Even though GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb thinks anyone afraid to take questions shouldn’t run for office (see YouTube, below the fold), Erik Paulsen continues to follow John Kline’s lead and shun Town Halls. However:
In lieu of district town hall meetings, Paulsen has opted to hold smaller forums with groups of constituents ranging from seniors to meetings with large employers and business leaders. (EdenPrairieNews.com)
“In lieu of district town hall meetings….”
Just like the guy he replaced, “right”?
WRONG.
Anyway, Paulsen is scheduled to pose, er, ‘scuse me, “appear” on Salem Communication’s KKMS radio station today at the State Fair at 3:00 pm. KKMS’ booth is located near Clough and Judson streets. Stop by if you’re near, and if you can, ask Paulsen: “Dude – Where’s My Town Hall?”
GOP State Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb, on Town Hall Forums:
Paulsen ’09:
Salem raadio stations; in Minneapolis/St. Paul:
KKMS-AM 980
KYCR-AM 1570
WWTC-AM 1280 (The “Patriot”)
(originally published at MnProgressiveProject.com)
Molly Ivins said that a definition of an honest politician in Texas is one that once bought, stays bought. Look no further than John Kline for proof of that, in a Texas politician. And Freshman GOPer Erik Paulsen sure seems to be following John Kline’s lead! Let’s look!
(hat tip to DustyTrice.com)
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
…the YouTube after his, isn’t funny. At all.
I’m a big fan of mockery, ridicule, and scorn, and no one does it better than Jon Stewart on The Daily Show – let’s look!
Unfortunately, there are things happening these days, that aren’t funny. At all. Blue man in a Red district just put up a post “featuring” the picture of a swastika spray painted on Congressman David Scott’s (D-GA) District Office sign.
Those that are paying attention realize this isn’t the first instance of rightwingers using the swastika, Hitler, SS, etc. I noted the following YouTube on CrooksAndLiars.com – and it isn’t funny, either.
There’s a powder keg, with a short fuse. And today’s GOP leadership is sending out sparks. If one of those sparks catches, well……you can be sure, the GOP will blame it on us.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Or, are you thinking of banking at Klein Bank? Perhaps you’re a member of SEIU, or some other union? Or, perhaps you simply care about where you do business?
Political Muse at Liberal in the Land of Conservative has an interesting post – go read it. Now.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
That’s a real quote, from a “participant” (cough, cough) at a Town Hall held the other day by Rep. Robert Inglis, R-SC.
Unreal. The disinformation put out by rightwing astroturf groups are even hitting the GOPers that do hold Town Halls – which, of course, don’t include GOPers Bachmann, Kline, or Paulsen.
Not only did GOPer Rep. Robert Inglis, R-SC, have the guts to face his constituents, he also had the common sense to tell them the truth:
“I had to politely explain that, ‘Actually, sir, your health care is being provided by the government,’ ” Inglis recalled. “But he wasn’t having any of it.” (WashingtonPost.com).
And why wasn’t the “keep your government hands off my Medicare” guy having any of it? Disinformation, pure and simple. Recently, the astroturf group “Conservatives For Patients Rights (yeah, “right”) had their ad fisked by FactCheck.org. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that their analysis of rightwing claims are, well, to quote the analysis:
CPR Administers Bad Facts, Again
* It’s not true that any of the health care overhaul measures that have been approved by committees in Congress would add “a trillion to the federal deficit,” as the ad says. The Senate bill would add roughly $597 billion over 10 years, and the House bill that was approved by the Ways and Means Committee in mid-July would add a much smaller $239 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (FactCheck.org)
Now, I’m looking at a very fancy brochure recently mailed out – at taxpayer expense – by Rep. Erik Paulsen, R=republiCon. And what does Rep. Erik Paulsen claim, in his published and mailed at taxpayer expense brochure? It’s “right” there, on page 2: “Their plan would cost over $1 trillion”
Way to go, Erik! Mailing out debunked disinformation, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.
