NY-20: Gibson stumbles on FEMA 'offsets'

NY-20:-Gibson-stumbles-on-FEMA-offsets   Guest Post: Daily Kos' devtob.


Tea party Republican Chris Gibson, NY-20, represents a far-flung district that was hard-hit by Irene in every one of its 10 counties.
Thousands of his constituents still do not have power, and several major roads and bridges were washed away and are still closed.
Like a professional pol, rookie Gibson was out there getting free media and expressing his concern:

My office is working with the Cuomo administration to ensure we make the strongest case for FEMA assistance and I’m encouraged today to be with the governor and see his priorities, that he’s put on this. This is going to take our very best effort – the federal, state and county level — going forward.

But, like his tea party Republican neighbor to the south, Gibson has a Boehner/Cantor string attached to his support of effective FEMA support for his stricken constituents.
Details, below.

Boehner/Cantor, playing to the GOP's far-right tea party base, have proposed unspecified "offsets" (even more job-killing cuts in federal spending) that will be necessary before the radical House Republicans will provide funding for FEMA to do its basic job of helping victims of Irene, and local governments who need to rebuild scores of roads and bridges, just in NY-20.
Gibson's "very best effort" is constrained by his allegiance to Boehner/Cantor (from the initial link, above):

“We can do offsets,” Gibson said, agreeing with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. “Certainly we can find other places where we can save money, but this is what you need a federal government for — a moment like this — and it has got to be a priority.”

So what will happen when Boehner/Cantor propose a FEMA funding bill for Irene expenses that will inevitably involve cuts in federal programs that Democrats won’t abide?
The Boehner/Cantor bill won’t get a hearing in the Senate, and the issue could drag on for months in yet another radical Republican hostage-taking scheme.
Gibson has said he supports Boehner/Cantor hostage-taking that hurts people in his district.
That should count for something in next year's election.
And Gibson recently told Dutchess County constituents that he stands by his no-new-taxes pledge to Grover Norquist.
So Gibson will not do everything he can to help his Irene-affected constituents.
He will instead do what little he can, and only as much as his political bosses -- Boehner, Cantor and Norquist -- will allow. 

Gibson votes to kill Medicare - AGAIN

Isn't it just like a Republican to double down on failure? Faced with the loss of NY 26 and overwhelming poll numbers showing how much the American people hate the Ryan Budget and its Medicare-killing provisions, Chris Gibson cast a second vote to kill Medicare and raise health care costs for New York seniors.

But while Gibson is doubling down on the House Republican plan to end Medicare, he is still refusing to end taxpayer giveaways to Big Oil or tax breaks for millionaires. In a procedural move, Gibson voted to accept the House Republicans’ controversial budget which includes the Republican plan to end Medicare. Gibson’s plan is for millionaires to get a $100,000 tax break and seniors to get a $6,400 medical bill.

The move Gibson used to signal his unwavering support for big oil and millionaires and "let them eat cake" attitude toward the rest of us, was his support of a “deeming resolution” in H. Res. 287 which states “the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 34 […] shall have force and effect […] in the House as though Congress has adopted such concurrent resolution”. [H. Res. 287, Vote #382, 6/1/11]


The result: millionaires get more than a $100,000 tax cut in GOP Budget, while seniors get a $6,400 medical bill. [Tax Policy Center via Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/20/11, 4/07/11]


Gibson voted to end Medicare by supporting the Republican budget. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11]; opposed a measure that could have cut taxpayer subsidies to big oil when he voted to bypass consideration of the Big Oil Welfare Repeal Act of 2011 (H.R. 1689) which would repeal key taxpayer funded subsidies for oil and gas companies. As reported by The Hill newspaper, “House Democrats intend to force a vote on a measure that would eliminate a key oil industry tax break when Republicans bring a bill to expand domestic oil and-gas drilling to the floor Thursday.” [H Res 245, Vote #293, 5/05/11; The Hill, 5/04/11; CBS News, 5/04/11]

