I got my Master's degree in teaching from here at UCM and I taught school for eleven years and, uh, certainly appreciate what you're saying, big supporter of education. Uh, a, the, what you saw we ended up with a, a compromise. I mean, it came, it, it's not a, I mean, it's ugly. I always tell students, they come down, I was a state rep for a while, come down to [voice: "We know."] the capitol and say, there's two things you should never watch being made, that's sausage and law. Because it's ugly. But in the end it usually turns out. And, uh, you know, we didn't have TV cameras back in Thomas Jefferson's day, everything, there's always been in this country and that what makes our country great, partly, is that different ideas that are able to come forward. And so you see that now on TV and out, you know, in on Twitter and Facebook. We have such, such more, uh, focus on it than perhaps in the past. I think we've always had different ideas, but in the end things do, do get done. Um, the thing is with this debt ceiling is that several of us feel so passionate about it, it's like, well, do you come together and compromise on something that is less than what the credit rating agencies have said you need. And then you're worried that credit rating is gonna fall and potentially what happened is gonna happen, the stock market would fall and you guys [crosstalk]...
Voice: It was because of the inability of the Congress [crosstalk] to get along.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) at the Community Center in Warrensburg, Missouri on August 10, 2011.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
...Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): Federal, uh, debt limit, just had a big discussion with that. Fourteen point three trillion dollar debt we have. Uh, here's the history, you see it's gone up and up, you know, for a long time. Uh, Congress put a limit on the amount of borrowing the country could do. And then over the years, obviously the more programs that are, uh, approved, the more it costs then eventually you run up to, you gotta go borrow some more money. So that's what happened just a few weeks ago. And I went to Washington saying that I was not going to support us going further in debt and borrowing more money, uh, raising the debt ceiling unless we could make some permanent real structural changes and reforms and spending cuts that's going to change this trajectory from going up, up, up to turn it around and start going back down so we can get a balanced budget. [applause]
Voice: Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, Section Four says you gotta pay the debt. [crosstalk] You gotta follow the Constitution...
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) at the Community Center in Warrensburg, Missouri on August 10, 2011.
The transcript:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): Hello everyone. Good afternoon. How are you? [applause] Thank you, guys, for coming out. It's a beautiful day. Isn't this beautiful? Ah, I think we all were sick and tired of this hundred degree heat and, uh, it's been fabulous. But I appreciate so much you coming out today and spending a little time, uh, together so that we can get to know each, about each other a little better. Uh, you know, it is such a privilege and an honor to represent you and work for you in Washington, D.C. And I know I've just been there since January and I'm, I'm new and so I haven't had a chance to get to know all of you yet and so, thank you for coming. Uh, this is very important. Obviously it shows that you guys are patriots, you care about your country and you want to see us move forward and be as strong as possible, not only for now, but for future generations. And that's what this is all about, it's keeping America strong and, and even brighter in the future.
Uh, what I would like to do today, uh, in this hour we have, and I wish I had more time, but, is to maybe start off with some information that I put together in a little PowerPoint. Uh, some facts that I've learned since I've been in Washington, uh, these past seven months on the budget and kind of where we're at, where our money goes, some of the discussions we've been having on the debt ceiling, things like that and that'll take about twenty minutes. And then, uh, spend the rest of the time just answering questions hearing your ideas, listening to you, uh, because I believe the best ideas come from you guys, from the heartland. The ideas for our country, the solutions, do not come from Washington, D.C. There's, uh, enough people with ideas been running things for too long and so we need some new ideas. So, I thought maybe we would do that, if that's okay with you [crosstalk].
Representative Hartzler (r): Oh, no. Okay. All right.
Question: The two thousand four amendment to ban same-sex marriage...
Representative Hartzler (r): Oh, I'm so, I can't believe you asked me that. I just... [inaudible] [crosstalk]
Question: Well, it's a a cause, it's a cause of yours.
Representative Hartzler (r): So, so, sorry.
Question: So, that in, in combination with the statement [crosstalk] you made, uh, earlier this month where you said [inaudible] incest and bestiality. How do you think [crosstalk]...?
Third party: Are you, are you taking pictures, video?
Person on camera: Yeah, sure.
Third party: Okay.
Representative Hartzler (r): No, you misunder, that was a mis, a misunderstanding [crosstalk] of the quote.
Question: Okay, well [crosstalk] Okay. Amendment.
