Amidst the votes dealing with weighty topics like "Dutch American Friendship Day" and "International Women's Day", I missed the vote for H R 720 last week. This act amends the Clean Water Act to add funding for study grants, community sewage projects and the like. Randy Kuhl voted against the majority of his party in support of this bill, and that makes it a significant vote.
Yesterday's massive derailment and explosion in Oneida, just east of the 29th, has again focused attention on rail safety in Western New York. Earlier this year, Randy Kuhl announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would send a special track inspection vehicle to the area. That announcement was prompted by another spectacular derailment East Rochester in January.
Today's Democrat and Chronicle carries an editorial calling for more scrutiny of the rail system. Noting Chuck Shumer's call for a $50 million appropriation to update railroad infrastructure, it makes the important point that we first need to understand the problem, as well as the railroad's plan for fixing it, before throwing money around. Kuhl hasn't called for more appropriations, and the use of a track inspection machine probably falls in the category of oversight, which is what Congress is supposed to do. It will be interesting to see if Kuhl echos Shumer's call for money, or if he waits for the results of the inspection.
Of course, the most pertinent question is why the FRA wasn't on top of this problem before the derailments occurred.
Reader Rich wrote to point out Bob Lonsberry's March 7 column, where he asks the same question that I asked last month: Why do Veterans have a separate and unequal healthcare delivery system? Bob's column adds another angle, pointing out that medicaid recipients are entitled to care in any facility, yet Veterans aren't.
In his appearance on This Week yesterday, Bob Dole made a similar, though more narrow point:
I haven't made any judgments, but it seems to me that, if the V.A. is not equipped and Department of Defense hospitals are not equipped to deal with these very complex, say, brain injuries, then they ought to go to some private hospital where they are equipped and where they've been doing it for 30, 40, 50 years.
Dole is the co-chair of President Bush's new "Wounded Warriors" commission that will look into issues with health care delivery to wounded soldiers.
The Water Buffalo Press takes a closer look at union membership and "the average American". It turns out that a disproportionate percentage of unionized workers are in the public sector, and that the states with the lowest percentage of union membership are some of those with the highest rates of recent growth.
I agree with the Press' view that HR 800 "may benefit the membership rolls but I have trouble believing it will benefit our economy". That's why I think this issue isn't going to resonate with voters in the 29th, and shouldn't be emphasized by Democrats in the '08 campaign.
Over at Rochesterturning, pystew links to Eric Massa's explanation for referring to Randy Kuhl as "John Kuhl". The reason goes back to a snotty remark from Kuhl in the last campaign.
I don't think this little dig will win Massa any votes. Similarly, I don't that Kuhl's use of the term "Democrat Party" helps his cause. When Massa explains the "John Kuhl" remark, he gives the impression that he's so thin-skinned that he dwells on little slights. When Kuhl uses the term "Democrat Party", he shows that he's so enamored of the President that he even re-uses Bush's favorite locutions.
It's all part of the sideshow that so often becomes the main event in American politics. These kind of tactics just reinforce the cynical view that campaigns are no more than pissing matches full of name-calling and other playground bullshit. Voters deserve better.
Unions tend to be a Democratic sacred cow, so a lot of Democrats might think that Randy Kuhl's recent anti-labor vote will hurt Kuhl in the long run. I'm not so sure that the average voter in the 29th will buy the link between more unions and higher wages. To those with who think otherwise, I'd like to share some simple statistics.
In 1990, Rochester was 59th in a list of US cities ranked by median income. In 2000, Rochester was 68th. During that same time, the percentage of workers in Rochester who were union members grew from 12.5% to 14.4%.
This is far from a sophisticated economic analysis, but it does indicate that there's no clear relationship between prosperity and union membership. It's an inconvenient fact for those who are inclined to support the ad campaign mentioned yesterday.
