Look who's lying!

Via North Pittsburgh Politics, we see that Keith Rothfus is claiming a Post-Gazette endorsement that actually went to Jason Altmire.

You can see the lyin' lit here.
.

Altmire Ad Makes The Daily Show

A clip from a Jason Altmire (PA-4) campaign ad made it into The Daily Show last night illustrating the point that some Democrats are running as fast as they can from the party (especially from President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi). The bit starts about six minutes in:


The clip is from the following ad where middle-age, rural, white guy says, "I like that Jason Altmire is not afraid to stand up to the President" and white soccer mom adds, "and Nancy Pelosi."


Stewart comments with, "Holy [bleeped "shit"]! Those are the ads that Democrats are running?"

He then asks, "What ads are the Republicans running?" and shows a mock spot of a Republican saying he'll punch Obama in the balls if elected.

Funny, but would anyone be too terribly surprised if, say, a Tea Party candidate actually went with that exact ad? After all, we've already seen Pelosi as a crazed monster being tasered this year.

And, if anyone has a video of the anti Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) commercial I saw this morning where the heads of Obama, Pelosi and Dahlkemper are superimposed on a line of chorines, by all means, post a link in the comments -- it's over-the-top crazy.
.

Dems Now Have Votes in House to Pass HCR

And, it only took letting Bart Stupak slap women's health around for a few months and then having a Democratic President sign an executive order that basically reaffirms the odious Hyde Amendment.

QUESTONS:

1. Now, with even Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) on board, does this make Jason Altmire the loneliest Democrat in all of PA? (That would be a yes.)

2. Now that Stupak is satisfied, are the Catholic Bishops? (That would be a big, fat NO).

3. Does Lil Ricky Santorum's special knowledge about the state of Stupak's soul extend to anyone else? (Never underestimate the power of Santorum.)

.

Rep. Jason Altmire's New Campaign Song

.

Jason Altmire says he'll vote NO on health care reform

You pay for my family's health insurance.
Suckers!
From the web site of Rep. Jason Altmire (D Health Care/UPMC Lobby-PA). Read it and weep, folks:

"I ran for Congress in large part because I believe we need to find a way to bring down the cost of health care. I also ran for Congress with a simple promise: I would do my best to represent my district and to give western Pennsylvania a voice in Washington, not the other way around.

"I regret that this year-long process of debating health care reform has resulted in a final product that I cannot support. The cost of inaction on health care is great, but it would be an even bigger mistake to pass a bill that could compound the problem of skyrocketing health care costs.

"Simply moving money around within the existing system, rather than enacting real delivery system reform, might change who pays the bill, but it does not improve the quality of care or reduce costs for families, small businesses, or the federal government. It creates a system of winners and losers, rather than reforming the system in a way that lets everyone win. It is estimated that after passage of this bill, federal health care expenditures would likely increase above what they would under current law.

"It has become clear that the vast majority of my constituents want me to oppose this bill. Particularly hard hit would be western Pennsylvania’s Medicare beneficiaries, which many experts believe would experience dramatic premium increases with enactment of this bill.

"I am acutely aware that my decision to vote against the health care bill will disappoint some of my constituents and alienate supporters of the bill. The politically easy vote would have been to vote with my party. But I was not sent to Congress to take the easy way out or to vote the way they want me to vote in Washington. I was elected to represent my district and give western Pennsylvania a voice in Congress. I strongly believe that a vote in opposition to the health care bill is consistent with the views of the district I represent, and is the correct vote based on the impact of the bill on my constituents and the overall health care system."

He voted against HCR -- and for Stupak -- last time around.
.

Great web site, Mary Beth!

Someone sent me a screen capture last night from Republican Mary Beth Buchanan's own campaign web site (You guys know just what to get me for my birthday!):


Yes, I know the poll is unscientific and I know that the numbers have changed today, but how funny is it that the web site for a Republican running for Congress showed at the time that 50% of the people wanted to have "socialized medicine"?

