Franklin County Democrats

At the Truman Days Banquet last weekend we had the pleasure of hearing from many of our candidates for office.  I would like to recognize the candidate for Congress in the new 3rd Congressional District, Eric C. Mayer.  He is the only Democrat running for this office which is currently held by insurance executive Blaine Leutkemeyer.  The new 3rd will encompass all of Franklin County.

Please visit the website of Eric C. Mayer to learn more about his campaign.  It would be refreshing to have someone in congress that represents the people of the district and will address issues that actually matter.  Mr. Leutkemeyer has been sending out Blaine’s biased bulletin disguised as reports from Congress long enough.   How about someone that is not just a corporate mouthpiece?

On September 30, 2011 several area residents of the 9th Congressional District gathered at the Washington district office of Congressmen Blaine Luetkemeyer to present a petition signed by 7,600 constituents.  The petition stated:

Dear Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer,

7,600 of your constituents have signed a petition that says: “I stand with Warren Buffet.  It’s time for Congress to stop coddling the super-rich and make them pay their fair share.” 

Will you pledge to support the “Buffet Rule” calling for millionaires – like you – to pay the same tax rate as the middle class?

We are looking forward to a response from Congressman Luetkemeyer.  He holds a position in which integrity is vital.  No other occupation in the country can vote themselves a raise and vote to lower their own taxes.  With this ability comes great responsibility.  As it stands now, Congress can give themselves a pay raise and lower tax rates while asking you to give up your Social Security.  Maybe it should be the other way around.  We can vote to keep our jobs and Social Security while asking them to cover that cost by paying the same tax rates as working people.  

At the very least millionaire politicians should recuse themselves from voting on issues that they would directly benefit from.  Almost every profession’s Code of Ethics prohibits direct involvement that is a conflict of interest between a person’s personal and professional position.  Congressional ethics – there’s a concept. 

Thanks to Lloyd, Bobbi, Susan, and Marcy for taking the time to accompany me in presenting this petition.  I wold also like to thank Staff Assistant Mary Tinsley of the Congressman’s office for her graceful response to our visit.

By way of Progress Missouri, this report from Environment Missouri (pdf) seems especially timely since the Republican-controlled House (with the help of our own Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9)) just voted along party lines to ease clean air regulations.

New Report: St. Louis Named 7th Smoggiest
Large Metro Area in the Country

St. Louis, MO – Today Environment Missouri released a new report showing that the St. Louis area ranks as the 7th smoggiest large metropolitan area in the country. Smog is a harmful air pollutant that leads to asthma attacks and exacerbates respiratory illnesses, especially among children and the elderly. The new report, Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Air Days in 2010 and 2011, shows that in total, residents in the St. Louis area were exposed to air quality that made it dangerous to breathe on 23 days in 2010. Also, this summer, residents in the St. Louis area have already been alerted to unhealthy air on 23 days, two of which were “red?alert” days, when the air quality was so poor that anyone could experience adverse health effects.

Seems like a perfect time to roll back clean air standards.

A new, bipartisan poll by the Mellman Group highlights the disconnect between the corporate media/politicians and everyday Americans on a number of issues including the latest “crisis”.

Indeed, by a more than two-to-one margin (67% to 29%), voters prefer that Washington focus on job creation rather than deficit reduction.
Some key findings from the poll, include:

•    When given an “either/or” choice, just 29% want Washington to focus on deficit reduction while 67% favor job creation.

•    “Creating manufacturing jobs in the U.S.” and “strengthening manufacturing in this country” are the top voter priorities for the President.

•    Only 50% of voters believe that the President is working to create manufacturing jobs – an 11% drop from 2010. Congress fares even worse – 41% say Democrats in Congress are working to create jobs, and 32% see the GOP working to create jobs.

It is interesting to note that our own U.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer’s office has every intention of ignoring the wishes of the American people and supports the Korean Free Trade Agreement which is estimated to cost 159,000 American jobs and lead to deficits in a variety of agricultural products.  Let’s hope this poll encourages him to reconsider.

Today’s Washington Missourian published my latest Letter to the Editor responding to Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer’s form letter explaining his support for the Korean Free Trade Agreement.  Short story; his claims of job creation are not backed by history or analysis.  Check out the data in the letter and enjoy!