Reader Rich writes to report that Americans United for Change will begin airing ads targeting Randy Kuhl in the Elmira market on Monday. The ads (listen here, script here [pdf]) charge that Kuhl's vote against HR 800, the Employee Free Choice Act, is a vote "against legislation that would help middle-class workers get ahead".
In addition to Kuhl, Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA-6) is also targeted. Like Kuhl, Gerlach's re-election was a squeaker (3,000 votes). The ads are funded to run for one week.
Eric Massa announced his candidacy last night at a taping of "Coleman and Company", a political talk show aired by WETM-2, the Time/Warner Cable channel of WETM. That show will be aired on Sunday.
It must have been a slow news day at Randy Kuhl's Thursday press conference, because the only news that I've seen reported from there was the non-announcement of Kuhl's candidacy. Kuhl said it was too early for him to announce, but he's "doing everything I need to do" in order to run again.
Text of Massa's announcement email after the break:
Last night at the studios of WETM TV in Elmira New York I told the audience of Coleman and Company, a local 30 minute TV talk show that I intend to run against John Kuhl of Hammondsport for the honor of representing the 29th Congressional district before the United States House of Representatives in Washington DC.
I take this decision, one of the most difficult I, or my family, has ever faced - because of several reasons. But none is so clear as the continuing assault on the security of our Nation, the ongoing war on the Middle Class that built it, and the Veterans who defended it at home and overseas.
The war in Iraq is making us less secure. It is consuming our most valuable resources, the men and women of the Armed forces, their equipment and their ability to defend us around the world. It has cost us over a trillion dollars and continues to cost us more than $27,000 every minute of every day that we occupy Baghdad. Instead of new strategy to shorten our involvement in a never ending Civil War, we have been given more of the same with rubber stamp votes of approval by some in Congress. That must change.
Here at home, Corning New York, a family is facing the deployment of both parents leaving a two-month-old child behind in the care of grandparents. John Kuhl recently wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense to review deployment policies when both parents are available for deployment. The truth is that no letter will relieve the tremendous strain on our military and for politicians to rubber stamp George Bush's surge and then try to cover the results of their votes with letters to the Secretary of Defense they only expose themselves for what they really are. That must change.
The assault on the Middle Class continues with the President proposing a new tax on health care benefits as a way of further forcing working Americans to seek ever lower standards of medical coverage. The Free Traders of Congress and the White House continue to force living wage jobs overseas and there has been a fundamental breech in the contract between the people of the Government and the Government of the People. We are Americans first and the professional politicians in Washington DC have forgotten that to the destruction of tens of millions of working American families. That must change.
We have now seen the tip of the iceberg with the growing scandal that is outpatient health care at Walter Reed Medical hospital, the crown jewel of military medicine. Here, in our own backyard, a decision knowingly made and agreed to by the Washington politicians in 2004, is now final and the key in-patient mental health care hospital at the Canandaigua VA center has closed it's doors - with no real alternative for care for those left out in the cold. With an ever dwindling representation of Veterans in Congress those men and women who represented us on the battlefield are not be in represented in Washington. That must change.
We face real and pressing National emergencies that can only be addressed in a clear "say-what-you-mean-and-mean-what-you-say" voice. I intend to be that voice and with your help we will build on the tremendous success that we saw in 2006 and bring a higher standard of leadership to Washington DC. Please join us at www.dailykos.com for an in depth discussion of this race and the issues that face our District and our Nation at 3PM New York time for live blogging, some good humor and some serious discussion about where we need to take this Congress and this Nation.
Randy Kuhl today introduced HR 1382 yesterday. This bill calls for an "assured adequate level of funding for veterans' health care." According to an article in Slate, the VA budget has been the subject of tricks for years. Not only does the VA underestimate the number of vets who will apply for benefits, they've also tried to shift costs to vets by raising deductibles and enrollment fees.
The VA budget also makes no provisions for a rising caseload in the next couple of years, and it also predicts zero increase in costs in the years 2009-12. In other words, the Bush Administration has gamed the VA budget to make it appear smaller. This makes the deficit appear smaller, and it also makes tax cuts seem more fiscally responsible.
