Cutting Services, Kline Gives Himself A Raise!

John Kline, Mark Kennedy and Gil Gutknecht helped themself to a $3,100 pay raise last Friday, then postponed decisions on bills to curb spending on social programs and reduce taxes in favor of a two-week vacation. more here!

The day before, all three voted to gut social programs for the disabled and working poor. They voted to cut $14 billion to student loan programs and voted to cut $12 billion in Medicaid funding (Medicaid is the health care program for the poor and disabled).

Don't these guys have any shame?

John Kline (MN-R): "Blind, Unthinking Stubborness"

Interesting view...can't say I disagree with his assessment:
LTE at This Week OnLine :

The mainstream of our community, like the mainstream in the United States, opposes blind, unthinking stubborness masquerading as character when it comes to addressing issues like the Iraq war, energy independence, the ballooning government deficit, properly funding education, and thinking of new ways to solve the looming health care crisis.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," as Ralph Waldo Emerson said. This district's voters need to decide if they want a congressman who shows consistent, principled loyalty to incompetent and corrupt leadership or one who might show innovative leadership responsive to the needs of this district.

John Kline: Flying the Friendly Bucks of NWA.

Quick Quiz: So why wouldn't John Kline join with 87 other members of Congress in signing a petition asking North West Airlines to put a stop to outsourcing thousands of jobs?

Answer: John Kline who is on a first name bases with NWA CEO has taken $2500 from Northwest Airlines this cycle alone.

I wrote about this before here!

Kline's loyality lies with NWA and their CEO. He helps meets any of the NWA corporation needs over…oh let’s say…the mechanics or pilots or the flight attendants or the everydammday airline worker? It's just plain wrong. Contact Kline and tell him what you think. Ask him support the workers.

For Immediate Release
November 17, 2005 Contact: Afshin Mohamadi (Maloney)

202-225-7944
Sonia Meléndez (Solis)
202-225-5464
Corey Caldwell (AFA)
202-434-0586
Rob Laughlin (PFAA)

612-419-8802

Action to Save Northwest Flight Attendant Jobs From Outsourcing 87 Bipartisan Members of Congress press Northwest CEO, while flight attendants descend on Capitol Hill to lobby Congress

WASHINGTON, DC - As Northwest Airlines prepares to outsource 2,600 flight attendant jobs on international flights, there was action on Capitol Hill today to stop the plan. 87 bipartisan Members of Congress, led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), today urged Northwest CEO Doug Steenland to reconsider his company's plan. Meanwhile more than 50 flight attendants, joined by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and the Professional Flight Attendants Association, visited Washington today to meet with lawmakers.

Northwest, which has filed for bankruptcy, has already begun contracting out mechanic work, and there is concern that other airlines will adopt their flight attendant plan. It is uncertain if the foreign workers Northwest plans to hire for international flights will be subject to the same security background checks as American employees.

"We are trying to keep this outsourcing scheme from taking off," said Maloney. "Northwest's plan will cost thousands of American jobs, and it could compromise American security - we still don't know if foreign-based flight attendants would be subject to adequate background screening. If Northwest outsources, other air carriers will surely follow, and the costs will be multiplied."

"At a time when flight attendants have suffered layoffs and benefit reductions as a result of the airline industry's financial problems since September 11th, Northwest should not pull the rug out from under these hardworking men and women with an ill-advised outsourcing plan, said Rep. Hilda L. Solis, (CA-32). "The qualifications and experience of flight attendants are vital to our national security, and we should support these flight attendants, not outsource their jobs for small savings."

"This attempt to outsource flight attendant jobs not only affects our profession as a whole, but the entire general public as well," said Dianne Tamuk, President of AFA-CWA Council 5 at United. "It has been shown that one airline job supports 18 additional jobs in the community, so if this proposal is carried out, entire communities will be devastated. We will continue to fight this issue to ensure that we protect our profession, our communities, and the safety of our passengers. We must not compromise our safety and security just so that companies can sell our jobs to the lowest bidder."

"Legislators agree that Mr. Steenland needs to reconsider his over-the-top proposal to outsource such important safety-security positions onboard U.S. flag carriers," said Rob Laughlin, Legislative Affairs Coordinator of PFAA. "Flight attendants are unsung heroes of national security. They should be fairly recognized and valued for the service they provide daily to millions of Americans in making our skies safe for travel. Some lawmakers we met with in Washington recognized that having U.S. Flight Attendants staff U.S. flag carriers is another way of ensuring our skies remain safe. They recognize that you cannot put a price on securing our nation's airliners."

