Where’s Betty?

April 29th, 2010

More Arrogance and Disrespect From Washington

The 13th District Candidates’ Forum, hosted by the Brunswick Community, included Democrat Justin Wooden; and Republicans James Brihan, Bill Haney, Jim Hrubik, Jason Meade and Todd Sharkey.  By most accounts the event was a success and a credit to the efforts of the Brunswick community.

“The moderators were great. I liked that they let the candidates ask each other questions. This kept it from being one big hug-fest with everyone agreeing on everything,” P. Bolyard – via meetup.com

Where was Betty Sutton that night?  Absent as usual.  Being absent from the district is nothing new…

LaPrensaToledo.com April 14, 2010

“Democrats Betty Sutton: Speaking on her behalf was Liz Walters, field representative, as Sutton did not attend the forum because she was needed in Washington, D.C. Incumbent Sutton is serving…“

This time, this story has a little twist. It started behind the scenes on the morning of April 21.

In an email sent to Brunswick Mayor Gary Werner, Jason Fink, Sutton’s Scheduler, announced that Congresswoman Sutton was unavailable and would be sending a proxy, Liz Walters, to read a prepared statement during the event.

In response to his email, Fink was told that the event was “a candidates’ forum, not a surrogates’ forum,” and organizers would not allow candidate representatives to read prepared statements during the event.   Fink was also told that changing the forum’s format would be unfair to the participating candidates.

This response hit a nerve with Sutton’s staff, because a very short time later, aggressive phone calls were placed from Washington to Mayor Werner and Vice Mayor Patrick.  In one call, Sutton’s Chief of Staff, Nichole Reynolds, said that she was upset with the forum policy and felt that the Mayor had not properly considered Sutton’s schedule when planning the event.

This is a good time to point out that planners of the event had contacted Sutton’s office not one, but twice, in the previous two months.  Each time, they invited the congresswoman to participate in the forum.  There was no response from Sutton’s office until the day of the event.

In a follow-up email, Nichole wrote: “We regret that you will not permit this [proxy speaker] to take place and allow the people to at least hear from their representative.”

That evening, one of Sutton’s representatives, who was in attendance, complained that Brunswick had made last minute changes concerning the use of surrogates.  He went on to insinuate that the Mayor had poorly planned the event’s timing.

To make such accusations against the host was in poor taste. Brunswick made every effort to include Sutton in the event.  What remains to be answered is why Sutton felt the sudden need to jump in the forum at the last moment.  Why didn’t her office contact Brunswick sooner? If she is so concerned about the people hearing from their representative, she might consider spending some time in the district and actually talking to her constituents instead of leaving it to her assistants.

“The Mayor and Vice Mayor, Republican and Democrat, did an outstanding job with the event. It was quick, it was informative and original in its application. Obviously considerable forethought was put into this event, and I truly believe that this debate served the interests of civil discourse, the city of Brunswick and the 13th district as a whole. My hat’s off to the Mayor and Vice Mayor for their professionalism in the face of immature antics and tantrums!” – Justin Wooden

“This simply shows a shockingly arrogant lack of respect by the Party endorsed candidates to both the City of Brunswick and the voters of the 13th Congressional District.  I am very disappointed in both.” – Jason Meade

THE EVENT – More intimidation

The forum began at 7PM with the candidate seated at the front of the room.  Two seats were left empty, one each for Sutton and Ganley.

Some at the event felt security was higher than normal for such a small program and wondered if Police were expecting a problem. The Mayor’s office dismissed this and said Police were simply expecting a larger crowd.

About an hour into the forum, a noisy group of Sutton supporters entered the room.  Each wearing a Betty Sutton campaign sticker and many wore clothing identifying themselves as union members.  The group is believed to have come from a Democrat meeting held that evening at the nearby library.

One attendee reported that only moments before the Sutton Supporters entered the room, the congresswoman’s Field Representative, Elizabeth Walters took a phone call and walked out with Mark Derrick to where the Sutton supporters would latter enter.