Representative Hartzler (r): Certainly on that, so. [crosstalk] That was really taken out of context.
Question: So, how do you think the, the amendment? [inaudible] How do you think that makes people, young people, like me, who are gay feel about ourselves, to come up in to a society that, to us seems like doesn't value us in the same way straight people are valued?
Representative Hartzler (r): We're not, we're not the ones changing the policy. [inaudible] So you shouldn't feel bad at all. In two thousand [crosstalk]...
Question: Why shouldn't I feel bad if there's an amendment, you champion [inaudible crosstalk] an amendment prohibiting me from...
Representative Hartzler (r): [inaudible] Right now it has been the law of the land for a long time that marriage is a [inaudible] commitment between a man and a woman. All we did in two thousand four is just put that in the Constitution. So we're not changing policy at all. And, and anyway, so you shouldn't feel bad, anyway. [crosstalk] It's nice to meet you guys.
Question: So, you don't think I should feel bad at all?
"...I know. I just wondered, are you friendly or are you not?..."
Interesting, not all town halls are going to be like the annual "clap louder" convocations of the Chamber of People's Deputies. On occasion someone's gonna slip in and ask a question.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) in Blue Springs, Missouri, listening to a question from a constituent at a town hall on April 28, 2011.
"....Yeah, good point. Uh, the, as far as federal employees, uh, yeah, it has grown exponentially, the number of federal employees. I think if you're gonna see some real change there, uh, we're gonna have to take a, see some changes in the Senate next year and the White House in order to get that through. But, uh, it, I agree, there's some, there's a lot of areas in federal government that we don't need. They should be, even according to the Constitution there's only a few things that government should be doing. And the rest could be done at the state level , or the local level, or by private industry, or private citizens and, uh, we've got to get back to the original intent of what our founders wanted...."
....There were fewer federal workers in 2009 than in 1990, 1980 and 1970. Now take a closer look at the OPM table. Much of the growth, understandably, occurred in Homeland Security agencies, increasing from 70,000 to 180,000 - a jump of 110,000. Justice Department jobs went from 98,000 to 113,000 -- more than 15,000 new jobs added. (Again, crime and more Homeland Security related.) Jobs at the Veterans Department increased from 220,000 to 297,000 -- that's 77,000 more federal workers. Again, a result of Homeland Security, or rather staffing up to take care of thousands of veterans coming home from two wars. And there's a lot of information technology jobs in there.
So, taking those three areas, the number of new jobs created in the last 10 years, which can be traced back to 9/11, was 202,000. That by itself accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total federal workforce growth from 2000 to 2009, which was 316,000 jobs. Hold those steady since 2002 (or even allow for some growth), and you would have less than 1.9 million workers in 2009, or slightly more. That's about the same number of federal workers in 1962, the year Shlaes chooses as her benchmark to compare the number of government jobs to the number in the private sector (with public sector jobs accounting for an eighth of all jobs). Remember, that was before the Great Society programs geared up, popular programs that needed a slew of federal managers and clerks to oversee.
By the way, the number of jobs at the Interior, Transportation and Treasury departments fell from 2000 to 2009. And those at Health and Human Services, Education and the Social Security Administration grew from 1.26 million to 1.39 million -- 130,000 jobs over 10 years, or about 13,000 new positions a year as the health industry expanded at a torrid pace....
Or:
Federal Government Employment Levels Through the Years (including the U.S. Postal Service) Administration, number of federal employees, population, Executive Branch employees per 1,000 population
1970 (Nixon) 2.94 million 205 million 14.4
1975 (Ford) 2.84 million 215.9 million 13.2
1978 (Carter) 2.87 million 222.5 million 12.9
1982 (Reagan) 2.77 million 232.1 million 11.9
1990 (Bush) 3.06 million 249.6 million 12.3
1994 (Clinton) 2.9 million 263.1 million 11.1
2002 (Bush) 2.63 million 287.8 million 9.1
2010 (Obama) 2.65 million 310.3 million 8.4
This is the final portion of the transcript of Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri on Thursday, April 28, 2011:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): ...How 'bout the guy right there.
Question: Uh, first of all, I just want you to know how much appreciate, uh, you speaking from your heart. And I can tell that you have to. [scattered applause]
Representative Hartzler: Thank you.