According to the PFAA, U.S. Flight Attendants are subject to extensive 10-year criminal security background checks, fingerprinting and are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate onboard U.S. carriers. The federal government has classified flight attendants as "safety-sensitive" employees and therefore they are subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

Signing the letter to Mr. Steenland were:
CAROLYN B. MALONEY (D-NY), JIM RAMSTAD (R-MN), HILDA L. SOLIS (D-CA), JOHN D. DINGELL (D-MI), FRANK R. WOLF (R-VA), THADDEUS G. McCOTTER (R-MI), GEORGE MILLER (D-CA), JOHN CONYERS, Jr. (D-MI), JANE HARMAN (D-CA), MARCY KAPTUR (D-OH), ALCEE L. HASTINGS (D-FL), BART STUPAK (D-MI), MARTIN OLAV SABO (D-MN), JERROLD NADLER (D-NY), SHERROD BROWN (D-OH), ED PASTOR (D-AZ), SANDER M. LEVIN (D-MI), NICK RAHALL (D-WV), BART GORDON (D-TN), GINNY BROWN-WAITE (R-FL), ROSA L. DeLAURO (D-CT), GARY L. ACKERMAN (D-NY), JAMES P. MORAN (D-VA), ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ), BERNARD SANDERS (I-VT), ELIOT L. ENGEL (D-NY), COLLIN C. PETERSON (D-MN), PETER A. DeFAZIO (D-OR), EDWARD J. MARKEY (D-MA), DALE E. KILDEE (D-MI), DENNIS J. KUCINICH (D-OH), BILL PASCRELL, Jr. (D-NJ), BARBARA LEE (D-CA), EMANUEL CLEAVER (D-MO), MICHAEL E. CAPUANO (D-MA), NEIL ABERCROMBIE (D-HI), RAÚL M. GRIJALVA (D-AZ), LEONARD L. BOSWELL (D-IA), BRIAN BAIRD (D-WA), SAM FARR (D-CA), TIMOTHY H. BISHOP (D-NY), THOMAS H. ALLEN (D-ME), ANTHONY D. WEINER (D-NY), JIM McDERMOTT (D-WA), BETTY McCOLLUM (D-MN), JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL), STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES (D-OH), JIM MARSHALL (D-GA), MELISSA L. BEAN (D-IL), SHELLEY BERKLEY (D-NV), MICHAEL H. MICHAUD (D-ME), FRANK PALLONE, Jr. (D-NJ), RIC KELLER (R-FL), LINCOLN DAVIS (D-TN), JAY INSLEE (D-WA), MICHAEL F. DOYLE (D-PA), JOE BACA (D-CA), HAROLD E. FORD, Jr. (D-TN), ADAM SMITH (D-WA), ROB SIMMONS (R-CT), JOHN F. TIERNEY (D-MA), DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ (D-FL), ED CASE (D-HI), CAROLYN McCARTHY (D-NY), JOHN M. McHUGH (R-NY), BRIAN HIGGINS (D-NY), JOHN BARROW (D-GA), ROBERT A. BRADY (D-PA), RICK LARSEN (D-WA), JIM DAVIS (D-FL), CHARLIE MELANCON (D-LA), LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD (D-CA), STEPHEN F. LYNCH (D-MA), CHARLES B. RANGEL (D-NY), JULIA CARSON (D-IN), TIM RYAN (D-OH), TIM HOLDEN (D-PA), DANNY DAVIS (D-IL), JOHN LEWIS (D-GA), LYNN WOOLSEY (D-CA), CORRINE BROWN (D-FL), TOM TANCREDO (R-CO), STEVE ISRAEL (D-NY), DANIEL LIPINSKI (D-IL), ROBERT WEXLER (D-FL), RICK RENZI (R-AZ), RUSS CARNAHAN (D-MO).

note: Where the heck is JOHN KLINE? Why won't he represent the voters who put him in office!

Kline Votes Partisan and Cronyism...totally!

GOP State Representative Patrick Garofalo's had a recent letter to the editor in This Week that praised John Kline for making principled votes. I guess they couldn't find a nonpartisan person to pen this lie...

Here's was a nice response:

Congressman John Kline has taken $40,000 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. Money which he refused to give back or foward on to charity. That makes it no surprise that Kline voted with Tom DeLay 96% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005.

Mr. Kline also voted to weaken the ethics rules to protect Tom Delay. And only when it became apparent that their attempts to gut house ethic rules would fail did Kline 'flip-flop' and voted to put the old rules back in place. In fact, when Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Mr. Kline voted twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.

I would also offer up Mr. Kline's voting record of over 90% with the Bush administration shows a repeated pattern of cronyism and partisan voting instead of bipartisan efforts to get our government working for us. Apparently Kline does need Patrick Garofalo partisan letter to the editor 'to defend him' as Kline's votes are anything but 'principled'. This is not the kind of representation working families deserve deserve.

Hey Bu$h Is Coming To Town!

Bu$h will be at the Minneapolis Hilton on December 9 to host a Mark Kennedy Fundraiser. Wonder if he'll meet with John Kline and thank him for always voting the Bu$hCo agenda?