The text of Kuhl's bill hasn't been posted yet, so it's not clear how deep it digs into the morass of VA funding. Since the bill is brand-new, Kuhl is the only co-sponsor. Success will depend on his ability to gather co-sponsors and push the bill through committee.
In other troop-supporting news, Kuhl wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking him to review the DOD's policy on the simultaneous deployment of two parents to military zones. This policy came up during his Henrietta meeting, probably due to recent media coverage of the plight of some kids in the 29th who have two parents in the military.
HR 1382 is the first significant piece of legislation introduced by Kuhl in the 110th Congress. In honor of that milestone, here's a little educational entertainment:
Randy Kuhl's office has posted his letter to the VA protesting the closure of the Canandaigua VA Hospital acute psychiatric unit. The Water Buffalo Press contacted his office, which denied that the response was due to pressure from Eric Massa. The same staffer said that the letter reflects Kuhl's long-held beliefs regarding the closing.
Whatever Kuhl's long-held beliefs may be, today's fire-and-brimstone letter is much more forthright than his spokesman's response when the news of the closing leaked just before the election. Back then, Bob VanWicklin was trying to spin the closing not such a bad thing, since the overall level of services to vets would be increased. That's no longer Kuhl's position.
Writing a letter to the VA is probably the limit of Kuhl's influence on this particular issue. At Saturday's meeting in Henrietta, he also said that he supported full funding of the VA budget. Given the mess at Walter Reed, which apparently extends to VA facilities, there's little doubt that Kuhl will have an opportunity to express his long-held beliefs, as well as his support for full VA funding, in the form of a vote.
Randy Kuhl's press release on HR 800, the Employee Free Choice Act, says:
This Orwellian bill is the most misnamed legislation I’ve seen in my years as a legislator. [...] The bill actually takes away an employee’s ability to make a ‘free choice’ on whether to organize a labor union.
At his town meeting in Henrietta on Saturday, Kuhl also mentioned that the bill was supported by the Communist Party. As I pointed out last week, Kuhl co-sponsored last session's version of the bill, and withdrew that sponsorship only after the election. Since he's saying that this bill is now an Orwellian, Communist plot, I wondered what's different about this year's version.
Not much, as it turns out. There are exactly three changes between the 109th and 110th versions of the bill:
I can't believe that those four changed words alone made this bill "the most misnamed legislation" Kuhl's ever seen. That makes me conclude that another Orwellian principle is at work here: the big lie. Repeat it long enough, and loud enough, and people will forget that you were for this bill before you were against it.
The more I see them in action, the more I'm convinced that the current MoveOn.org presence in the 29th is pernicious. That's unfortunate, because I'm sure that most of the folks associated with MoveOn think they're doing the right thing, but their tactics are backfiring.
For those who are interested in changing the 29th, but might have some doubts about your current MoveOn affiliation, I offer you a 5-step program to wean yourselves from some of MoveOn's bad habits. Don't worry -- there's no higher power involved, and you can still drink heavily.
1. Concentrate on your local campaign.
You may feel that Randy Kuhl beat you unfairly. After all, he used negative campaign ads, had lots of corporate contributions, and used every bit of leverage available to an incumbent. Guess what? He's going to do it again in 2008. Complaining about it is as pointless as bitching about the weather: you can't change it, you can only prepare for it.
The first step in recovery is to focus on what you can do to beat the opponent you have in the district where you live. Kuhl will be well-financed and using every tool of incumbency. How do you beat someone with those advantages? By grassroots organization, canvassing, contributing to and fundraising for Kuhl's opponent. Unless you're at your legal limit for contributions to Massa, stop giving your money to MoveOn or any other national organization. Encourage your friends to do the same. If you live in the 29th, and you're passionate about change in Washington, a check to the Massa campaign is the most direct way your dollars can affect your government.