I hope you're listening, Jason Altmire!

And, by all means, 2pj readers should feel free to freep this poll (though be aware that the questions seem to rotate).

Jason Altmire: Profile in Courage!

Jason Altmire: "I'm not going to cast a vote my constituents aren’t comfortable with." . . . No matter how many Americans die

It would be oh so easy for Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) to heed the pathetic cry of the 45,000 Americans who die each year because they have no health insurance. But, Altmire is made of sterner stuff than that. He has the courage of his convictions to ignore the whiny sick and dying to ensure that no campaign contributor .conservative voter constituent in his district is made to feel the least bit of discomfort over some sort of giveaway to those people.

Here's part one of his FOX interview:


Here's part two:



(h/t to PoliticsPA)
.

Mary Beth Buchanan Makes It Official

From the P-G:

The worst kept secret in local politics is out: Former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is officially running for Congress, and two-term U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, may face a tough re-election bid this year.

And of course the spinning is just beginning. Here's a statement from the NRCC:

Jason Altmire's record has drastically missed the mark on job creation. But his real trouble is his failure to do all that he can to stop President Obama's plans to host terror trials in the U.S. and possibly in Western Pennsylvania. His flip-flopping on the 9/11 trials has shown voters the real Jason Altmire - a politician who doesn't stand on principle but instead stands on whatever path he thinks can save his political career. It's too late. Pennsylvanians don't want to take chances when it comes to their safety and national security. - Tory Mazzola, NRCC Spokesman

No fan of Altmire, I. but this is a bit much, doncha think? Here's Altmire's statement on the possibility of having the trial in Pittsburgh:

This is exactly why I repeatedly voted against bringing these war criminals to the U.S. for trial in the first place. I will strongly and actively oppose any effort to move this trial to western Pennsylvania, which could result in an increased security risk for our region. I am working with our Senators and western Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to prevent these terrorists from being brought to our region.

Of course there's not a reason in the world to trust a politicians own word parsing, so here's KDKA instead:

Congressman Altmire says he voted several times to block detainees from being held in civilian trials anywhere in the United States as well as to place restrictions on detainee transfers or releases anywhere in the U.S.

He also co-sponsored a bill that states Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial should not be held in the United States nor should any of the terror trials.

Or Politico:

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure they don’t point at western Pennsylvania as a possible venue,” said Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.). “We are all united, going to voice our opinion, both at the state level and at the congressional level.”

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) is also opposed to having the trials in Pennsylvania and “has made that sentiment known to the Justice Department,” spokesman Larry Smar said. Pennsylvania has been among the regions floated for such trials because Flight 93 on 9/11 went down in the western part of the state.

Altmire, who occupies a swing district and has bucked his party on key votes like healthcare, is already facing Republican attacks on the issue. The National Republican Campaign Committee accused Altmire of backing the civilian trials, even though he voted for an amendment that would have stripped the Justice Department of the money it needs to hold the trials.

So you get the idea of where Buchanan and the RNCC are going with this.

Rep. Jason Altmire does not want to cover the uninsured

You pay for my family's health insurance.
Suckers!
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

"The goal of this bill and the selling point for it when they were trying to round up the votes was, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're going to cover 30 million uninsured people?' That shouldn't be the goal. The goal is, we want to bring down the cost of health care for families and small businesses and especially the government," Altmire said.

Shorter Altmire: If you don't have health insurance now shut up and die.
.

"Stupak" makes it in to the Urban Dictionary

Does "stupak" mean:

"A medical condition (subset of sepsis) resulting from unsafe - unnecessarily so - back alley abortions as a result of the "Stupak Amendment" to the 2009 Health Care Reform Bill."

Or is it:

adj: imposing religious beliefs of one group on another, especially through legislation or financial pressure.

How about:

To do something ridiculous, silly, moronic, stupid, asinine, idiotic, etc.

You can vote up your favorite definition here.

