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US Elections & Party Politics
Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) wrapped in corporate green by Chuck Richardson July 12, 2004: Well folks, the puissant one still has the Midas touch. Sensing that Democrats are gaining steam, our very own Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-Clarence—a licensed real estate and insurance broker; who belongs to the House of Representatives Republican Majority's leadership team; who is a member of the powerful House Rules Committee; a man who serves on the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal elections and campaign finance; who serves as a Deputy Majority Whip; who is "on leave with seniority" from the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee; who has a reputation for loyalty; who "wields influence on virtually every major state issue,” according to The Buffalo News; who served as Chairman of the Assembly Minority Affordable Housing Task Force, and was honored as Legislator of the Year by the American Legislative Exchange Council for his work championing affordable home ownership initiatives in New York state; who during his tenure in the state Assembly served on the Ways and Means, Transportation, Housing, Banks and Rules committees; who’s been lauded by the New York State Farm Bureau’s Circle of Friends; was honored by the New York State Sheriff’s Association as a Friend of Law Enforcement; who was named Legislator of the Year by the Shooters Committee on Political Education (SCOPE); who was inducted into the Kids Escaping Drugs Hall of Fame; honored by his hometown Chamber of Commerce with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award; who in just the past two years, helped deliver more than $272 million in federal money to his Western New York Congressional District; a man who has been cited for his record with awards and honors ranging from "Champion of the Dairy Farmers" and "Hero of the Taxpayer," to receiving the U.S. Apple Association's "Golden Apple Award" and the "Guardian Eagle" award for championing senior issues (not necessarily seniors); and who has quickly risen to a leadership position in every legislative seat he’s been elected to while garnering identical committee assignments in each—maneuvered $1 million plus from a few highly influential political action committees to 39 marked races late last month in an effort to discourage speculation that the Republican majority in the House is vulnerable this November. Wonder why Reynolds might be feeling a little antsy? His own seat may be secure, but if the Republicans lose control of the House, Reynolds stands to lose a lot of power. But would that really harm his constituents in the 26th Congressional District of New York? Might they find better representation in one of Reynolds’ opponents this November? Check out these six reasons to vote against him: House Rules Committee The House of Representatives, pressured by the White House and its Republican leadership, narrowly refused to weaken the Patriot Act recently. The House discarded a plan that would have restricted federal monitoring of library records and bookstore orders. A majority vote was needed for passage. It initially appeared the measure would pass, but the House Republican leadership coerced enough votes to beat it by allowing themselves more time for arm twisting, against House rules. In other words, Reynolds’ Rules Committee allowed cheating. "I resent bitterly on behalf of the American people that the Republican leadership rigged the game," said Rep. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and chief sponsor of the measure. "That's wrong." The vote was held open for 38 minutes instead of the normal 15. If the rules had been strictly abided by, the measure would have passed. "House leaders were unable to persuade enough of their colleagues to oppose the amendment on the merits and instead needed to resort to violating their own rules," said Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office. House Administration Committee In 2002, the House Administration Committee and Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which has had the effect of the Federal government encouraging and subsidizing the use of unverifiable, fraud-prone electronic voting systems by the states. In fact, the CEO of one of the leading manufacturers of e-voting machines (See Smirkingchimp.com), has close ties to President George W. Bush and vowed to do everything he could to make sure Bush was re-elected. Still, one out of every four voters will face the same old machines and unreliable counting procedures this November (see knoxstudio.com)—many being the same ones that bungled the 2000 presidential race in Florida—despite HAVA’s passage two years ago. Flaws in counting the 2000 general election were far wider than was commonly reported at the time, with more than 1.6 million ballots in 38 states not registering a vote for president, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study. Less than 50 percent of voters in the 2000 presidential election used aging machines, yet they accounted for two-thirds of the known undervote, according to Scripps. County boards of election, however, which operate in fiscally strapped areas where residents are middle class and lower, were disproportionately affected, suggesting a de facto disenfranchisement of the poor. New questions were raised about electronic voting machines last July when a Johns Hopkins study found the machines’ software could be manipulated (see Insightmag.com). Vendors, however, claimed that wasn’t the