Paul Krugman opined a little over a week ago on the subject: Why Americans hate single-payer insurance. Paul Krugman’s explanation? “Because they don’t know they have it.” And Paul Krugman uses the “particiapant” at the Town Hall, referenced above, as an example. Here’s what else Paul Krugman said:
One of the truly amazing and depressing things about the health reform debate is the persistence of fear-mongering over “socialized medicine” even though we already have a system in which the government pays substantially more medical bills (47% of the total) than the private insurance industry (35%).
In a way, this is the flip side of the persistent belief that the free market can cure healthcare, even though there are no places where it actually has; people also believe that government-provided insurance can’t work, even though there are many places where it does — and one of those places is the United States of America. (NYTimes.com)
And rather than correct the disinformation, Rep. Erik Paulsen, R=republiCon fuels the fire.
Gotta love today’s “conservatives”, doncha?
Well, in a word, “no.” And you certainly can’t trust them to tell the truth, either.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
…and MudSlingerMike is the mouthpiece.
By now, everyone knows the story about the MN GOP ripping DFLer Colin Peterson for Peterson’s decision not to hold “Town Hall” meetings. Dusty Trice made a great catch of State GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb engaging in the hypocrisy the GreedOverPrinciples party is so well-known for. Let’s watch!
Dusty followed up that YouTube with another YouTube of Michele Bachmann ducking questions. The contrast between what GOPer Brodkorb mouthed off about and Bachmann’s actions is quite clear – link here for Dusty’s entire post.
And Dusty Trice isn’t the only one that caught the blatant demonstration of GOPer hypocrisy; the St. Cloud Times Editorial Board weighed in, too! Let’s look!
Then what about Peterson’s neighbor, the GOP’s own 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann?
Except for one tightly controlled forum at which she barely spoke, we don’t recall any town meetings she’s held in this area since elected. (St. Cloud Times)
Ladies and Gentlemen, MudSlingerMike is simply demonstrating – once again – why reasonable people have no reason to believe anything that the GOP says (or, “trust”, as GOP National Chair Michael Steele said).
As Dusty said, Brodkorb’s actions are “unbelievable.” Nice catch, Dusty.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it’s called, it certainly isn’t the truth. Keep in mind republiCon John Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only “Town Hall” – and I use that term loosely, Erik Paulsen has shown no inclination to do any “Town Halls” despite his predecessor’s record of doing multiple – and legitimate – Town Hall meetings twice a year. As far as the ol’ MotorMouth herself, as far as I can tell Bachmann has never held a “Town Hall.” She did “host” a “Forum” earlier this year, but: she let a paid shill lawyer do the talking.
Fast forward to last night: wanting to see how long it took Sean insHanitty to say something stupid, I tuned to Faux News at the top of the hour and was not disappointed. Especially since he had Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive on, “right” away! Let’s look!
Everybody catch that? Let’s review:
(3:15) Hannity: “What do you make, I’m watching Barney Frank and it doesn’t really really surprise me, he’s got a very safe district, but you know, the arrogance, the condescention, you know, the battling with the voters – something’s changed and I can’t quite pinpoint what it is. I’ve never seen voters attacked this way, have you?”
Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive: “Well, the great thing is that Members of Congress are at home this August – they’re having an opportunity to be actually able to hear from normal Americans about how they feel about this health care proposal rather than the lobbyists that have been swirling through the halls of Congress. This is a wonderful thing – we’re actually seeing Democracy in action and it’ll be very difficult for members of congress to go back to Washington DC in September and clearly vote against their constituent’s interests. None of them can say now that they didn’t realize where the heartbeat of the American public is and we’ll soon see if the liberals in Congress are listening to regular Americans.”
So, here we have Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive talking about how “wonderful” Town Halls are, and she’s never had one. And lest we not forget, Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only “Town Hall” and Paulsen shows no inclination to ever holding one.
Let’s watch what Minnesota GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb said, concerning Town Halls:
Which brings us back to what I said, up at the top:
Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it’s called, it certainly isn’t the truth.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
