Ryan Votes Against Protecting Seniors From Fraud

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The House of Representatives passed the Senior Financial Empowerment Act. Introduced by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the legislation aims to protect seniors targeted by fraudsters and financial criminals.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that nearly one in five seniors are defrauded each year. Additionally, according to a report by MetLife Mature Market Institute, "the annual financial loss by victims of elder financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2.6 billion dollars."

With strong bipartisan support, the legislation passed by a vote of 335 to 81. But 79 Republicans, nearly half of the caucus — including Wisconsin Republicans, Sennenbrenner, Petri and Paul Ryan - voted against the legislation.

Wisconsin Internet News Excerpt:
“Representative Baldwin is one of the foremost champions of elder justice in Congress,” said Robert Blancato, National Coordinator for the non-partisan, 650-member Elder Justice Coalition. “Financial abuse, including the newest form, Internet abuse, costs seniors billions a year and must be addressed. Enacting this bill is one key solution,” Blancato said.

Related: Heckenlively - Ryan Votes Against First Responders.

Man-o-man, just one after the other here. Is there anything Ryan ever does for the little people?

Newspaper Scolds Democrat With Endorsement

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After endorsing Hahn, Towns and Davis (all Republicans) for state legislative offices, the Janesville Gazette on Friday issued a scolding yet pandering endorsement for incumbent Democrat Rep. Tami Baldwin. Just two years ago, they endorsed Dave Magnum over Rep. Baldwin citing a congressional ranking system as a centerpiece for their decision.

Two years ago, Baldwin ranked 394th with the congressional power ranking system. At the time the newspaper insisted she can’t use the democratic party’s congressional minority status as an excuse for her low ranking. The newspaper pulled the same thing on Sen. Russ Feingold in 2006, bringing up his low power ranking in the GOP-majority Congress as a good enough reason to slam his performance.

Well things have changed quite a bit since then, Baldwin is now ranked 44th and since we can’t use party majority status to justify congressional rankings (according to the Gazette), what does the Gazette have to say about her rapid rise in Congress?

JG Editorial Endorsement:
Baldwin, 45, has been around long enough to be more of a force in Congress……….
We’ll give her another two years. But she must make them count.

Climbing from 394 to 44 in just two years using the same criteria the Gazette used against her in the past – and that’s the best they can say?

But if I were running for elective office and had the unfortunate luck to receive the kind of scolding she got on the GM plant from the Janesville Gazette, I would publicly rebuke it and ask the owner and the editorial staff to explain why they published all of those disparaging remarks in their anonymous Sound Off column against the GM plant and union workers for all of those years. I would ask what good did they expect to come from it and how it advanced economic harmony and public discourse for the common good of the community. I would then tell them to save their precious ink and insulting support for when their kind of candidate comes along, one who deserves it - a Republican.

Today, their kind of candidate came along in the form of Paul Ryan and the Gazette issued their standard warm and fuzzy endorsement for the Republican. In it, the Gazette makes a case for the congressman explaining that his legislative rescue of the Bush Administration's $700 billion Wall Street Bail-Out should convince voters to ignore his 7 1/2 years of rubber stamping Bush Administration initiatives. The Gazette is convinced, "Washington needs more like Ryan."

Note: This posting is not in cooperation with any candidate or party and is the independent work and opinion of its author.

424 out of 438 a good score

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In this age when Americans are tired of all the self-serving, backslapping politicians and trying to weed out the corporate power brokers and corruption that has swept across the controlling party in Congress, Dave Magnum wants a piece of the action before its too late.

His TV ad claims he will influence people, which is a statement that must be earned and spoken by others, not something one can brashly prescribe or solicit onto themselves. Besides, good congressional leaders listen to their constituents and act accordingly, not the other way around.

Magnum also speaks of power as his driving force in the ad, another one of those unwieldy tools that become unpredictable in the wrong hands. "Power" and "influence" are hardly the right virtues for a wannabe politician to run on in our current culture of corruption. Just add greed to the mix and Magnum has all the ingredients necessary for the recipe that has sent other politicians to jail.