But it is not just us saying Gibson wants to kill Medicare. Read what others are saying:

• Wall Street Journal: The House Republican Budget for 2012 Would “Essentially End Medicare.” “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11
• Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service: Individuals Would Not Be Able to Enroll in Current Medicare Program. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that the Republican budget ends Medicare: “Individuals who become eligible (based either on age or disability) for Medicare in 2022 and later years would not be able to enroll in the current Medicare program. Instead, they would be given the option of enrolling in a private insurance plan through a newly established Medicare exchange.” [CRS Report, 4/13/11]
• NCPSSM: GOP Budget Plan Destroys Medicare and Cuts Social Security Benefits. Max Richtman, executive vice-president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the Republican budget would destroy Medicare: “Over time, this will destroy the only health insurance program available to 47 million Americans.” [NCPSSM press release, 4/5/11]
  

Sadly, his supporters in NY 20 just don't get the implication, preferring to keep their heads buried in the sand, thinking Gibson is doing the right thing for his constituents. 

Another Gibson lie about Medicare

Rookie Rep.Chris Gibson voted to kill Medicare, and substitute a voucher program that will impoverish future seniors.

Gibson has dutifully lied that he voted to "preserve and protect" Medicare by killing it, and he has also lied, at every opportunity, that the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare would have no impact on current (and some future) Medicare beneficiaries.

Gibson knows next to nothing about Medicare, and is only repeating Boehner/Ryan talking points on how to lie to his constituents.

Unlike Gibson, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.does know quite a bit about Medicare.

Also unlike Gibson, Sebelius is not a serial liar.

Sebelius noted today that the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, will indeed affect current beneficiaries:

"The Affordable Care Act takes a huge step in closing the donut hole, 50 percent this year of the cost of drugs purchased in the coverage gap would disappear, and over time the whole coverage gap would disappear. Seniors now qualify for screenings -- cancer screenings, mammograms, a variety of preventive care without copays out of pocket. That would disappear."

So, current Medicare beneficiaries would pay a lot more for drugs and preventive care under the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare.

But, naturally, seniors of limited means who rely on Medicaid and Medicare will suffer more -- that's the Republican way.

The Medicaid cuts in the Ryan/Boehner budget would affect poor seniors immediately, according to Sebelius:

"Medicaid cuts would start right away, so those seniors would be the first to be impacted. The voucher plan doesn't hit for 10 years, but not only do the new benefits for every senior go away, but the dually-qualified seniors -- the poorest, oldest, sickest seniors, who are often in nursing homes, would have their benefits cut immediately."

The Ryan/Boehner Republican budget that Gibson supports and lies 24/7 about will not become law, because there is a Democratic Senate and President, for now.

But Gibson's constituents must be reminded that he voted to kill Medicare via a voucher system he said he opposed during the campaign.

And that, coupled with his vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Gibson supports today's seniors paying a lot more for their health care.

Gibson will surely lie a lot more about his plan to kill Medicare, cripple Medicaid, and screw current and future seniors from now until Nov. 6, 2012.

He should be called on it every time.

Guest Post from Daily Kos - Town Halls, then and now

The following post was grabbed from Daily Kos, with the permission of the author, devtob.

 Back in the summer of 2009, tea partiers, egged on by the Republican cable "news" channel and Republican astroturf groups, turned out en masse to disrupt town hall meetings, shout down Democratic Members of Congress, and denounce the pending health care reform bill.

Paul Tonko, a solid progressive who was then a freshman representing NY-21, got the treatment at Elm Avenue Park in Bethlehem, just south of Albany -- lots of delusional Constitution questions and the sign at right.

Tonko more than held his own, explaining the obvious need for HCR and liberally citing the general welfare clause, to the frustration of the tea partiers.

About 600 people attended that town hall, about equally divided between tea partiers and HCR supporters.

Today, Tonko held a town hall in East Greenbush (just east of Albany), and the scene was very different -- about 100 people in a firehouse, only a handful of them tea partiers.