Question: As, as , you've discussed thus far, uh, we have a national debt problem. Uh, in addition to that we also have an unemployment problem. Uh, as a small business owner, uh, one of my, uh, main factors that I have to deal with is illegal immigration. Uh, illegal immigration has cost this country a tremendous amount of money, not even speak, uh, in regards to our sovereignty issues spoke to earlier. Uh, there's, uh, a tremendous opportunity, and I would love to see yourself and, and your other, uh, individuals address this. There's a tremendous opportunity to bring down unemployment in this country and, uh, save, uh, not only, uh, uh, a lot of federal dollars but state, city, so on and so forth. Uh, we don't need immigration reform, in my opinion, we just need to enforce the laws that are on the books. What we're doing is we're rewarding people that have come into our country illegally. I know it's not gonna be a popular thing to do, but irregardless, we are faced with making some, some hard, tough, uh, very unpopular, uh, decisions. And this need to be addressed and it needs to be addressed right away. The American people are very, very hard working people. And this fallacy that, uh, they're doing jobs that Americans won't do is, is ludicrous. American people a, as you well know and everybody in this room, we are good, very hard working people. And, uh, these people in no way, shape, or form should be rewarded, uh, as they have been thus far, uh, by being able to stay in our country. They, they need to leave our country. I want to see 'em leave right away. If they want to come in the front door and do things according to the parameters and protocol, God bless 'em. But, I want, I want 'em out of my country and I expect my elected officials to, to do something about that. It, and I believe that would make a tremendous, uh, uh, amount of, uh, it would, would help this country immensely...
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) in Blue Springs, Missouri, taking questions from constituents at a town hall on April 28, 2011.
"...Well, I mean, you, you, you've, you filed [crosstalk] reports between three, well, I mean, I'm answering how I know. You filed reports indicating you were somewhere between three to thirteen million dollars with the Congressional [inaudible], right?" "No." "You haven't?..."
Net Worth: From $3,018,026 to $13,870,999
Rank: 40th in House
Assets: 28 totaling $4,018,026 to $14,371,000
"...There, there's the, uh, liability reform, so it lowers the defensive medicine. That's a plan that's put out there. There's a lot of, I talked a lot of doctors, they will tell me, I am ordering more procedures than are necessary just to make sure and cover all the bases so I'm not sued. And so we have some tort reform in there, that would help drive down the costs..."
The biggest reason plummeting medical malpractice insurance premiums don't result in a corresponding drop in health care costs for the average person is that malpractice insurance is a tiny part of the overall cost of care. Reliable estimates place the cost of malpractice litigation at approximately two percent of this nation's $2.2 trillion health care costs.
So, if so called "tort reform" was enacted in Missouri in 2005 why is Representative Hartzler offering it as a solution to rising health care costs in Missouri in 2011? Or is this just another talking point from the republican leadership in the House? We understand that "tort reform" was an attack on trial attorneys, a tradition contributor base for the Democratic Party, but it's clear from the evidence that "tort reform" has no effect on patient health care costs.
"...And that business owner itself may have only had a personal income, their salary, of fifty thousand dollars. But on their tax form it could show, because the income from the business is also added to that, that they made two hundred and fifty or three hundred thousand dollars a year and President Obama would call them rich. We need to tax more the rich, when it turns out most business owners end up paying more taxes than their income, then their salary..."
S corporations are corporations that elect to pass corporate income, losses, deductions and credit through to their shareholders for federal tax purposes. Shareholders of S corporations report the flow-through of income and losses on their personal tax returns and are assessed tax at their individual income tax rates. This allows S corporations to avoid double taxation on the corporate income. S corporations are responsible for tax on certain built-in gains and passive income.
So, an S Corporation is a way to significantly reduce federal tax liability. And she's pleading hardship?
This is the continuation of the transcript of Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri on Thursday, April 28, 2011:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): ...Okay, so raise your hand if you have a question. Oh, right here, [....] first and then, uh, you're second.