Personally, I'm torn between the first two defintions, but for this post, I want to remind everyone that here in Western PA we have three very stupak Democrats:

Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire and John Murtha all voted for the Stupak Amendment.
.

Sunday Morning Music Post, Jason Altmire Edition

.

Sunday Not So Funnies, Altmire Edition

Former Health Care Industry Lobbyist and Congressman Jason Altmire continues to bite the hand that feeds him.

UPDATE: From the Comments section (Hope it was worth it, Jason because I'm guessing there's a lot of folks like GeneW):

At 10:43 AM, GeneW said...
I worked hard for almost six months making phone calls and knocking on doors for him three years ago in part because he told me and my wife to our faces that he was going to fight to reform healthcare. We no longer live in his district but if I did, I'd certainly vote against him and if he has a primary challenger, I'll definitely send him/her support.

.

Who's going to run against Jason Altmire? (In the primary I mean)

Someone, please!

Not only did he vote yes on the Stupak Amendment, he voted no on the Health Care Reform bill.

Why exactly did anyone bother to vote out Hart?
.

Melissa Hart News

I saw Melissa Hart on Mike Pintek's show this evening. It was your typical segment - short on specifics, long on campaign bluster and so on.

Nothing wrong with that, of course.

She made a charge that Congressman Jason Altmire was leaning towards endorsing Senator Obama because Obama had given $10,000 to his campaign (adding that Senator Clinton had given nothing). I can't speak for the veracity of any of the above, but it got me looking around Hart's own campaign financing.

Found something very interesting.

But first I have to take a step back. To this rather disgusting story:

The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks "simply" a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center.

The reviews have been pouring in:

"New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn't have to be attacked by Congress," added Long Island Rep. Pete King, a Republican.

"I'm really surprised by Darrell Issa," King added. "It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It's wrong and inexcusable."

The AP has the story:

California Congressman Darrell Issa is facing heated criticism from New York lawmakers of both parties after he made comments that seemed to downplay the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and question federal compensation for New York City firefighters and others.

During a hearing this week about legislation to extend victims' benefits, Issa, a Republican, described the attacks on the World Trade Center as “a fire that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it. It simply was an aircraft, residue of two aircraft and residue of the material used to build this building.”

Why am I pointing this out in a blog posting about Melissa Hart?

Because according to this FEC document dated 7/30/7, Congressman Issa's campaign gave $2,000 to Melissa Hart's campaign. Not only that, according this FEC document dated 9/8/8, he's personally given another $2,000 to her campaign.

At last count (and granted these are old numbers) Melissa Hart has taken in just a little under $400,000 - $4,000 of which came from a man who just belittled the 9/11 attacks.

As far as I can tell, that's only about 1% of her total, so it can't mean that much. Melissa Hart should do the right thing.

Return the money.

Delano's Interview with Melissa Hart

Posted on KDKA's website is Jon Delano's full interview with (god, I love writing this next part) former Member of the House of Representatives Melissa Hart. It can be found here.

Some early highlights:

Delano: Let me ask you, why do you think you lost in 2006?

Hart: I think part of it was, we didn't get to substance. The
campaign never really happened. It became an assassination more than a
campaign. And it's disapointing, I didn't run campaigns like that.

D: An assassination of you?

H: Oh, absolutely.

D: In what way?

H: Well, did you turn on your TV last fall? There was no opportunity
for any discussion. Any discussion that we had was drowned out by the
negative schlocky commercials.

D: You were characterized as being a supporter of President Bush and
former Senator Rick Santorum. I think the figure was 98% of the
time.

H: And what relevance was that? On what particular issues. No body
asked.

Let me step in here. Ms Hart's grasp on recent history is rather disappointing. One part that she is omitting, unfortunately, is something reported by the Rothenberg Report. I wrote about it here. As they say in the biz, she was "caught napping" until it was too late in that campaign. According to the Rothenberg Report (sub req, sorry) there was the pesky issue of some drum lessons that got in the way of her campaigning.