Tonko was at the Clinton Heights firehouse to announce an $87,000 federal grant for portable radios, a thermal imaging camera, and other emergency services equipment, and to present a flag that flew over the Capitol.

But mostly he discussed what's happening in the new Republican-dominated House.

Tonko noted that he's on a new committee -- Budget -- so he's on the front line of the current Continuing Resolution battles. 

There is a proposal in the House to cut spending by $100 billion that has raised concerns for many. The original package presented by Speaker Boehner was for about $32 billion. There is a group, primarily newer elected officials if not the newest, that suggested it should be deeper than $32 billion, it should rise to $100 billion.And if you ask a number of people, why $100 billion, many will suggest it's a number they tossed out in their campaigns.

My problem with that is this was done in a whimsical fashion, there was no calculus, they had not served in Congress, but a three-digit number like 100, billion sounded good. But we have to be careful, because those cuts can be rocking the comeback of the economy.

Since March of last year, we have added 1.5 million private sector jobs. The think tanks around this country are suggesting that the $100 billion cut in domestic programs could cause unemployment of 700,000 to 800,000. So that would wipe out half of the progress made. Setting us back 700,000 to 800,00 jobs is a frightening thought.

Tonko added that the cuts would come entirely from domestic discretionary spending (a small percentage of the overall budget) -- cuts to all forms of education aid, cuts to technological innovation, cuts to public safety, cuts to clean air/clean water regulations, etc.

He noted that the Ryan Roadmap, named after the new Budget Committee chairman who proposed it, is the still GOP's budget blueprint, and that it would privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into an inadequate voucher program (at $11,000 annually, growing by just 2 percent a year, and impoverishing sick seniors).

Tonko said that his top priority is job creation, since he believes that our lingering high unemployment "drives our deficit" and the only effective way to reduce the deficit is to create jobs.

He noted that House Republicans have not introduced even one jobs bill in any committee.

Tonko also explained that the Republicans have not proposed any cuts to the tens of billions spent on military contractors, and have proposed nothing to limit the $100 billion (that number again) in special tax treatment for oil companies, or the tax policies that encourage outsourcing of American jobs.

In the Q&A, most questions reflected concerns over what the radical House Republicans are up to, but there was one bona fide tea party question, asked, naturally, by a guy who obviously receives Social Security and Medicare benefits.

It was long and rambling, deficit/debt/grandchildren blah blah, but here's the essence: 

I find it incredible that out of a $3 trillion budget, we can't find $100 billion to cut.

Tonko replied:

We need to make certain we look at waste, inefficiency, outmoded programs. We need to look at the handouts to oil companies, we need to look at corporate loopholes, we need to look at the Defense Department. I agree with you there are ways to reduce the budget, but in significantly less painful ways. When we start cutting some of these programs they announced, ... 700,000 to 800,000 jobs lost is not what we need right now.

We need to do it in a way that doesn't take an ax to the budget, but a scalpel.
As to our children, the greatest burden we're placing on them is unemployment. Because without a job, there is no hope.

Tea party types tried, albeit half-heartedly, to turn out people to today's town hall.

It's probably natural, after winning the House majority and six (almost seven) seats in New York alone, that tea partiers are just less white-hot angry now than they were in the summer of 2009.

They still don't like Tonko at all, but realize that their candidate against him got trounced in 2010, and that berating Tonko in public would do little to change that result next year.

Indeed, some of them seem more annoyed with their 2010 darling, Chris Gibson of NY-20, than they are with Tonko.

After all, they don't expect Tonko to ever vote the way they want, but they expect Gibson to be with them on every vote.

And when he's not, he's accused of having: 

a fast and loose a la carte interpretation of the Constitution as evidenced by yesterday’s bizarre support for unconstitutional NPR funding and previous support for continued arts funding.

There really is no pleasing hard-core tea partiers until Ron Paul is President, with Paulite supermajorities in both Houses of Congress, and they all drown the federal government in Grover Norquist's bathtub.

Which will never happen.