Question: Uh, first I want to congratulate you for winning the election. Uh, both my [applause] children, both my children attended James Walker and I'd like to talk to the principal when this is over if I could. Live about four blocks from here. Uh, retired in July of two thousand and ten. I love retirement. Pray for this country every night. Really concerned about America. Excuse me, the whole process is broken in Washington, it really is. Just a concerned citizen. Um, I'm a baby boomer. I raised my hand. I'm receiving Social Security, thank God. Uh, but I did plan for retirement, so I guess [inaudible] should Social Security go away, probably make it. Uh, was fortunate to get the house paid for. Had a good job and living a good life. I'm very thankful for that. I give thanks every day. Uh, I grew up in Booneville, Missouri, I don't know if that's in your district, Booneville, Missouri. [voice: "Boonville."] Slater, Missouri is in your district. Uh, my dad was a, and mother were strong Democrats. I went to Slater High School. My wife was a school teacher. My daughter's a school teacher. Um, dad, strong Democrat, raised in a Democratic household. Uh, when I registered to vote I voted Democratic. I voted for Ike Skelton for years. I didn't vote for Ike Skelton, I voted for you, 'cause Ike lost his way. We need to change the nation [applause]. We still need change in Washington. We need the Senate to change, okay. Uh, my dad was a veteran of World War Two, he was in the, uh, Seabees, he was, helped, uh, build the airbase in Guam and Okinawa that [inaudible] bombed Japan. Uh, he passed [voices: "Question. Question"], okay. Uh, brother had a duh, dah, duh, dah, duh, dah, duh. Uh, [voice: "Question."] Ike Skelton did a lot for Missouri with the military bases at Whiteman and Fort Leonard Wood, what's, what's, what's there, is there anything there to secure the mission at those bases in the future that we don't lose the jobs and the bases, that's all...?
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) in Blue Springs, Missouri on April 28, 2011.
"...And, uh, one way to increase jobs is to reduce the corporate tax rate to twenty-five percent. Right now we have the highest corporate tax rate of any industrialized nation in the, in the world..."
"...Oh, this corporate welfare thing did, were you as upset as I was when I heard that GE didn't pay any taxes last year?..."
Well, these two thoughts appear to be incompatible. You think it might have something to do with loopholes and effective tax rates? Just asking.
"...So, that's why the Heritage Foundation, which is independent, uh, agency, analyzed the Path to Prosperity budget that we passed and said that is expected to create a million dollars, million dollars [laugh], a million jobs next year and it would bring down our unemployment back to four percent over the next decade..."
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a New Right think tank. Its stated mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies....
....In calendar year 2006 the Heritage Foundation spent over $40.5 million on its operations. That year the foundation raised over $25 million from individual contributors and $13.1 million from foundations.....
....Between 1985 and 2003, Media Transparency reports that the following funders provided $57,497,537 (unadjusted for inflation) to the Heritage Foundation:
...Scaife Foundations: Sarah Mellon Scaife, Scaife Family, Carthage...
...Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation...
"...Um, those of you who are on Medicaid [sic] right now or participating in it, it stops the raid on the Medicare trust fund that was gonna be used for implementation of last year's [health care reform] bill. You realize there's five hundred billion dollars they took out of Medicare to spend on implementation of it. That's, that's awful. I mean, they shouldn't be touching that...."
....there are several ways that the new health law will trim the Medicare program over the next 10 years. One of the biggest - and most widely publicized - is a reduction in payments to the Medicare Advantage plans that about a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries belong to. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that bringing the private plan payments into line with those of traditional Medicare will mean a savings of $136 billion over 10 years....
....Roughly $200 billion will be cut by reducing payment increases to hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and other providers, said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. Payment increases will be tied to productivity and quality improvements. "We think these cuts won't harm the program," he said....
....Although there are cuts to the program, there are investments, too, said Mr. Certner. These include closing the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole, adding free preventive care for Medicare beneficiaries and improving pay for primary care doctors.
The Medicare changes will also strengthen the program by extending the life of the Medicare trust fund by at least 10 years, said Mr. Certner. "The status of the trust fund is not something that most people think about personally," he said. "But that's pretty significant...."
"...and by twenty forty is expected to produce surpluses..."
And when was the last time we ran a budget surplus? And who gave it all up for windfall tax breaks for the top two percent? Just asking.
"...And I got there, some people said, [exaggerated] members of Congress have special plan, whatever. And I, I checked last year and they said, no, that's not true. And I just want to let you know it's not true..."