case, but few answers have emerged. Reynolds, of course, as chairman of the National Republican Committee and a member of the House Administration Committee, is one of the main players spreading the molasses. House Ways & Means Committee Reynolds, as a de facto committee member, helps oversee America’s trade and health policies, Social Security, human resources and select revenue measures. In other words, our representative in Congress has a good deal of power crafting the federal government’s economic legislation. In March, decision-makers from leading industries took the chance to schmooze with key senators and congressmen about taxes and politics at The 15th Annual Tax, Budget & Legislative Policy Seminar co-sponsored by Baker & Hostetler LLP (See bakerlaw.com). Attendees included former bug exterminator now legally embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Reynolds, who together are shaping policies that affect big corporations. The event’s guest list was “A who’s who in politics,” according to the Rev. Moon- owned Washington Times, which neglected to say it was also a who’s who in business, since more than 200 corporate executives and the press, including The News Hour and Fox, were there. “This is the most valuable seminar I have ever attended,” said David Hogan, CFO of Certified Oil, who has attended for years. “I juggle my schedule to make sure I can attend it every year. It has had tremendous impact on my business decisions. No other seminar comes close.” “We’re proud to be in a position to offer this extraordinary opportunity to our valued clients and friends,” said Alec Wightman, executive partner of Baker & Hostetler. “Our Government Policy Team does a remarkable job bringing leading members of Congress to speak to this distinguished audience. The strong relationships between our Legislative Team and Congressional leaders are evident in the introductions and kind words they share on the podium. Clients across the country have told me how much they appreciate the chance to gain insight that very few people are in a position to share,” Wightman said. The Baker & Hostetler Government Policy Team has clientele that seek resolutions for federal and state policy-related concerns through legislative or administrative aversion (See bakerlaw.com). In other words, they help write laws to benefit their clients’ interests, usually at the expense of a little guy somewhere outside the loop. The team resolves its clients’ concerns by contributing to legislation before Congress and its committees. It also helps the executive branch administer and form federal policy. The team provides similar services at the state level, just like the American Legislative Exchange Council. The team’s lawmaking clients include commercial and investment banking, securities and insurance brokerages, telecommunications companies, sports concerns, newspaper publishers and other media and communication companies, agricultural concerns, transportation companies, utilities, real estate developers, higher education institutions, trade associations, a wide range of health care providers and manufacturers. In a word, giant corporations. Adding to its regulatory and legislative abilities, Baker & Hostetler provides complete legal counsel on state and federal campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws. Its lawyers have advised congressional and national party committees on ethics issues and election law, and provided advice to political action committees (PACs), corporations and trade associations on how to legally engage in politics. The team provides a way to advance corporate political interests by the drafting and passage of legislation, advocacy in opposition to legislation or working with administrative agencies on regulations beneficial to its clients. This combination of legal work and lobbying is untypical, according to the firm’s web site. Shooters Committee on Political Education The Shooters Committee on Political Education, which Reynolds proudly touts as political supporters, is a right-wing whacko group that accuses the United Nations of wanting to confiscate Americans’ guns and claims top law enforcement officials favor concealed weapon carry laws. Tommy may be getting older, but he’s still a cowboy. $272 Million to 26th Congressional District in last term Reynolds secured $45 million for defense projects as a Steering panel member, according to a Congress Daily report titled “GOP insiders win earmarks for defense projects.” (see GovExec.com) The Omnibus Spending Bill changes how Congress spends money because it sets and revises government policies without congressional review (See commondreams.org). "It may be a signal that the appropriations process is broken," said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB-Watch, a government-watchdog group. "The entire legislative apparatus of openly considering spending—that is through the committee process and public votes—is lost. There is no accountability." Critics say the spending process gives too much influence to House members and omits geographic areas and projects put forward by lawmakers who aren't in the right political party or committee. The Republican majorities in both houses of Congress are using appropriations to push their agendas while supporting incumbent cronies with pork-barrel projects and punishing those who rebel. The amount Congress spent on pork-barrel projects has nearly doubled since 1996 to about $22 billion this year. The budget, as Goldman Sachs recently said, is "out of control…these Republicans have presided over an orgy of tax cuts and benefit