Rep. Kline doesn't trust you

You aren't trustworthy enough to ask Rep. John Kline a question. According to Kline's Chief of Staff you might be a "liberal ideologue", which I take is one step down from an "enemy combatant" because you have lost one of your most basic rights as an American Citizen -- the right to ask your Representative a question.

If you thought Rep. Kline holding his first open large-scale public face-to-face meeting with his constituents in years was too good to be true, you were correct. Kline has decided that he will screen all the questions and decide what questions he has to answer on Tuesday April 3 at Lakeville South High School (7-9pm)

Constituents who petitioned for the meeting to discuss the escalation in Iraq had asked for a neutral moderator such as the League of Women Voters. That isn't going to happen. Kline says the League of Women Voters can't be trusted either. I guess it's the words "Voters" and "Women" in their title that Kline distrusts.

So Kline will be "the decider" when it comes to what questions he has to answer. Does all of these attempts to control an open discussion sound a bit familiar?

Finally, Kline Agrees To Town Hall Meeting

After six long weeks Congressman Kline finally agrees to a public Town Hall meeting!

This will be Kline's first face-to-face town meeting in several years (at least four!). I guess it would be tacky to point out that Kline's Republican colleague Rep. Jim Ramstad is hold four during the same period of time and it didn't take him six weeks of pleads, prodding and meetings from/with his constituents...Most elected officials actually do want to meet with and hear from their constituents...most... but apparently not John Kline...

P R E S S A L E R T
Rep. Kline to discuss Iraq escalationTown hall meeting set up after six weeks of negotiations

Contact: Greg or Sue Skog 651-454-3850

Congressman John Kline's office confirmed March 15th that theRepresentative will hold an open town hall meeting with constituentsto discuss, among other issues, the escalation of Iraq hostilities.

The move comes after nearly 700 of Rep. Kline's constituents signed a petition requesting the meeting and after six once-a-week meetings with Kline's staff.

"There are many families in Minnesota's Second Congressional Districtwho have sons, daughters, moms and dads serving in Iraq," said Greg Skog, the spokesman for the group who has been meeting at Rep. Kline's office. "For the sake of those families, I'm pleased that Representative Kline has finally agreed to an open public discussionon the Iraq hostilities."

The Town Hall meeting in the Second Congressional District is at Lakeville South High School 7:00PM - 9:00PM on Tuesday April 3.

Message To Kline: Just Do It!

Alright already... Mr. Kline...is it too much for you to take some time to meet with your constituents or does that take too much time away from the special interest lobbyist that fund your campaign? I swear I can think of one other elected official that would devote as much time and staff resources to just deciding if they will hold public meetings in their own district...wonder why?

You were elected to public office...or have you forgotten? More likely, you don't care..

Arrogance (Ar"ro*gance), n.[F., fr. L. arrogantia] The act or habit of arrogating, or making undue claims in an overbearing manner; that species of pride which consists in exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, estimation, or power, or which exalts the worth or importance of the person to an undue degree; proud contempt of others; lordliness; haughtiness; self-assumption; presumption.

Synonyms -- Haughtiness; hauteur; assumption; lordliness; presumption; pride; disdain; insolence; conceit; conceitedness.

Overwhelmed In Every Area

In the last two weeks the Army secretary has been fired, a two-star general relieved of command, and two special commissions appointed over inadequate services to our veterans in the last several years under Congressman John Kline and the GOP controlled legislative and administration's lack of leadership and oversight.There are numerous examples that while Kline is voting for tax breaks to wealthy Americans, he's voting against veterans services. Over a hundred times while in office Kline has voted to cut veteran benefits, slash veterans services and deny veteran funding.

Kline's record in the last four years has sharply 'deklined' the services provided to America's veterans to it's current substandard level. Even his recently endorsement of the “Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act” (HR 327) which dictates how the Department of Veteran’s Affairs should treat soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is just window dressing. It provides no additional funding to address PTSD nor does it address some of the causes of PTSD. Causes that Kline's leadership has institutionalized such as forcing repeated Iraq tours; prohibiting soldiers from leaving service when their enlistment ends; insufficient body armor; inadequate equipment and being forced to kill or be killed in an unnecessary war.

Kline is now asking for an investigation into the gross neglect of wounded U.S. veterans only following the recent tragic death of a local soldier who took his life after being placed on a VA waiting list. But showing his usual arrogance, Kline is not willing to accept responsibility for the major roll he's played in how veterans services have been slashed and bashed in the last several years to the point they are now inadequate or the complete lack of oversight for any of these programs.

Sounding a lot like a replay of what happened with Katrina, Linda J. Bilmes, a professor of public finance at Harvard, recently completed a study of the long-term costs of providing medical care and benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Veterans Affairs, she said, “is overwhelmed in every area.”

Supporting our troops is more than sending them off to war, it's also paying for programs needed by thousands of returning soldiers with traumatic mental and physical injuries. Tell John Kline it's time for him to support all our troops, even those unfortunate ones that can't advocate for themselves due to injuries. They were good enough to go fight for their country, now wounded veterans deserve to have the best treatment American can offer.