This is the continuation of the transcript of Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri on Thursday, April 28, 2011:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): ....So, uh, I had an hour, I was supposed to preside. And so I went the day before and said, how do I do this, is this real tough? They said, well, don't worry, we'll just tell you what to say and [inaudible]. It was, it was no problem. But, a couple of people got up and gave speeches. I could not believe it. Decrying this plan and one of them actually said, this plan will kill my grandmother. And just crazy stuff. And I, I, just a small thought, but I [inaudible] having that gavel and gaveling 'em down with a new point of order. Point of order, sit down, you're lying to the American public [laugh], sit. But, I just thought maybe my first time out I shouldn't be quite so [inaudible]. I was good. But, you know, it, you can hear anything and that's why I want you to have the phone numbers here and our e-mail so if you hear something, and I want you, us to get to know each other, that you will take the time to call [....] in Harrisonville or, or somebody and say, is this true? I heard this is gonna kill grandma. Is, is Vicky really supporting killing my grandma? You know, anyway, let, let us at least give you, uh, some facts and then you can just, you know, make the decision. So, I want to invite you to do that...
"....Uh, I've talked to a lot of business owners in the fourth district that tell me that they would like to expand their business, they would like to open up a second location, they'd like to hire more workers, but, they're concerned if there's gonna to be another recession because of all the debt we have...."
That's interesting, I thought businesses made the decision to expand based on demand for what they produce like when, you know, consumers spend money to buy their products, not because the business owner lies awake at night worrying about the national debt.
This is the continuation of the transcript of Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri on Thursday, April 28, 2011:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): So how many would agree with this? We have a debt crisis in our country. Raise your hand. Most people. Okay. I think so. And several really smart think so. This is the co-chair of President Obama's commission. He says, the debt is like a cancer. It's truly going to destroy our country from within. The director of CBO [Congressional Budget Office] said, uh, that, uh, the fiscal policy's on an unsustainable path. I think you and I would know that. Any time you borrow forty-two cents out of a dollar you know you're, you can't keep doing that. Um, to an extent that it can't be solved with minor tinkering...
Representative Vicky Hartzler held a town hall in Blue Springs, in the 4th Congressional District, on Thursday evening in the gym at James Walker Elementary School. There were about forty-five people in attendance, with an additional fifteen individuals from the school, from Ms. Hartzler's staff, and law enforcement.
Representative Hartzler entered the gym and personally greeted everyone seated in the audience before taking to the lectern to speak.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) greets constituents at her town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri.
The first part of the transcript:
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): ....[applause] Well, thank you, thank you. That's [....] and he's a member of our team. I'll introduce him again in a minute. But, uh, I just want to thank you guys for coming tonight. It's such a beautiful evening. We haven't had any sunshine, for what, four years now, or something, it seems like? [laughter] And so we finally had a sunny day and nice evening. You could be out mowing your grass or pulling weeds or whatever and you decided to come out and spend a little time with us tonight talking about our country and our situation and share, share with me some of your ideas on what we need to do turn things around and make it even better for our kids and grandkids and ourselves, too, as far as that goes. So, thank you for doing that. That means, uh, you guys are true patriots. And it's very, very, very, very helpful to me. But, as I look around tonight I see a few familiar faces. One's [....], I got to know him last couple of years and what a wonderful, bright young leader, now the councilman here, so, uh, glad you came [....]. And it's good, uh, to, to see, others of you as well. I know I served with [....] in the House of Representatives when I was a state rep and so you've got a good, good mayor here. But, um, thank you for coming. I'm sorry I was running a few, uh, minutes late. We went to the other elementary school on Sunnyside Drive. You know there's two, the one on that side. And we got all excited, there's a lot of people there, too. It turns out they were all playing soccer with their kids. [laughter] So, wait a minute, we're at the wrong elementary school, so we figured it out.