2. Figure out who you're trying to convince, and put yourself in their shoes.
The second step in MoveOn recovery is to figure out the audience you're trying to convince, and to tailor your message to that audience. In the 29th, your audience is 3,000 voters who voted for Kuhl, and the others who didn't come to the polls on election day. It isn't your fellow MoveOn supporters -- they're already convinced.
Your target is the much-maligned "centrists" or "moderates". They probably supported the Iraq war at the beginning and now are against it. They don't need to be lectured about how wrong it was to get in -- they simply want to hear your proposal for getting out. They're also leery about some of the other issues that fire you up. For example, single-payer health care is hard for most people to swallow, because the government's track record on providing health care is simply awful. Nevertheless, there are a lot of reforms that are needed by single-payer that moderates can view as smart changes to a broken system. Ron Wyden's plan is a good example.
As you work to convince moderates, remember the difference between moral beliefs and a political agenda. The former is your touchstone in life, and should never be abandoned. The latter is what's possible today. You need to separate the two. As long as your political agenda maps out a road leading to where your moral beliefs tell you to go, you are making progress. This is a case where baby steps are better than no steps at all.
3. Respect your opponent.
Perhaps Randy Kuhl is a creep, or a jerk, or something similar. If so, he's the creep that kicked your side's ass last election. That alone deserves some respect. Also, creep or not, he's pretty effective with small groups and he does work hard. Look next door at NY-25, where Jim Walsh is just starting to have a few town meetings. Kuhl has been having those meetings for over twenty years. You may disagree with the way he conducts the meetings, but don't forget that he's having them. His office is also very responsive to constituents.
So, easy on the haterade. It clouds your judgment and impedes your recovery. When you make your opponent a caricature, you're caught off-guard when Kuhl acts like what he is, which is a canny, experienced politician. Underestimating your opponent is the first step on the road to defeat. Acknowledging your opponent's good side also makes you more credible among moderates -- they tend to be people who see shades of grey, not black-and-white.
4. Get out of the echo chamber.
It's very comfortable to only read the work of those who agree with you, and the Internet makes it easy to do. But reading just netroots blogs isn't going to exercise you mind, or expose you to the kinds of thinking that you're going to encounter from residents of the 29th. So the next step in your recovery is to move outside the liberal blogs and read the writing of some intelligent conservatives.
You don't need to listen to Rush Limbaugh, but spending a little time reading the work of people like Andrew Sullivan, George Will and David Brooks will probably be rewarding. Locally, I think Bob Lonsberry's column is worth a read every so often. Try to figure out how you would respond to the arguments that these guys make. Look for points of agreement -- you might be surprised. In short, exercise your mind to avoid Kos- and MyDD-induced atrophy.
5. Tone down your tactics.
If you're going to attend one of Kuhl's public meetings, think about how you would feel about someone from "the other side" using MoveOn tactics at one of Louise Slaughter's meetings. If you're inclined to hold up signs, think about how you would feel about someone holding signs saying "Louise Votes to Kill Babies". What if a pro-lifer stood up and interrupted Louise while she was speaking, because that person couldn't wait to deliver the letters of 150 constituents who had written letters opposing Roe v. Wade? What if those pro-lifers began to grumble, grouse and make snide remarks while you were speaking in defense of the right to choose?
The final step in the recovery plan is to take a good, hard look at your tactics and see whether they're really effective. If you would find those tactics offensive from others, then they're offensive, period. You also need to put yourself in the shoes of Kuhl and his staff. For example, what's the good of handing Kuhl 150 letters at once? Perhaps those who wrote will get responses, but in the end those letters are easily identified as being from people who will never vote for Randy. Better to send those letters individually and keep him guessing.
That's it - a simple but effective program for self-betterment, world peace and free beer for everybody. Never forget that MoveOn addiction is a powerful force. If you follow this program carefully, you might be able to kick, though I can't guarantee that you won't be jonesing for long time afterwards.