Let's remember that she refused to debate Altmire. Take a look at the ever astute Chris Potter (he of the CP) had to say last October 2006:

Mostly, however, he has attacked Hart for carrying water for the Bush Administration, especially where the war in Iraq is concerned. He has also castigated her for supporting free-trade agreements, which he contends hurt working people in the district.

So far, Hart has replied by saying ... well, not much, really. She's refused to debate Altmire. [Hart campaign manager Luke] Myslinski says a schedule conflict preempted one debate, and Hart refused to participate in one sponsored by the League of Women Voters because "Jason is a former member there." But Hart's campaign also declined a third debate whose sponsoring organization, the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce, has ties to a Hart campaign staffer. Altmire has offered to debate anyway, but Myslinski says, "If we did really well in the debate, he'd say it was rigged. We aren't putting ourselves out there like that." [emphasis in original]

And if that's too far out of the "mainstream media" (as the City Paper surely is) then there's this from the P-G:

Congresswoman Melissa Hart believes U.S. troops need to do more work in Iraq, while her Democratic challenger, Jason Altmire, suggests they should battle terrorism elsewhere.

The differences between them on the Iraqi war -- the Republican incumbent supportive of the Bush administration's approach, her opponent capturing the frustration with it voiced among some of the citizenry -- highlighted a side-by-side session yesterday. The two 4th Congressional District candidates took questions from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editors and reporters.

It was a rare joint appearance by them, as Ms. Hart has thus far rejected several invitations to publicly debate her opponent. The pair were respectful to each other, sticking to issues rather than personal attacks. [emphasis added]

So let's not settle in too too comfortably with this idea that there was "no discussion" especially since it was Melissa Hart who was refusing to debate.

Jason Altmire in Time Magazine

Time Magazine's got a short piece on Congressman Altmire. It begins with a conundrum for the Congressman:

"Can't we please stop the war?" Eugene Gabriel implored Congressman Jason Altmire, shouting over a singer belting out Beyoncé's Listen at the annual New Castle fireworks festival in western Pennsylvania. "That's what I wrote on my donation envelopes to you, both times, $200 a pop."

The freshman Democrat leaned into Gabriel's ear to make sure his response was heard: "We tried, but [President George W.] Bush vetoed it." The Democratic strategy, Altmire explained, was to keep the pressure up by continuing to schedule votes on Iraq and hope "that more Republicans will go to the White House and say, 'We can't do this anymore.'" The reply didn't quite mollify Gabriel, 49, a financial adviser who calls himself pro-life, pro-gun but antiwar. His son Michael, 22, is in the National Guard in neighboring Ohio; half of his division is expected to be deployed to Iraq in 2008.

Two hundred feet and 20 minutes later, having weaved his way farther into the crowd, Altmire faced another question about "the mess in Iraq," this time from William Proch, 71, a retired steelworker. But when Altmire again mentioned Bush's veto, Proch grew angry, accusing Altmire of being "in lockstep with [Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi, putting our troops in danger." The lifelong Republican voted for Altmire in 2006 after GOP ethics scandals left him wanting a fresh face. But because he also wants more troops in Iraq, not fewer, Proch is feeling buyer's remorse.

By the end of the piece he is by one constituent accused of being a rubberstamp for Bush and by another a rubberstamp for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The writer, Jay Newton-Small, points out the demographics of the district:

Altmire's district stretches west from the Pittsburgh suburbs to the Ohio border. In 2006 he wrested the congressional seat from three-term incumbent Melissa Hart with just 52% of the vote. The district should vote solidly Republican; on the same ballot, former Steelers football star Lynn Swann, the Republican challenger to Governor Ed Rendell, won by more than 20 percentage points. But the time was right for Altmire, a pro-gun fiscal conservative whose sandy hair, hazel eyes and freckles make him look far younger than his 39 years.