Anyway, well, uh, actually, you know, first, since I don't know most of you guys I thought I'd take just a second to introduce myself 'cause, um, I hope we can become friends and, and, uh, you feel comfortable calling me if you have an idea or concern or something like that. But, uh, I was just sharing with the principal, and, first of all, I do want to thank you [....] . Thank you for letting us, uh, meet here in this school here. Let's give the school district a hand. [applause] Thank you so much. But I just grew up, uh, you know, down the road in Cass County, so I'm really very close, uh, to here. It's forty, forty-five minutes or something to get here. Uh, grew up on a farm, went to Archie and, uh, a very small school. But, uh, you know, went to MU to college. That's a big school. And, uh, got my education degree, became a teacher, taught in Lebanon, Missouri my first year, which is in the fourth district. And then, uh, got married moved back home and taught another ten years at Belton, was a track coach. So, used to have track meets against Blue Springs. [inaudible] You guys, such a powerhouse in athletics. So, I'm going to give you credit for that. And I do enjoy watching your football team, it's fabulous. But, anyway, I'm sorry, getting off track. I'm a sports fan. Um, but my husband and I [inaudible], we farm as well. Just like us, uh, my family growing up, so we raise corn and soybeans and wheat, if ever we get it planted in the fall, if it's not raining. Uh, we have, uh, some cows that we, uh, finish and, uh, and raise cow calf operation and we have some hogs. So, we're just kind of a farm. But we also are small business owners. We own Hartzler Equipment Company. We have combines and, and lawn mowers and, anyway, stuff. We have three stores, one in Harrisonville, Nevada, and Lamar. Uh, so that's kind of my background a little bit, basically agriculture, education, and small business. And so I need your help in all the other areas of [laughter] government and, and background. So that's why, uh, I want to get to know you because I bet you guys, hi. [voice: "Howdy."] Thanks for coming. We just, getting started here. Uh, you all have a lot of expertise in your areas of, of places, how you grew up and the work you've had and things and, uh, so I welcome all your ideas, okay....
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls in the 4th Congressional District this past week (we attended one last night in Blue Springs - more on that in subsequent posts). At noon yesterday she held a town hall in Harrisonville, Missouri, an area which she previously represented in the 124th Legislative District of the Missouri House. There were a couple of reviews of this Harrisonville town hall via social media, distributed by individuals in attendance:
Vicky Town Hall/Love Fest a Joke
[....]on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 2:47pm
Wasted more than an hour of my day this afternoon at the Vicky Town Hall/Love Fest in Harrisonville. Nothing but pablum talking points and double-speak. The only people allowed to ask questions were those she knew on a first-name basis. Heaven forbid anyone should not be full onboard with the Vicky love fest. If anyone groaned or mumbled loudly in disagreement, they immediately got a police officer standing over their shoulder. She even contradicted herself so many times, I had to laugh. She'd take an easy question then take 10 minutes to answer because she really didn't want to answer any. 95% were over 65. I bet if she told them she was going to change their Medicare & Social Security, it would have been a totally different scenario. Of course it wouldn't effect them so what do they care. It was nothing but a JOKE!
Some of the comments:
OH - big surprise! 12 hours ago
Was therre also, what a waste. Cops stood behind me the whole time. 12 hours ago
My favorite question was could she do something to get more handicap spaces at Walmart. 12 hours ago
[....] that could well be a very important point. 11 hours ago
[....] that was probably the hardest question she took. 11 hours ago
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) held a town hall in Concordia, Missouri at the Community Center Gymnasium on Tuesday, August 10th. Approximately sixty people attended.
The fourth and final part of the transcript for the audience question and answer session follows:
....Question: I feel like when you vote for health care making requirements for individuals, in this country we still [inaudible] individual freedom, the stimulus bill which is gonna cost so much money to my children and grandchildren, and financial reform, we all know has secret provisions in it and when I hear people like Nancy Pelosi and Chris Dodd say, you won't know what's in it 'til we vote for it, why do you vote for those things that are killing America's freedoms?
Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Okay, there are three, you asked about what, health care, the stimulus, and financial reg?
Question: Yeah, but I can go on.
Senator McCaskill: Okay.
Question: [inaudible] other examples.
Senator McCaskill: Well, um, I , I will tell you on the stimulus, um. [crosstalk]
Question: You said, Claire, if I can quote you, you said, if it wasn't about jobs. And let me repeat, if it's not about jobs we should not be doing it.
Senator McCaskill: Yep.
Question: Those are your exact words. And, it's not about jobs I don't believe...
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) held a town hall in Concordia, Missouri at the Community Center Gymnasium on Tuesday, August 10th. Approximately sixty people attended.
The third part of the transcript for the audience question and answer session follows:
Senator Claire McCaskill (D): [reading the question] If you are elected to represent the people of Missouri how can you support the health care bill when the people you represent are obviously against it in light of Proposition C.
Well, believe me, I noticed. Um, and I guess I can tell you honestly [redacted] that [pause] I know I may go home over this vote. I know I may go home over this vote. And when I cast it I knew that. I'm not dumb and naïve in that regard. There are really hard problems that we don't solve in Washington because they, you can't solve them without making people mad. They're big, they're complicated, they're hard and you've got to step on some people's toes to begin to solve them. And one of our problems in this country is people who go to Washington are so focused on staying they are never gonna make anybody mad. They never want to tackle a hard problem 'cause when you tackle a hard problem, you know you're gonna lose voters. It's hard to get anything done without making some people mad.
