NY-Sen: Gillibrand Votes For Anti-Tobacco Measure, Introduces Immigration Bill

by: robert.harding

Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 08:59:30 AM EDT

But that attack was dealt a severe blow on Thursday when Sen. Gillibrand voted for H.R. 1256 - the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - which will allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the tobacco industry, a move that gives the federal government unprecedented power in regulating the industry.

She also been labeled as anti-immigrant, even though she has clarified that position and others since being appointed to the U.S. Senate. This week, she joined Sen. Bob Menendez in sponsoring legislation that would assist orphans, widows and widowers by allowing them to continue in the family immigration citizen. The Reuniting Families Act (S.1085) will help build upon moves made by President Barack Obama that allows families to stay an additional two years should they lose a parent our spouse.

This is what Gillibrand had to say about the Reuniting Families Act:

"I applaud the Obama Administration for taking an important first step to help families that have lost loved ones, but Congress must act in order to ensure a lasting solution for widows, widowers, and orphans as well," Senator Gillibrand said.  "I am hopeful that in the weeks and months ahead, we can take action on this legislation and make additional progress to protect families being torn apart by our immigration system.  This is an important part of our efforts to reform America's family-based immigration system to reunite loved ones, promote family stability and foster the economic growth that immigrant families have provided throughout our history."

The vote on the FDA regulation of tobacco and the co-sponsoring of the immigration legislation should show to Gillibrand's critics that she has strong positions on these issues that she has been attacked for over the last several months by those who are trying to make her seem not-so progressive.

It will be very difficult making the argument that Gillibrand is pro-tobacco when she cast this important vote. And it will be just as difficult to call Gillibrand anti-immigrant when she is co-sponsoring legislation that allows widows, widowers and orphans to stay in America and stay in the family immigration system.

Those who raise questions about her past views must remember the district she represented. She couldn't afford to be very progressive or else we would have had John Sweeney still representing the 20th congressional district. She had to balance out her views to appeal to a certain base and now that her base is a statewide audience, she has a chance to blossom as a candidate and as a legislator. That is exactly what she is doing in Washington D.C.

Massa Attacked By NRCC For His "Vote Against Our Troops"

by: robert.harding

Tue Jun 02, 2009 at 16:02:17 PM EDT

I was able to obtain a copy of the mailer that was sent to residents of the 29th congressional district by the NRCC. The mailer features Abraham Lincoln's likeness and a quote from Lincoln that reads, "To care for him who shall have born the battle and for his widow and for his orphan."

Here is the rest of the mailer:

The NRCC attacked Massa for voting against all of these items, yet they did not specify what bill. All they would refer to the legislation as is a "bi-partisan bill" and claiming that Massa sided with "special interest extremists" instead of our troops.

The bill that the Republicans are attacking Massa over is the Iraq War supplemental that was passed in mid-May. The bill passed with bi-partisan support - it was a 368 to 60 vote - and when he voted against the bill, Massa explained why.

"I will not have my vote held hostage by line items to fund military projects while at the same time funding the UN. These are two very different issues and I will not vote to combine them. While I did support several line items in the bill, there were a few specifics which deeply troubled me. For example, during the recession, I cannot support sending $836 million to fund the United Nations, $109 to train and equip Palestinian security forces and up the to $429.5 million in foreign aid to Pakistan.

"For over four years prior to being elected to Congress, I promised to vote against any additional funding for the Iraq war without a clear and immediate plan of withdrawal," said Congressman Eric Massa. "Regardless of which party is in power, I could not in good conscience vote for any additional Iraq war funding. The Iraqi people want us to leave and I think we should begin redeploying American troops out of Iraq immediately. I've always promised to stand up to my party when I disagree with them, but yesterday I had to stand up to both political parties."

It is shameful that the party who had Walter Reed happen under their watch and other failings now is trying to take the high ground when it comes to who is voting for or against our troops. The Republicans who came up with this mailer probably didn't serve their country. Eric Massa did for 24 years. There are plenty of veterans who are currently serving in Congress who deserve our respect. They don't deserve attacks and claims that they are against our troops and veterans.

The Republicans have tried over the last few years to label Democrats as the anti-troop party. Look at how that's worked out for them. Labeling other Americans as against our troops is despicable. No one is more patriotic than the other. So let's quit this game of trying to get a leg up on who loves their country more.

Massa had his reasoning (which I agree with) for voting against this legislation. This wasn't about our troops. This was about funding the war efforts abroad, which included funds that Massa did not agree with. In his statement, he made that clear.

Massa did say that there were plenty of good programs in the bill, but that he could not vote for a bill like this with so much spending in it without a full exit strategy. Essentially for Massa, if there is no exit strategy, he's voting against it.

ACORN Goes On The Offensive

by: robert.harding

Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 11:36:35 AM EDT

Over the last few days, I've had the opportunity to listen in on a press call and a call specifically for bloggers. ACORN is not sitting back and taking these attacks lightly. In fact, they are going on the offensive. They want people to know what ACORN is really about and what ACORN does. As we know in America, it's not hard to misinform millions of people about a certain issue or topic (see Iraq War).

This week, ACORN is dedicated to setting the record straight and more importantly, raise awareness about voter suppression which is a REAL issue that has occurred in two elections (2000 and 2004) that were won by Republican George W. Bush.

Earlier this week during a press call, ACORN brought up a few different eye-opening incidents that are worth mentioning. In New Mexico, the Republicans there challenged the validity of several voters there. Upon further review, these voters were valid. The claims of "voter fraud" were false.

Another issue that ACORN is focusing on is voter suppression involving voters who have had their homes foreclosed. In multiple states, there are efforts underway trying to suppress these voters. One such is Michigan, where the Republicans were trying to purge voters from the rolls using foreclosure lists. Luckily, that attempt was foiled. But we still need to watch for these attempts nationwide.

There has also been a growing hatred for ACORN thanks to the GOP rhetoric and the loud-mouthed antics of John McCain and Sarah Palin. In Wisconsin, a person canvassing for Barack Obama was reportedly attacked by someone who referred to ACORN while physically abusing this individual. There have been break-ins at ACORN headquarters in Boston and Washington state. There have been threats and racism directed at ACORN employees and volunteers, as well as one instance of someone receiving a death threat from an individual who just happened to have "McCain-Palin" on their Facebook page.

This is what ACORN is up against. But they aren't standing down. I will have more on this later.