The narrow win--by just 9,798 votes--has made Altmire a top target of Republicans. Swann briefly flirted with the idea of challenging Altmire but announced last week he would not, opening the door for a rematch with Hart, who told local papers this month she plans to run again.

Though I'm not sure I'd agree with the assertion that the district "should vote solidly Republican." Last week I heard Bill Green (WPXI Political Analyst extraordinaire) say on NightTalk that the district was more Democratic than Republican (he pointed out that it was Ron Klink's old seat).

Coincidentally, Green did say that he thought that the seat would remain Altmire's after the 2008 election. He also said he didn't think it was a good idea for Melissa Hart to get into the race.

Bill Green said that.

Jim Quinn Gets Fact-Checked (July 17 Edition)

An astute reader clued me in to this column by J.D. Prose.

The whole thing started out when Allys Boyer, an 84-year old constituent of Congressman Jason Altmire's and Gold Star Mother, wanted to go visit the White House in late June. Her son, Cpl Larry Boyer, was killed in Vietnam in May, 1969. Coincidentally, President George W. Bush was just completing his first year in the comparatively cushy (certainly compared to Vietnam) Texas Air National Guard in May, 1969.

Fortunate son.

Turns out there's a policy in place at the White House for Gold Star Families to be pushed to the head of the line when looking to get a White House tour.

Sounds like good news for Allys, doesn't it?

Not so fast. The policy is for only for those families who lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan. And remember, Allys Boyer lost a son in Vietnam when dubya was guarding the air over Texas.

Prose wrote about it here (sub. req - sorry), but the full text can be found here (if you can wade through the freerepublic garbage that surrounds it).

That's when Quinn, the well-armed terrorist, chimed in. Here's how Prose wrote it this weekend:

Now, we don't know what Quinn said and we weren't bothered enough to find out, but from the e-mails and comments, we gathered that we're lazy, stupid, unethical, anti-military and a shill for U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4, McCandless Township.

Whew! At least nobody called us ugly.

We were mainly accused of being duped by Altmire and his spokeswoman, Christina Stacey, who informed us of the Boyer family's request for a White House tour and the subsequent rejection.

Quinn's apparent claim was that Altmire knew Vietnam mothers weren't eligible for preferential treatment, but he offered up Mrs. Boyer as a pawn to make President Goofy, uh, Bush look bad.

"You are a sucker, J.D.," wrote Luke Snatchko of Burgettstown on the Web site. "They submitted their request knowing it would get turned down."

"Dem. leaders mis-represent soldiers' status to the White House knowing that it will be discovered and denied later. They are using the press to develop non-stories," wrote Jerry Linger of Cincinnati.

Riiiiiight. See? It was A VAST LEFT-WING CONSPIRACY!!

With Bush enjoying such immense popularity (29 percent) and riding a wave of success in Iraq (cough, cough), House Democrats decided to knock him down a peg by concocting lies about the White House ignoring mothers whose sons died fighting in Vietnam. Brilliant!

Then the nutcase case really got moving. There were allegations by Quinn that the Boyers were big contributors to the Democratic Party. Here's where the fact-checking happened. Prose continued:

Center Township reader Robin Cox, who's been no fan of ours, posted a critical comment, but then showed the initiative we lack and checked out Quinn's argument.

Here's what Cox later wrote: "Mr. Quinn used an anonymous source, someone he calls 'Son of Deepthroat.' I'm always skeptical of anonymous sources ... Mr. Quinn claimed a Lexis/Nexis search uncovered contributions from the Boyers to Howard Dean and George Soros-related 527s. I checked FEC data on the Center for Responsive Politics website for the 2000 through 2008 campaign cycles and found no contributions to anyone under any of the Boyer names mentioned in the Prose column ... Mr. Quinn alleged there were at least four other cases similar to that of the Boyers. A Google search found no hits to support that allegation."

Don't these guys think that someone might actually check their work?