Now, I think overall, as time goes on and people learn how this bill will be implemented and learn that what they've heard is not true in regards to parts of the bill this bill, I believe, I may be wrong, but I believe it will become more and more accepted by the people I work for. And it wasn't easy for me to vote for the bill knowing how unpopular it was, but I honestly believed it was the right thing to do for health care costs in this country. That's the best answer I can give you....
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) held a town hall in Concordia, Missouri at the Community Center Gymnasium on Tuesday, August 10th. Approximately sixty people attended.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) at a town hall in Concordia, Missouri on August 10, 2010.
The second part of the transcript for the audience question and answer session follows:
....Question: My biggest question is, um, I'm a businessman [inaudible]. My question is, [inaudible] in the thinking process, why was [inaudible]? It does create a [inaudible]. [inaudible] It quadrupled in [inaudible]. [inaudible]
Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Well, actually, I think that they will go across state lines, the exchange in Missouri, because you're allowed to sell insurance across state lines in a cooperative basis. The decision was made to not have the place that people can go to pool risk, which they can't go to now, uh, is all gonna be private insurance companies. And the states are gonna administer that. And the states have every right, if they would like to go together with other states. And I've talked to the man who runs the insurance department in Missouri - it's his intention to try to go together with a number of states so we can make the pool even bigger. And so there will be that...
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) held a town hall in Concordia, Missouri at the Community Center Gymnasium on Tuesday, August 10th. Approximately sixty people attended.
The first part of the transcript for the audience question and answer session follows:
....Question: Hi, Senator McCaskill. Thanks so much for coming out today. I was just wondering, with oil spill wreaking havoc in the Gulf, what do you propose to do to make sure that a disaster like this never happens to us again?
Senator Claire McCaskill Um, there will be a, um, the question was, uh, with the oil that has spilled into the Gulf, what are you gonna do to make sure that a disaster like the BP disaster never happens again? Um, you, I see your t-shirt. You probably aren't gonna like this answer, some parts of it. Uh, we will not be considering a bill this year to place a price on carbon. And these ladies in the green t-shirt are almost as unhappy with me as [redacted] in that I have disappointed them because I refuse to be supportive of a, a price on carbon. I've, I've been, I have been, um, reluctant to support a price on carbon, um, for a cap and trade bill. On the other hand there is gonna be an energy bill that we will debate when we get back in September that will do three things. The first is accountability for BP, making sure that there's not an artificial lid on what they would be responsible for in terms of the clean up. My job is to make sure taxpayers do not pay for their mistake. And so we want to make sure we remove the lid so BP has no artificial limit on what they would be required to pay to clean up the Gulf, to make those business whole, to make sure the families down there have not suffered because of their carelessness and negligence. Uh, it does some other things, like making sure that the companies that are doing offshore drilling have relief wells before they begin. Um, this problem was, it was never a relief well required. Truth be known, the oversight of oil and gas drilling in this country kinda was in a coma. Uh, and this goes for both administrations. They had not really been doing an aggressive job. And there has been a complete housecleaning over at that, in that regulatory area in the Department of Interior. So, we'll be happy to get you all, you probably have it, as active as you are, you may have all the details of what's in that bill as it relates to oils company accountability for negligence in offshore drilling that's in the bill. The other thing that's in the bill is a incentive to convert eighteen wheelers from, uh, diesel to natural gas. And the final part of it is a homestar provision which provides incentives for homeowners to weatherize their homes. Allow them to do things that will make their homes more efficient and spend less on their utility bills which is a win-win, uh, in terms of carbon emissions and also win-win, obviously, for homeowners in their electricity costs. Those are the three things that will be in the energy bill that we will debate before the end of the year. But I do not believe that the price on carbon will be coming up.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) speaking with a constituent immediately after the town hall in Concordia, Missouri.
After yesterday's town hall in Concordia, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill briefly took questions from media.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) (left) with the "second questioner" (center) and "first questioner" (right) at the media availability immediately after the town hall in Concordia.
[....]
Question: Drove down to say hi.
Senator Claire McCaskill: Yes, look at you all the way down here. You must have something controversial [crosstalk] to ask me.
Question: Nah, nah, nah, not at all, not at all, want to hear what people are saying.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Yeah, good.