increases that, according to the Concord group, will not only boost this year's projected deficit but also add as much as $800 billion to the national debt over the next 10 years (See MotherJones.com). The damage will be even greater in the following decade. Among the more prominent items are $400 billion for Medicare, $300 billion in tax cuts and $22 billion in new veterans' benefits. If the energy bill had passed, which fortunately did not happen, that would have added another $23 billion to $30 billion in tax cuts, plus perhaps twice that much in newly authorized programs. And all of this comes on top of three consecutive tax cuts totaling more than $1.7 trillion over the next decade." Paul Krugman, in the New York Times Magazine, explains the method behind this conservative madness and how they’re a long way from deserting their long-term goal of smaller government. Krugman points to two conservative types "supply-siders," who believe government can lower taxes and not lower spending in proportion, because people will have more to spend and drive economic growth; and "starve-the-beasters," who also want taxes cut and spending increased to grow the budget deficit and limit gummint’s ability to operate in the future (See NYTimes.com). The current Republican leadership, says Krugman, is going the starve-the beast route, and could "move the nation a long way back toward the kind of limited government we had before Franklin Roosevelt. Lack of revenue ... will make it possible for conservative politicians—in the name of fiscal necessity—to dismantle immensely popular government programs that would otherwise have been untouchable." Economists say to combat the exploding deficit, taxes need to increase and spending needs to decrease. What will happen if we continue on the present course? Krugman, again: "America a couple of decades from now will be a place in which elderly people make up a disproportionate share of the poor, as they did before Social Security. It will also be a country in which even middle-class elderly Americans are, in many cases, unable to afford expensive medical procedures or prescription drugs and in which poor Americans generally go without even basic health care. And it may well be a place in which only those who can afford expensive private schools can give their children a decent education." Reynolds is feeding us pork with plans to cut us off later, hoping corporations will profit from the privatization of the public’s welfare. Corporations actually prefer third world conditions for doing business. No wonder they want the right to carry concealed weapons. Baghdad and Latin America are models for the new regime. Hero of the Taxpayer Reynolds doesn’t talk honestly about his record, misrepresenting the American Job Creation Act, as an example of his work for Western New Yorkers, according to Jack Davis, one of Reynolds’ opponents this November, adding that Reynolds’ vote for the bill is typical of his legislative record (See Speakupwny.com). “That bill gives a tax break to the offshoring multinational corporations while excluding the small businesses that create jobs here in America,” said Davis, adding that Reynolds enjoys spending taxpayers’ money to reward American companies for moving offshore to avoid paying federal taxes. Reynolds used his position on the House Rules Committee to kill a bipartisan amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would deny contracts to companies like Accenture that are based offshore for tax reasons. Reynolds is more loyal to corporate donors than to Western New Yorkers. Couldn’t Niagara Falls benefit from some of the money raised by corporations paying their fair share of taxes? Conclusion Reynolds is a corporate shill. His base is Bush’s base—the haves and the have mores. His actions belie a vision in which multinational corporations control everything and elected government is meaningless. He must be defeated, or at least the Republicans lose control of the House to diminish his—their—political economic power over those of us who actually live in Reynolds’ district. Jack Davis, the millionaire Republican businessman from Akron, who’s financing his own campaign to the tune of a half-million bucks while running as a Democrat, is better than Reynolds. Davis is pro-choice, fair trade over free trade, etc., but he’s really running in hopes of getting the estate death tax rescinded so he can pass his fortune down to his kids. The best choice, of course, is Paul Fallon. A former Green running as a Democrat, he knows that corporations suck the lifeblood out of people, and would fight hard to keep our plasma where it belongs—inside our bodies. Stay tuned for more on Reynolds while he attempts to consume evermore power for himself and his buddies. FURTHER READING Reynolds Nets Big PAC Haul, source RollCall.com GOP steering PAC money Kennedy's way National Republican Committee Chairman Biography, source NRCC.org Reynolds’ Bio, source House.gov © Copyright NiagaraBuzz.com, printed at Juryfury.com with Author's permission. About the Author(s): Chuck Richardson is editor of www.niagarabuzz.com. A poet, journalist, newspaper columnist, produced playwright and award-winning literary critic, he has just published his first book—Memos from Apartment 5—available now from Page Free Press. His writing has appeared on Z-Net, The Smirking Chimp, Buffalo Report, Buffalo Alt Press, Graphic Truth, corporations-suck.com and JuryFury.com, among others. He can be reached at Richardson@niagarabuzz.com. See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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