“[They] showed up 3/4 of the way through the evening and loudly made their way into the room, some to seats in the front row. After a few minutes, most of them left, again, noisily. A couple of them stuck around to rant to members of the crowd about healthcare or whatever their issues were. It was very, very odd!” – P Bolyard – via meetup.com

“They came in with an attitude intent on intimidating everyone there.” – Tom Fenske.

In an orchestrated move, one of the Sutton supporters, wearing a UAW jacket, emerged from the crowd and moved to the front of the room.  After a short period of standing, the man took a seat in the first row.

“He looked like he wanted a confrontation.” – Tom Fenske.*

“[He was] kind of menacing, sitting forward in his chair and shaking his head, glaring and making gagging gestures,” Steve S.

The man spent much of his time looking with hostility toward the Mayor and Vice Mayor.  At one point, Mayor Werner had to gesture to this man to keep  quiet after the man had shouted, “That’s just your opinion!” at one of the candidates.

At that time a Brunswick police officer quietly positioned himself between the man and the mayor.  While the UAW man’s actions seemed quite deliberate and intent on disrupting the event, he failed to do so.  The mayor didn’t miss a beat, and kept the forum moving smoothly to its conclusion.

Did Sutton’s staff call in these union thugs?  Did they arrive with the intent of disrupting the event?   There is certainly a resemblance to the pair of recent events where Sutton is known to have used unions to intimidate her opposition.

Connections aside, the big question remains: Where was Betty?  Why hasn’t she been able to sit down with the public in the last two years for a face-to-face meeting? The excuse of having to be in DC for legislative work, does not explain her appalling absence for the last 4 years. Nor does it explain her ability to pop into the district for a press conference earlier this week, or as keynote speaker at the 24th Ohio Employee Ownership Conference on Friday April 30 at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.

Betty will not face the people in an open forum, and it is time for the congresswoman to say why.

Perhaps Jason Meade said it best, it is an “arrogant lack of respect.”

*revised 4-30-2010

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Drunk

March 19th, 2010

“Being a liberal is the art of standing on ones own head and telling the rest of the world that they are upside down.” – Quinn’s Laws

Betty Sutton is so drunken by her lust for power that she blindly follows the Speaker with no regard for the best interest of OH-13.

Unable to pass health reform in the light of day under honorable methods,  Congresswoman Betty Sutton plans to wholeheartedly support the use of a  Constitutionally questionable procedural rule to achieve her power grab.  The  congresswoman and her democrat colleagues are conspiring to vote on a package of amendments to the Senate version of the health care bill which passed that chamber on Christmas Eve.

Under the rule written by Speaker Pelosi and Rules Committee Chair Slaughter, passage of this amendment will “deem” the Senate version of the health care bill to have passed the House – WITHOUT an actual vote on the bill.

Resorting to parliamentary tricks to pass a trillion dollar entitlement program is the perfect example of Sutton’s lack of integrity.  This maneuver has nothing to do with helping the American people.  It has everything to do with grabbing power for government.   If passed, Sutton’s health reform will take the control of one-sixth of our nation’s economy from the people, and hand it to the federal government.  Sadly, Sutton has become so drunken by her lust for power, that she cannot step back to see the damage she’s doing.

We sent Congresswoman Sutton to Washington as a representative of OH-13, but somehow we’ve ended up with a xerox vote for Speaker Pelosi.

Betty,

Be warned, the time for change is near.

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No Surprise Here

March 18th, 2010

Bety Sutton Dennis Kucinich

Representatives Betty Sutton and Denny Kucinich Pledge to Vote Against the American People.

Received with far less fanfare than the Kucinich announcement, Representative Sutton (OH-13) has committed to a yes vote on the latest version of health reform.