Aide: Go ahead.
Question: First, let me ask, did, how did you vote on Proposition [inaudible].
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) held a town hall in Concordia, Missouri at the Community Center Gymnasium yesterday morning. Approximately sixty people attended.
Senator McCaskill stood in front of the stage for the entire event.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D): ....Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it. We have an hour and I will try to get to everyone who has a question in that hour. Um, for those of you who have been to our town halls before, I know a number of you have, what we try to do is get all the questions that people have in a basket and we ask someone to draw the questions out, and we get to as many as many of them as we can in the hour. And we usually average between fifteen and twenty questions an hour. Um, so hopefully we'll get, since this isn't a very big crowd, hopefully we'll get to everyone who has a question within the hour.
Um, I'm going to try and spend some time today talking about the budget. And the, as an auditor, the, the cash flow and the bottom line and the fiscal unsustainability of where we are right now in terms of this country and what our challenges are in the future. And, um, to begin that discussion I have a, we have a hand out that, that all of you will get that will have. Have we handed that out already? [voice: "It just got here."] Okay. Um, that has these two charts on them , but a number of other charts that talk about the debt and the deficit. Let me start with one fact, uh, and I told some of the folks upstairs, the regional planning commission, that we just had a meeting with, if we took out all of the government spending for foreign aid, education, highways, economic development, agriculture, all of that, and we just decided we were not going to spend any of that money, we still have a debt going forward because of two things. Medicare and Social Security. And the reason we have that debt going forward is because the demographics of our country. First, we have health care costs that are going up by huge percentages over the last fifteen years. And that contributes to the problem of Medicare. But also, we have a lot more people that are gonna come into the demographic that are entitled to Medicare and to Social Security because the baby boomers are coming, which means we have a lot more people who are entitled to that money. So, obviously it's important that we look at every single silo of spending in the federal budget...
Two large posters were on display on the stage next to the podium:
This "fair taxer" is for you, RBH. I think he's the same guy from Jefferson City last year. We had a pleasant conversation - he asked me if I'd read the Communist Manifesto. I replied that I had. It turns out that since I support the idea of a progressive income tax he considers me a communist. Go figure. He did give me a copy of his talking points.
Since President Obama was to be in St. Louis today on Wednesday pushing for health care reform, Rep. Todd Akin (R - 2nd) thought he would jump the gun and rally the president's right-wing foes via a video town hall in St. Charles. Attended by about 2,200 people, the event consisted of presentations of the same ol' same ol' talking points by Akin and a handful of other retrograde Missouri politicians, including Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, and, via video, Akin's congressional fellow travelers, John Shimkus, (R-IL) and John Shadegg, (R-AZ).
According to KSDK TV, Akin was in his usual obstructionist form:
I want to say and I want to be completely clear, ... That the bill that we're talking about today is the worst bill that I've seen in all my time in Congress. In fact, it is so bad, it is at least two times worse than the next bad bill, which was the cap and tax bill to supposeably fix global warming.
Not exactly the most profound or relevant analysis - but then this was Todd Akin speaking and we all know that unsubstantiated invective and slogans like "cap and tax bill" seems to work very well with his support base. Other speakers hit the grace notes; State Senator Jane Cunningham, for instance, pushed her tenther legislation "which could potentially stop socialized medicine mandate at the state level." The real knee-slapper, though, came when Akin:
... credited divine intervention with the January election of Scott Brown, R-Mass., which deprived Senate Democrats of the 60-seat majority needed to block filibusters. Akin said he hoped God would intervene again to prevent a health care bill from getting through Congress.
Amazing how small and parochial the God of some of these so-called Christians seems to be.
It is instructive - and sad - to compare this event to the President's appearance, and to think that there are people who are happy to be led down the garden path by fools like Akin and pals. Sadder still to think about what we all stand to lose because we live in a place where this type of idiocy is taken seriously by anyone.
UPDATE: Today (Mar. 12) on the Dianne Rehm show, a caller from St. Charles reported that Akin went even further out onto the thin ice of tasteless absurdity by comparing the passage of health care to that good old Republican fall-back, 9/11. The response, from even the conservative commentator, was to condemn Akin's excess as insane, childish and, at the least, manipulative. Rehm seemed to have trouble believing that there were people present at that rally that cheered Akin - I have trouble believing that there people in my district that voted for him.
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Previously:
Since President Obama was to be in St. Louis 