But the bigger issue here is what Quinn was trying to do. In order to deflect from the issue (that there are two tiers of support in dubya's White House for Gold Star Families, when there should only be one), he raises non-issues (who knew which rules and when) and manufactures "facts" (the Boyers non-existent campaign donations).

Jim Quinn, Pittsburgh's own crazy-ass wingnut.

Missy's Back!

Ah...

Life here at 2PJ just got a little bit sweeter. Dennis Roddy at the P-G reported this morning:

Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart says she is planning a comeback bid to regain the seat she lost a year ago to Democrat Jason Altmire.

Though David M. Brown at the Trib put it much more succinctly.

Melissa Hart wants a rematch.

So now we get to point out Missy Hart's political biography. For instance, that back in late 2004, Tom Delay was in deep deep trouble. Allegations of corruption, indictments on the way, the whole shebang. This is how I wrote it up:

For those of you how haven't been following this story (and there may be one or two of you out there!), House Republican Tom "The Hammer" Delay may be indicted soon over some fraudulent fundraising schemes (what's that you say? A REPUBLICAN involved in FRAUD? Say it ain't so!).

Trouble is the House had a rule that said that if any committee head were to be indicted, he/she would have to relinquish that job until the indictment is ironed out.

Bad news for Delay, right? One of the most powerful House members might have to step aside for a while because of an indictment. He raises a lot of money for other House Members, you know. So this must be bad news for the Republicans in the House, right?

Not so fast, my friend. Not so fast. Wonder what the "moral values" party did when faced with this dilemma?

They changed the rule.

So to protect their corrupt colleague, a whole buncha Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to change the rules - and Melissa Hart was one of them.

Here's something slipped out of the coverage of the last campaign - only to be picked up my the Rothenberg Report after the election. By the way, this is from Sean Trende of humanevents.com (hardly a left-leaning source):

According to the non-partisan Rothenberg Report, Hart was sure of another victory, and avoided campaigning in part because it interfered with drum lessons she was taking. She lost to under-funded candidate Jason Altmire by 4 points. [emphasis added]

Such a committment to her district! That she couldn't be bothered with the campaign because she was taking drum lessons.

Welcome back, Missy! We missed you.

(Sore Loser) Missy Hart says she'll run against Altmire (Again)

FORMER US Congresswoman Melissa Hart (R) who LOST to challenger Jason Altmire (D) in the 4th Congressional District in 2006 has decided to run again in 2008 because of her "commitment to public service, despite the elections of last year."

According to the Post-Gazette article, Missy's commitment included warning former Steeler Lynn Swann that she will be throwing her hat (back) into the ring. Apparently Swann was already being courted by the national GOP to take on Altmire, but he has decided not to make that bid.

Some may recall Hart's notably ungracious concession speech where she actually thanked the crowd for booing Altmire's name and only remembered to tack on a "congratulations" to him in the last couple seconds of her speech. (Audio available here.)

Congressman Altmire on Night Talk

Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-4) was on John McIntire's old show this evening talking about, among other things, immigration reform and the Iraq war funding bill.

Altmire and Mike Pintek also sparred on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Pintek was trotting out the tired old "Pelosi didn't meet with General Petreus" story). To his credit, Altmire got the better of Pintek on that.

On the other hand, the Congressman had to defend his recent vote in favor of funding the Iraq war without any sort of timetables to two callers (I was one of them - someone named "Cassidy" was the other). His main argument rested on the idea that he'd always promised never to vote to defund the troops.

I called in to remind both of them that according to a recent poll, a large majority of Americans actually WANTED funding with timetables, that the Democrats were elected in November with a clear message of ending the war, and to set up some accountability for a President who hasn't had any in 6 years. It's very sad that the Democrats in Congress couldn't deliver a bill that more clearly reflected the will of the People.

And here's an interesting tidbit: Pintek signals the control room to cut off a caller (at least he did it tonight) by tapping his pen on the table. I think poker players would call it a "tell."