“Every year more than 40,000 people die because they don’t have health insurance coverage, and in this great nation it should not be that way. The legislation is not perfect and indeed contains provisions that I will continue to strive to improve, but I will vote for the bill. By passing this legislation we will take the long overdue step toward ending the egregious, discriminatory practices of insurance companies that deny care based on pre-existing conditions and impose outrageous premium increases. This legislation will also strengthen the solvency of Medicare, lower drug costs for our seniors, and make health insurance more affordable and accessible for small businesses and individuals.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday that a number of Ohio’s Democrats are actually waiting to read the final bill before making their decisions.  Who has time for that?  There is no reason to actually know what you are voting on.  Words be damned, the President and Speaker said it was a good plan, so it must be a good plan.  Right, Betty?

Well, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, Americans disagree.  In fact, only 43% of Americans actually favor the health care plan Sutton and he cohorts are forcing upon us. 53% oppose it. These findings include just 23% who strongly favor the plan and 46% who Strongly Oppose it.

Betty, you are running on the wrong side of this issue, and using made up facts to support your stance.  And, just like your vote on Cap And Trade, you are pushing forward on a plan that you have openly acknowledge to be flawed.  You were elected to represent the people of OH-13, not to be a lap dog for house leadership.

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Buy American

February 11th, 2010

Betty Sutton - hypocrite

Betty Sutton - Hypocrite

One of Congresswoman Sutton’s pet projects has been a push to include ‘Buy America’ language in the house Jobs Bill (H.R. 2847).  Through this, Sutton hopes to create and protect American jobs.  For the moment, I’ll leave aside the opinions of experts and historians who disagree with this approach and believe it will ultimately do more harm than good.   Instead, I want to concentrate on our representative’s commitment to this philosophy.

Last year, on NPR, speaking of her Buy American Provisions, Sutton said,

“It just ensures that American tax dollars are supporting American workers doing the work that we need to have done.”

More recently, on December 16, 2009, Sutton published a press release to her official website in which she said the following,

“At a time when unemployment is at 10 percent in this country, it is critical now more than ever that we stand with American workers and businesses.  As we invest in our nation’s infrastructure and manufacturing, the American taxpayers expect that the projects and products made will be produced in America by American workers.”

If, as Sutton believes, keeping federal tax dollars within our national borders is a positive move for American workers, then it would stand to reason that buying goods and services from the 13th district of Ohio would be good for the worker of the district.

Practice What You Preach

“When liberalism conflicts with reality, reality must give way.” – Quinn’s Law

It was not long ago that Betty took $118,838 of your tax dollars to produce a pair of self-promoting mailings.  The publishing company chosen by Sutton to complete this controversial task was the Mount Vernon Printing Company.  For those of you following along at home, the Mount Vernon Printing Company is located in Landover, MD (MD-4).

Certainly, with only a small amount of research, Sutton’s staff could have located a printing company within the borders of Ohio’s thirteenth district. Instead, the Congresswoman took nearly $120,000 which had been entrusted to her, as the representative of OH-13, and spent it to support her own campaign and the workers of Maryland’s 4th district.  This was done at a time when Ohio’s unemployment rate has nearly topped 11 percent.

You cannot have it both ways, Betty.  If your ideas are good, then enact them in your own daily work.

Betty Sutton

Look-At-Me

Knowing how busy you have been I decided to save you some work and have drafted a “Buy OH-13” plan for you:

  1. All business transactions completed by your offices will follow a strict “Buy OH-13” policy.
  2. If a project or purchase must be completed by a company from outside our district, then you must publish on the Internet within 30 days a detailed, written justification as to why the product or service cannot be completed by an OH-13 business.  It will also be necessary for you to including the amount of tax dollars being spent.
  3. For any wavier to this plan, you shall provide, as part of the written justification, a statement detailing the short and long term impacts of the waiver on OH-13 employment.
  4. You can request a waiver based on “unavailability/insufficient district source” only if after publishing your request on the Internet for at least 5 business days a sufficient OH-13 source of the material, product, or service does not identify itself during the period.

