Ramstead gets an earful at meeting

[preciousdove]

Musings from a retired teacher from Plymouth who said he attended the meeting last week where about 200 people showed up about 180 of them very angry. He finds he is often the only one who stands up with the hard questions in his area and this time he never had a chance to speak because everyone else was. One fellow calling himself an Independent thanked Ramstad for holding an open meeting instead of the "by invitation only" ones held by most Republicans now.

He describes the Plymouth area as a "gold star area for conservative Republicans" so he was relay happy to hear so many of his neighbors out of their lala land and catching on to the !@#$ that is happening.
He's not expecting a lot of change in Ramstads voting record but one can hope.

[dflprincess]

1. Did he say how Jim-boy responded to anyone?

n/t

[Dickie Flatt]

2. Article on March 29 meeting in Eden Prairie

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Long_Lake&story=155392


From a veteran tearfully pleading for restoration of his health benefits, to a woman on a low-income-housing waiting list calling for preservation of Section 8 funding, Rep. Jim Ramstad’s March 29 town meeting in Eden Prairie focused on money.

And, when the Republican representative from Minnesota’s Third District called for making federal tax cuts permanent, the packed audience at the Eden Prairie City Center responded with a chorus of “no” and “boo.” ...

Ramstad staff member Lance Olson attributed the large crowd, and the tenor of the discussion, partly to an e-mail from Eden Prairie Democrats calling for people to “ask some tough questions on a number of topics.”

Olson said he believes such efforts result in a biased discussion.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. In the Republican Dictionary "biased" means

"not 100% worshipful of us."

[SupormomFreeAtLast]

7. lol... my thoughts exactly

[jean]

4. Ask Rep. Ramstad to Step Up & Help Solve the House Ethics Crisis

This came from Common Cause Minnesota today:

We need your help because your Member of Congress, Representative Jim Ramstad (R-MN), is one of a handful of Republicans who bravely stood up to Tom DeLay (R-TX) and voted to hold him accountable for his pattern of misbehavior. Specifically, last year, Rep. Ramstad voted against an internal rule change in the Republican party known as the "DeLay Rule," which would have allowed DeLay to remain as majority leader even if he was indicted by a Texas grand jury. Although it was quickly reversed, the DeLay Rule rescinded a 1993 rule passed by the Republican leadership, which called for its party leaders to step down if indicted. For that, Rep. Ramstad deserves our thanks. However, we now need Rep. Ramstad to go further in order to solve the current ethics crisis in the House of Representatives.

We need you to contact Rep. Ramstad today and urge him to help resolve the ethics crisis in the "People's House" by supporting the Mollohan resolution, which would at least re-establish an ethics process in the House. This would allow the Ethics Committee to begin investigating a number of allegations of unethical behavior that have piled up recently against DeLay and other Members of Congress and prevent either party from blocking an investigation of their own Members.
This came from Common Cause Minnesota today:

Rep. Ramstad was recently appointed as Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. In a release, Ramstad is quoted as saying, "I'm eager to begin working as Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee and I look forward to playing a key role in monitoring, investigating, and holding hearings on matters under Ways and Means Committee jurisdiction." The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over issues important to all of us such as taxes, trade, and Social Security. Rep. Ramstad's co-sponsorship of the Mollohan resolution would go a long way in demonstrating that he takes ethics and oversight issues seriously. Please stop by or call his office and tell Rep. Ramstad to do the right thing by co-sponsoring the Mollohan resolution:

*
Minnetonka Office
1809 Plymouth Rd. South #300
Minnetonka, MN 55305
952-738-8200

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause Minnesota.



Sincerely,

Ed, Celia, James, Lauren, Mary, Murshed, and Sarah
The Common Cause Team for
Ethics and Government Accountability

[jean]

5. Mollohan resolution: demand for House ethics reform (Dems not caving!)

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/3953.html

April 12, 2005
Mollohan, Dems still demand House ethics reform
Posted 12:35 pm | Printer Friendly

snip

When we last checked in on the panel, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), the ranking Dem on the Ethics Committee, had brought the committee to a halt, refusing to allow the panel to conduct business under new, looser, and less effective rules that were implemented to shield DeLay from further scrutiny. There are five Dems and five Republicans on the committee, but the panel cannot conduct business until a majority of its members adopt the new guidelines. The Dems have refused, demanding the full House revisit the issue and vote on reestablishing the old ethics guidelines.

You’ll be pleased to know that the Dems haven’t caved an inch since the clash began.

snip

Could there be a better time to tackle this? When House Republicans decided to gut House ethics rules for DeLay’s benefit, the Majority Leader was just a corrupt leader unknown to most of the public and largely ignored by the media. But now, with new revelations about DeLay’s lapses popping up constantly, the entire debate has taken on new significance.

With just a few more GOP moderates, Mollohan could force a floor fight over his resolution and get every lawmaker on the record, making a clear choice: in support of congressional ethics or in support of Tom DeLay.

Stay tuned.

[suegeo]

6. I caught some of this replayed on local cable access

The crowd was overflowing and some were standing outside the city council chambers.

I don't get why people are grateful that their congressperson has meetings with them. Those bastards work for us, so they should be listening to what we have to say.

However, I guess some congressmen don't even bother to meet with their constituents anymore, so I should consider myself lucky? How messed up is that in the 'greatest country on earth'?

Ramstad isn't a Tom DeLay, but Ramstad is still a stinker. Don't believe the nonsense that says he is a RINO. He is hard core Republican, which today means fiscal irresponsibility, war making, and intrusion into your bedroom.

One thing I noticed on the replay was that Ramstad said that Republicans just CAN'T be to blame for the incredible mess the rebpulicans have created for us. He said that Democrats went along with some of the legislation that got passed, so therefore you can't blame the republicans, it is a bi-partisan mess.

Which is bullshit, but that's Ramstad for you.

ON EDIT: Bullshit = Ramstad trying to use the "Democrats voted for it too" as a tool to silence dissent. Newsflash Jim: I didn't agree with the whimpy sellout Democrats when they went along with you. But if they don't go along, the fascist whores in the fascist controlled media will paint the dems as unpatriotic, terrorist loving evil LIBERALS.