In case you want to know:
The US balance of payments deficit hit an all-time high for the first quarter of the year, rising to $195.1 billion (up 3.6 percent from the previous record for the final three months of 2004 and well above market predictions of $190 billion). What all this gobbly glop means is the US payments deficit requires $2 billion a day from the rest of the world (mainly provided by Japan, China and other Asian nations)to finance it.

In other words, this administration (with Kline's help) is selling America to foreign interests. Do you feel safe yet?

Shame in Minnesota: Kline and Target

Kline gets money from Target CEO/Chairman Robert Ulrich.
Several thousand a year...Target's CEO, Robert Ulrich, has donated a lot of money to Republicans, and almost nothing to Democrats. No surprise there, huh? Wonder why they support Kline? Could it be they share the same beliefs to limit your rights?

More shame in Minnesota

Americablog has been covering this story about how Target, a Minnesota company, is perfectly okay with its employees refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception. See, in the eyes of Target, an employee's ability to pass judgment on a customer far outweighs the rights of people to have private lives or anything their doctor may have prescripted.

When does this stop? Would it be okay for a cashier to refuse to sell a person condoms if that person did not have a wedding ring? You know, sex outside of marriage and all. And I know that Target sells back massagers that can be used for, um, other purposes. How about that?

You have to love Target. They're willing to hire people who don't want to do the very job they're applying for. Their own employee's bigotry and bias matters more to them than the emergency health needs or own customers.

So let's ask Target if they also support the following Target employees:

- Check out clerks who verify how fat you are before selling you that package of potato chips?
- Pharmacists who don't want to fill prescriptions for Jewish customers who killed Christ.
- Pharmacists who don't want to help customers who worship a "Satanic counterfeit" (read: "The Pope," in fundie-speak).
- Pharmacists who only dispense HIV medicine to "innocent victims" of AIDS.
- Pharmacists who want proof that women seeking emergency contraception were really raped, and that they didn't "deserve it."
- Pharmacists (or cashiers) who are Christian Scientists - can they refuse to sell any medicine, even aspirin, to anyone?

John Kline: The 'un' Real Thing

At Daily KOS there's a posting on how Coleen Rowley (CD2 Congressional Candidate) is the 'Real' thing. Naturally if you accept that premise...then John Kline would be....er...well you get the picture...

Maureen Dowd did an OpEd, in the NY Times. She was relating women she thought were heros. On the list was Minnesota's own Coleen Rowley.

Coleen risked a twenty year career at the FBI to do what she thought was ethically correct. She was in Time as 'Women of the Year' for 2002.

And not satisfied to leave it at that, Ms. Rowley running as a Democrat for congressional office in Minnesota's second district. She's going up against GOP John Kline who has sullied his name by voting straight bush/delay agenda.

Judging from all the GOP party hacks that have lined up to take a shot at Coleen in recent weeks, they must be worried she'll win! Even the ever poisenous Ann Coulter has chimed in and taken a swipe at Rowley for being 'too right' (there's just no winning with these folks!)....fortunately for those of us in the second district, Coleen Rowley is the 'Real' thing!

Kline with GOP Administration Breaks New Record!

No I'm not taking about breaking a baseball record! But the GOP have managed to hit this one out of the park...

President Bu$h and his current Administration (yes that would include Kline who votes over 90% of the time with Bu$hCo!) have now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, throughout the first 224 years of our nation's history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial. In the past four years alone, the Bu$h Administration(with Kline's fullest support!) has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion. More here and here

So next time someone tells you they are conservative like John Kline and GW Bu$h...ask them to define the word. Apparently GOP conservatives like Kline aren't against borrowing, don't promote 'pay as you go' as being responsible and have no problem being in debt for decades (generations!) to come. Or at least that's the policies they have promoted.

Kline and Bu$h have changed the meaning of the word...it now means bankrupt...as in money, moral leadership and community values. I began this post by saying the GOP managed to hit this out of the park, but it was fouled the whole way.

Kline, Give Delay's Money to Charity!

Dear Kline: Give Delay's Money to Charity!

Kline has an important choice to make...Does he accept and encourage the sort of unethical behavior epitomized by Tom DeLay or does he put his foot down and say enough? Sign a petition asking Kline to give the 'Delay Money' to Charity at http://www.ourfuture.org/return_DeLays_cash.cfm
Here's the letter being sent:

Mr. Kline,
The climate of corruption and scandal in Washington is at an all-time high and you have accepted campaign contributions from Rep. Tom DeLay — the epitome of pay-to-play politics. By taking DeLay's money, you're sending a clear message that you're willing to profit from his unethical behavior.

You have a choice: either accept and encourage Tom DeLay's corruption or put your foot down and say enough! We demand that you take the money that you've accepted (~$40,000) from Tom DeLay and reinvest it to address one of America's most pressing priorities — helping Katrina victims rebuild their lives.

Thanks to Truth Surfer for posting this! I signed the petition and sent it off...