My plan will slow down the work of your offices, and I understand that it is an inefficient and expensive way to conduct business, however, as my grandmother use to say,

“ What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

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Posted in Spending | 5 Comments »

Misplaced Confidence

January 23rd, 2010

Ohio's unemployment number rise for the fourth consecutive month. Thank you Betty Sutton.

Betty Sutton, did you notice that Ohio's unemployment numbers are up for the fourth consecutive month?

Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services recently released their December 2009 Unemployment Report.  Our unemployment rate has now reached 10.9 percent, up from 10.6 in November.  This is the ninth straight month of double-digit unemployment in the buckeye state.

Since Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D-OH) voted to pass H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Ohio has lost ten’s of thousands of jobs.

Betty,

Where is the recovery?

When you helped pass this legislation you told us,

“Overall, this legislation seeks to provide short term help to those who have been hurt the most by the economic downturn, and long term solutions to put our economy on solid footing for years to come.” – Sutton

Ohio Unemployment under Sutton

2009 Ohio Unemployment

When exactly will those long term solutions begin to solve the problems facing Ohio?  The solid footing you spoke of seems a little shaky.

“The time to act on strengthening our nation’s economy is now. I am confident that this comprehensive legislation will provide Ohio and our Nation with the opportunity to improve our financial footing for 2009 and beyond.“- Sutton

Your confidence was misplaced.  How is it that your critics could plainly see the outcome of your work, yet you pushed forward blindly?  As predicted, the act has done little or nothing to stop the bleeding of Ohio jobs.  Despite your wishful plans, Ohio was not on an improved financial footing by the end of 2009.”

Your work in Washington has been a failure.

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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

November 26th, 2009

A Demonstration of Quinn’s Law: Liberals never think what they are doing is wrong, they only think they haven’t done enough of it yet

Betty Sutton, clearly the best choice for a job creation task force.

Betty Sutton, clearly the best choice for a job creation task force.

The economic stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009.  Betty and her cohorts promised it would help bring about a recovery for the slumping economy.   So, how is this promised help working out for OH-13? Let’s look at two numbers from recovery.gov, a website created by the Obama administration to track the recovery efforts.

Betty Sutton has spent $153,496,938.00 of recovery money in the district.   Her spending spree has created 149.5  jobs.  After a little quick math, that seems to work out to 1.26 million dollars per job.  Well done, Betty!

Back in February Betty had this to say:

“The Recovery and Reinvestment Act is simple – it is about putting our people back to work and reinvigorating our economy. The need for this legislation could not be more important. America’s families are hurting. Last month, our country lost nearly 600,000 jobs and unemployment in our country has reached a staggering 7.2 percent. These are not statistics – these are hardworking Americans who are now struggling to pay their bills, provide for their children and who are wondering how they can afford health insurance. Today’s legislation is aimed squarely at restoring the promise of the middle class to our hard-working families.

Ohio has been hit particularly hard, with a statewide unemployment rate of 7.8%. Today’s legislation is expected to save or create 133,000 jobs throughout Ohio, providing families with the opportunity to regain or obtain wages they need and desire. It also provides our state with necessary resources to help stabilize the local economy and address other challenges. Ohio’s schools will receive approximately $2.7 billion for necessary school improvements and programs for our children. Our state will also receive over $3 billion in federal funding for Medicaid, ensuring that our most vulnerable citizens receive the healthcare they need and deserve.”

This is Congresswoman Sutton from today. Democrats work on multibillion-dollar jobs package L.A. Times

“The stimulus boosted employment but did it in a way that was not as highly visible as a lot of people would like.  It did so in somewhat of a scattershot approach — a job here and a job there, trickled out over time. . . . Far too many Americans are without a job, and far too many more are worried about what tomorrow is going to bring.”

Since the stimulus bill was enacted in February, the United States has lost 2.8 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Job losses increased in 29 states, including Ohio, last month.  Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services reported that the state’s unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in October, up from 10.1 percent in September.