My latest letter to the editor “Luetkemeyer: Born at Night?” is printed in today’s Washington Missourian.  Representative Luetkemeyer has indicated to me in a form letter that he is supporting the proposed Korean – U.S. Free Trade Agreement.  My response

9th District U.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer’s full-throated support and vote for the Paul Ryan/GOP budget will have some serious consequences for all Missourians not just those “under 55″ as they claim.  The House of Representatives has released an interactive map that shows what the effect of this “voucher” plan will be on the residents of each Congressional district.  Constituents in Franklin County can expect this from the Luetkemeyer plan.

This analysis shows the immediate and long-term impacts of these changes in the 9th Congressional District in Missouri, which is represented by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

 • Eliminate new preventive care benefits for 105,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district. The Republican proposal would have even greater impacts on individuals in the district age 54 and younger who are not currently enrolled in Medicare. It would:

 • Increase the out-of-pocket costs of health coverage by over $6,000 per year in 2022 and by almost $12,000 per year in 2032 for the 107,000 individuals in the district who are between the ages of 44 and 54.

The Republican proposal would have adverse impacts on seniors and disabled individuals in the district who are currently enrolled in Medicare. It would:

• Increase prescription drug costs for 10,700 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who enter the Part D donut hole, forcing them to pay an extra $106 million for drugs over the next decade.

• Deny 500,000 individuals age 54 and younger in the district access to Medicare’s guaranteed benefits.

• Require the 107,000 individuals in the district between the ages of 44 and 54 to save an additional $25.0 billion for their retirement – an average of $182,000 to $287,000 per individual – to pay for the increased cost of health coverage over their lifetimes. Younger residents of the district will have to save even higher amounts to cover their additional medical costs.

• Raise the Medicare eligibility age by at least one year to age 66 or more for 59,000 individuals in the district who are age 44 to 49 and by two years to age 67 for 396,000 individuals in the district who are age 43 or younger.

Blaine Luetkemeyer, U.S. Representative for the 9th Congressional District has voted for Franklin County Seniors to spend an additional $6,568.39 per year as part of Medicare.  Mr. Luetkemeyer supports the Paul Ryan/Republican budget plan that takes away the Medicare guarantee and replaces it with a “voucher” that will have to be spent with a private insurance company that will accept old folks with pre-existing conditions.

Unfortunately for Representative Luetkemenyer, his attempts to justify this plan are exposed by this recently released report by the  U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.  This report lists the additional expenses a 65 year old in 2022 will have to pay for their Medicare coverage under the Luetkemeyer/Republican plan.  The analysis breaks these down by state and in Missouri it will cost an additional $6,568.39 per year for Medicare coverage.  Check out page 4 of this report for the chart.

Of course, Rep. Luetkemeyer will enjoy his Congressional pension and health coverage for the rest of his life.  Way to look out for the little/older people Blaine!

Republicans in the General Assembly remind me of a pack of wild Hyenas fighting over the carcass of a freshly-killed Wildebeest in their redistricting effort. They all smell blood and want some of that delicious red meat but Luetkemeyer’s alpha-male status is causing problems.

[Sen. Scott Rupp, R-WentzvilleRupp] today verbally jabbed [Rep. John Diehl, R-Town and Country] but placed much of the blame for the continued stalemate on U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth.

Rupp said that Senate negotiators presented various compromise options, to no avail, and acquiesced to several House demands regarding various boundary lines.

Rupp asserted that Diehl was running all the conference committee’s actions past the congressman and his staff, and that Luetkemeyer had opposed most of the Senate conferees’ proposed compromises.

“Chairman Diehl promised Blaine Luetkemeyer that he would not pass a map that Blaine didn’t like,” Rupp said in an interview today. “Until they decide they don’t have to make Congressman Luetkemeyer happy, that’s when the logjam will break.”

Simmer down boys. There’s enough to go around for everyone. Gerrymandering is hard work.

Democrat, Harold Lee Volkmer, 80, former Member of Congress from Missouri’s 9th Congressional District, died Saturday evening at Beth Haven Nursing Home in Hannibal, Missouri, following several bouts of pneumonia during the winter. The Franklin County Democrats extend our condolences.

Volkmer served 10 terms. Area gun owners can thank him for his signature legislation, the Firearm Owners Protection Act. He probably did more to protect gun ownership with that one piece of legislation than any area Republican ever has. Ironic.

Republican, Blaine Luetkemeyer, now in his second term in northeast Missouri’s 9th Congressional District, may be getting serious about a U.S. Seante run against Sen. Claire McCaskill. According to Politico, Luetkemeyer has met with officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and has become more serious about the contest in recent weeks, the report says.

A reminder that we could do a whole lot worse than the conservadem, McCaskill.