D. Owens district newspaper owens broke record, reneged on 4 promises 24hrs

[mord]

http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7623:owens-to-break-campaign-promises&catid=60:st-lawrence-news&Itemid=175 










with link many letters to Editor






Owens Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in first hour in Congress
Northern NY News
Written by Nathan Barker   
Friday, 06 November 2009 12:04

GOUVERNEUR, NY - Congressman-elect Bill Owens was sworn in at noon today.

Owens indicated in a press release released shortly afterwards that he was now in favor of the the "Affordable Healthcare for America Act" bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during the election campaign.

According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill.  Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.

UPDATED: A spokesman for Congressman Owens indicated correctly that Mr. Owens had recanted his solid position against public option later in the campaign, clarifying that he did not wish public option to be a 'litmus test' for the Health Reform bill and that on Oct. 30th, several days prior to the election, in a debate had stated that he generally supported the public option as it was now written (at that time.)

Mr. Owens also indicated during his campaign that he was firmly opposed to cutting Medicare benefits, taxing health care benefits, and increased taxes on the middle class in any way as you can see clearly in the screenshot below, taken directly from Mr. Owens' campaign website.

 

Click for larger image Click to enlarge image

The House Health reform bill contains sections that cut Medicare benefits, tax existing health care benefits, and increases taxes on the middle class, yet Mr. Owens stated today that he will now vote in favor of those things contrary to what he had promised the voters of NY's 23rd Congressional District that he would vote against.

Mr. Owens indicated in his press release today that "This legislation will reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable healthcare without taxing healthcare benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class, and that is exactly the direction we need to go."

When The Gouverneur Times attempted to contact Mr. Owens to clarify this information, we received no direct response to our phone or email inquiries.  Both FactCheck.org and the Congressional Budget Office agree that HR 3962 contains potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to Medicare, yet Mr. Owens indicates that he supports this legislation and says that it does not cut Medicare benefits.  Either Mr. Owens has been snowed or the public is about to be.

HR 3962 also includes a range of various taxes on middle-class families as well as language to repeal tax relief already in place.  Has Congressman Owens blindly followed Ms. Pelosi's rhetoric in believing that the end to a tax cut is not the same thing as an increase in taxes or is he hedging his bet with very carefully chosen words?

HR 3962 now also contains language that allows illegal immigrants to be covered under the legislation.  When The Gouverneur Times attempted to contact Mr. Owens for clarification of this language, we received no response other than the press release heretofore mentioned.  Specifically, we asked if illegal immigrants would be forced to purchase healthcare insurance as citizens will be and whether or not they would be forced to do so at standard rates or if they would qualify for the public option subsidy.

The Associated Press said this morning that: "House leaders said that, in keeping with the Hispanic Caucus' demands, there was not likely to be any prohibition added to the House bill against illegal immigrants shopping in the exchange."

In a speech made to Congress a short time ago, President Obama had stated that the bill would not contain support for illegal immigrants - a statement for which he was called a "liar" by Rep. Joe Wilson.  Rep. Wilson was severely chastised for his comment at the time though it would now seem to be true.

The mixed-up mess that was the 23rd Congressional District Special Election was a close race between Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman.  Many feel that it was unlikely Mr. Owens would have won those crucial few thousand votes if the voting public was aware of his intent with regard to the Health Care bill.  The majority of residents in this district do not support the Health Reform bill as it is now written and many feel like they've become victims of a fraud perpetrated by their chosen candidate.

Breaking campaign promises is not unusual for politicians... it's a cliche.  This is almost certainly a record though.  Mr. Owens broke no less than 4 promises in his first 24 hours in office.
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RonT
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Old 11-06-2009, 04:32 PM (Post 2 of 72)
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As a freshman to the House, it can be assumed that Nancy put a head lock on this guy. We have to watch out for these politicians. You know, once their lips start to move.............!!

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Yephora
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Old 11-06-2009, 04:43 PM (Post 3 of 72)
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Pro abortion Liberals like Owens have no compunctions about murdering infants - so why would he hesitate to lie and deceive his voters? After all that's what libs do best!

You had your chance to elect a man of principle with Hoffman, NY-23, and you blew it. Welcome to higher taxes, more government intrusion, eroding your freedoms, etc., etc., all courtesy of your new 'progressive' pol.

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Phoenix110
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Old 11-06-2009, 04:47 PM (Post 4 of 72)
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Congratulations voters of NY's 23rd Congressional District! You put another incompetent and gutless liberal in office! Way to go! You voted along liberal party lines, cause I am sure you TRUSTED that they would follow up on there promises, even though over the last 60+ years they havent and were WRONG yet again? When will you learn? My guess is never, and you deserve what you get, suckers.

As for him getting steam rolled by Pelosi...give me a break! If he had guts he wouldnt care about what she said or thought. His only, and I repeat ONLY, obligation is to his constituents. And since most blindly voted for him, what fear of retribution does he have? Why should he fear being voted out in a year? The same blind voters will vote for him again regardless of his lies, deceit and broken promises, because he has a D after his name. As long as Democrats keep blindly voting in this trash, the outcome will be the same. Maybe, eventually, they will wise up and realize that these issues arent about party, but instead important issues about OUR COUNTRY. Maybe, just maybe, they will smarten up, get informed and realize that the present set of Democrats care about nothing but getting into power. As is obvious with this guy. He told the public ALL they wanted to hear, he lied and deceived, just to get into office. Now that he IS in office, he can be himself. This is the NORM! Wake up!

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FedUp
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Old 11-06-2009, 04:48 PM (Post 5 of 72)
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Is anybody surprised by this? Integrity is so lacking in these politicians, it's beyond amazing. Now if you tell a politician that he or she lied to you during their campaign for office, they tell you that it was just "campaign rhetoric" and somehow that's suppose to exonerate them and make you feel like a fool for confronting them. I'm so tired of all the arrogance that exists in these elected officials. Except for a few classy members of congress, it seems like these politicians have the attitude that their words and actions should never be questioned by the citizens they "represent" even if they are blatantly lying to your face. It's just disgusting. Maybe we need a website that can list all the politicians with a score for the number of times they contradict themselves. Maybe this would open some eyes.

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Old 11-06-2009, 04:59 PM (Post 6 of 72)
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"Maybe we need a website that can list all the politicians with a score for the number of times they contradict themselves. Maybe this would open some eyes."

You know, that is a GREAT idea! If I had any web page writing ability I would start it right now...

Give them a grade based on:
*List the lies they have made (like this loser in NY 23)
*Performance in office; on votes, Bills authored or co-authored
*How they stand on issues like the economy, role of government, etc.

And whatever else...would have to be like wikipedia, but monitored. It would be a great way for people in the local districts to follow the performance of their local politicians and rate and/or comment on them.

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Old 11-06-2009, 05:05 PM (Post 7 of 72)
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No surprise here, he did the same thing Gillibrand did.

You got what you voted for, unfortunately you picked the wrong one