Now President Obama, Betty Sutton and the Democratic majority in Congress are assembling a new jobs package that would devote billions of additional dollars to projects meant to put people back on payrolls in 2010 and keep them working.

All of this is proof that Betty Sutton is the perfect choice to co-chair a task force on job creation.  Let’s just hope the other guy knows what he’s doing.

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You Are What You Eat

November 26th, 2009

and defined by the company you keep.

Betty Sutton Accepts Award From Anti Meat Activists

Representative Sutton accepts her Humane Champion award from Anti-Meat activists Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, and Michael Markarian, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

When Betty said that she was committed to protecting the welfare of our nation’s animals and protecting them against cruelty, did anyone think that included a radical change to Thanksgiving dinner? It just might.

For the last two years, Betty Sutton has been chumming it up with the leaders of the Humane Society Of America.  In fact, she’s been awarded their Humane Champion, and Humane Legislator award each of the last two years.

“Reducing America’s consumption of farm animals is one of the important goals of The Humane Society of the United States” -  Gail Berrigan – Humane Society Of America

For those not familiar with the Humane Society Of America, it is important to recognize that this organization is not associated with your local Humane Society.  The HSUS is a radical animal rights group with a mission of shutting down our nations farms and making the United States a population of vegetarians.

The lobbing arm of the HSUS, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, works tirelessly to influence lawmakers at the state and federal level.  Ohio farmers, not willing to trust their legislators, recently took a preemptive strike against the HSUS with Issue 2.  The people of Ohio recognized that the HSUS is bad news for Ohio’s agriculture industry and our fragile economy, that’s why they voted with the farmers and against HSUS.  As expected though, if there is an opportunity to put the screws to Ohio, Betty Sutton is ready to be the poster girl.

As you enjoy that thanksgiving Turkey, or that slice of mouthwatering ham, remember this: If Betty Sutton’s friends have their way, someday you’ll be stuck with over priced tofu-turkey and roastless roasts.

Happy Thanksgiving… for now.

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An Afghanistan Answer, Almost.

November 18th, 2009

Betty Sutton Rides Political Fence

Betty Sutton Rides the Political Fence

Let’s start with the question posed by Jonathan Riskind and the Columbus Dispatch back on September 20th.  This is the same question constituent Dick Calta revisited in his November 5th  West Side Leader editorial.

Do you think more U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan?

When will the United States know whether the mission has succeeded and U.S. troops can withdraw from Afghanistan?”

After just 53 days, Sutton has released her Official Afghanistan Message.  In that letter, dated November 12th, Betty used more than 970 words to respond to, but never actually answer the questions.

The congresswoman’s unwillingness to answer questions is nearing cliché at this point.  She seems to have built an entire career out of political fence riding.  Don’t believe me? Call the congresswoman’s office and ask for her position on [insert issue here].  If you’re lucky, you might get a statement about the representative carefully weighing all opinions and information before making a decision.  More often, a voice at the other end will inform you that your concerns and questions will be forwarded on and someone will look into them.

Today, I am posing a new and more direct line of questions for the congresswoman.

Dear Congresswoman Sutton,

I’ve read your response to the Afghanistan debate, and considering how busy your staff tells me you have been, I appreciate that you found time to address this issue.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to find an answer to the question Jonathan Riskind of the Columbus Dispatch asked you on September 20th.  I am sure this omission was merely an oversight, much like the Constitution question at the August Tele-Town Hall.

I have one simple question for you regarding troop levels in Afghanistan.

Q) YES or NO – Do you support General McChrystal’s urgent request for additional troops in Afghanistan?

As a reminder, in February of 2007, in a speech before the Rules Committee, you wholeheartedly supported the opinions of President George W. Bush’s military commander, Gen. John Abizaid.  You quoted portions of his  Senate Armed Services Committee testimony to support your opposition to the troops serge in Iraq.  For consistency’s sake, I assume you will continue to support the expert opinions of our President’s military commanders, particularly those of General McChrystal who was hand selected for his skills and knowledge by President Obama.

I look forward to your response.

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