Magnum rips Baldwin for voting herself a pay raise but fails to mention that Baldwin unselfishly voted for a substantial pay raise for minimum wage workers too. Magnums Republican party also voted themselves the raise but unlike Baldwin refused to give others a raise. Bad for the economy they claim.

JG excerpt:
He said his job in Congress would be as “great ambassador” for Wisconsin, a cheerleader for south-central Wisconsin…….

We already have a cheerleader and not much else in Paul Ryan, we don’t need another. Does anyone get a whiff of self-righteous arrogance here? I do. Again, I think people in Wisconsin don’t want cheerleaders or great ambassadors in Congress, we want honest representation fighting for the common good. His distant rhetoric puts him out of touch with those in the district.

On the issues, Magnum much like Mark Green provides very little of his own except to rip and blame the opponent. He attacked Baldwin’s 424th standing out of 438 House members in a power ranking study by Knowlegis.com. The research firm acknowledged that the report does not take into account “casework” or “earmarks” or measure a legislators effectiveness in assisting district constituents and other qualities that cannot be seen. Obviously, this is not the kind of information a strong and credible candidate would use as a campaign centerpiece. But not Magnum, that’s about all he has to offer.

” ………the only opinions that matter are those of the people of south-central Wisconsin. That is most critical” – Tammy Baldwin

Perhaps Baldwin should not be too quick to dismiss the ranking since it does place her at the opposite end that power-hungry Republicans like Magnum apparently strive for. The rankings are largely influenced by the majority party in Congress as the top 8 out of 10 are Republicans, while Democrats make up 94 out of the last 100 House members ranked. If anything, this information shows how party influence dictates position in Congress and not a persons ability to effectively represent constituents.

Magnum assigns power and influence to himself and is too close for comfort to the very things we are trying to get away from. His power ranking ad is so oddly misplaced and contrived, at times I think Tammy Baldwin paid for and approved the message.

Baldwin Illuminates 9/11 Victims

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As can be expected the Janesville Messenger attacked Rep. Tami Baldwin for her refusal to commemorate Congressional failures blanketed by the memory of the innocent victims of 9/11. Besides the propaganda movie “Path to 9/11” and its seamless editing which included a Bush live speech, the GOP "disgracefully politicized what should have been a solemn and sincere resolution," said Wisconsin’s 2nd District Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin.

She was not alone in her opposition to the resolution which like many GOP bills are a smorgasborg of corrupt deals, stolen liberties and Constitutional tradeoffs. Republicans refuse to give 9/11 the proper respect it deserves without tying in self-pompous praise for their own political benefit. Similar to the recent minimum wage increase bill proposed by the Republicans, they don’t think 9/11 commemorations have the virtues to “stand on its own” in their version of Congress.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it "self-congratulatory. It praises Congress for some reason. Instead of having the focus on the innocent victims of 9/11, it talked about the accomplishments of this Congress. I can't even imagine why they thought that was a good idea,"
"Instead they converted the resolution into an endorsement of the Patriot Act, punitive immigration bills, and other highly controversial measures, which many of my constituents oppose," she said in a statement explaining her vote.

The Republicans used the memory of 9/11 as a way to gain leverage supporting GOP measures. She added it was disrespectful to the Sept. 11 victims and families to be "playing election year politics" with the anniversary. Republicans see this all as business as usual.

"I could never say it better than political commentator Bill Maher did: 'It's better to be safe than sorry,' " said Republican Dave Magnum, the Portage-area broadcaster who is running against Baldwin in the Congressional race. Obviously, Dave Magnum won’t stand with his supporters when he’d rather play it safe than sorry and tow the party line, or else get smeared by his fellow Republicans. This country does not need another wannabe rubberstamp for the Bush Administration.

Unfortunately, some Democrats have gone along with many of the GOP’s hijinks mainly out of fear of retribution at the polls. Leaders like Baldwin, Murtha and Feingold have shed some light into the darkest area’s of Republican misleadership, area’s that others fear to go. With that said, getting smeared by the GOP is a badge of honor for those who stand up for American values their constituents demand.