Dean Heller On Medicare
Heller Says He Is Proud To Be The Only Member Of Congress Who Would Get To Vote For GOP Medicare Plan Twice. Before Dean Heller was sworn in as a Senator, the Associated Press noted that he would likely have to vote again on the Paul Ryan budget plan. “Once Heller joins the Senate, Reid could call up for a vote the House budget blueprint that the chamber passed last month. The nonbinding plan would cut $6.2 trillion from yearly federal deficits over the coming decade. The plan makes changes to Medicare and Medicaid that some Democrats say would prove unpopular in next year’s elections. ‘I’m not worried about it. I voted for it once. I’m not going to come over here and vote against it,’ Heller said. ‘I’m proud to be the only member of Congress who will get to vote for it twice.’” [Associated Press, 5/3/11 (emphasis added)]
Heller Voted In The House for the Ryan Plan To End Medicare As We Know It And Double Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Seniors. Heller voted for adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 34, the House GOP-proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 authored by Paul Ryan. The GOP budget included proposals to convert the federal share of Medicaid to a block grant to states. It also called for converting Medicare for persons currently younger than 55 into a “premium support system” through which the government would pay private insurance companies directly for each enrollee. The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported that “The Ryan budget plan would cut federal spending on Medicaid, which provides health care for the poor, and begin distributing money by block grant to states. The plan would do away with Medicare’s direct payment for health care for seniors, replacing it with a voucher system in which recipients choose private insurers. The Congressional Budget Office found that part of the plan, which would take effect in 2022, could nearly double out-of-pocket costs for seniors.” In an April 7th, 2011 editorial, the Newark Star-Ledger warned that Paul Ryan’s plan would “end Medicare as we know it.” [Vote 277, 4/15/2011; Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 4/16/2011; Newark Star-Ledger Editorial, 4/7/2011]
Heller Voted In The Senate For The Paul Ryan Budget Plan That Includes Privatizing Medicare. Heller for a motion to proceed on House Concurrent Resolution 34, the House GOP-passed budget for fiscal year 2012 authored by Paul Ryan. [Vote 77, 5/25/2011]
Jon Bruning On Medicare And Social Security
Bruning Proposed Raising Social Security Retirement Age To 70, Capping Medicaid. "'Fixing this will involve serious conversations about entitlements,' Bruning continued. 'Nelson continues to vote toward layering on the entitlements. The problem is that we can’t get to the point where the government is involved in every point of people’s lives. We just keep spending whatever it takes and borrow it from the Chinese. We need to make Medicaid and Social Security stronger for the future — they are great programs but it can’t continue the way it’s being done.' Bruning suggests raising the retirement age to 70 and putting a cap on Medicaid allowances." [York News-Times, 9/9/11]
George Allen On Banking And Mortgage Reform
Allen Voted Against Requiring Financial Companies To Provide Truth-In-Lending Information To Homeowners. Allen voted against the Torres amendment requiring financial institutions to provide homeowners with truth-in-lending information within three days of applying to refinance a mortgage. [Vote 364, H.AMDT 789 to H.R. 5334, 8/5/92, Failed 153-268, D: 147-109, R: 5-159, I: 1-0]
George Allen On Education
Allen Said He Would “Take Back” His Vote For No Child Left Behind. “Allen is invigorating his campaign with fresh issues and themes, a new course that includes the surprising admission that his vote for the No Child Left Behind program to enhance the federal role in public education is ‘the one I would take back.’” [Human Events, 3/8/11]
Jon Bruning On The Environment
Bruning Filed A Lawsuit Opposing EPA Air Pollution Rule Cutting Emissions Of Acid Rain Gases. "Attorney General Jon Bruning will file a federal lawsuit challenging a new air pollution rule that could cost Nebraska utilities millions of dollars. Bruning announced Thursday that he will file a challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency's so-called Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, announced in July and set to go into effect Jan. 1, cuts allowable emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the gases that cause acid rain. The EPA says the new standards will improve air quality significantly by reducing power plant emissions in 27 states." [Lincoln Journal Star, 9/22/11]
George Allen On The Budget
PolitiFact: Allen’s Claim That He Reined In State Spending Is False. “Republican George Allen is promising his unrelenting effort to curb federal spending if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate next year. He says he’ll bring to Washington the same kind of ‘sweeping reform’ he brought to Virginia as governor from 1994 to 1998. His campaign web site says that when Allen was governor, ‘He challenged critics and sentiment that suggested it couldn’t be done, reining in government spending and substantially reducing the size of the state workforce’…Allen could accurately say he fought to curb spending. But Allen says he reined it in. That creates an impression the bottom line shrank or was stunted in growth. We rate the statement False.” [PolitiFact Virginia, 9/12/11]
Mitt Romney's Personal Finance Disclosures
MR 2001 Gubernatorial PFD Part A MR 2001 Gubernatorial PFD Part B MR 2001 Gubernatorial PFD Part C MR 2002 Gubernatorial PFD Part A MR 2002 Gubernatorial PFD Part B MR 2002 Gubernatorial PFD Part C MR 2003 Gubernatorial PFD MR 2004 Gubernatorial PFD MR 2005 Gubernatorial PFD MR 2006 Gubernatorial PFD MR 2006 Presidential PFD Part A MR 2006 Presidential PFD Part B MR 2006 Extension MR 2010 Presidential PFD MR 2010 Amendment
Dennis Rehberg On Social Security
Rehberg Said Private Accounts Should Be Considered. While he refused to outright endorse Bush’s idea of personal Social Security investment accounts, he suggested that he was open to considering the president’s plan. “I want to see all the proposals, he said. “But why not consider such personal accounts that would earn a higher return for young adults that they would own and could pass on to their kids?” [Great Falls Tribune, 2/4/05]
Dennis Rehberg On Mine Safety
Rehberg Criticized Mine Inspectors For Increased Enforcement, Accused Them Of Trying To Destroy Montana’s Mining Industry. In the wake of an April 2010 disaster that killed 29 miners in West Virginia, the Associated Press reported that Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg was criticizing increased enforcement efforts. “Rep. Denny Rehberg says federal officials appear bent on destroying Montana’s mining industry with their aggressive enforcement of mine safety violations in recent months. The Montana Republican said Tuesday that mine inspectors appear driven by environmental extremism rather than safety concerns. He said citations against the Troy silver mine near Libby included one for a ladder with improperly spaced rungs and another for a burned out light bulb.” [Associated Press, 11/11/2010]
Dennis Rehberg On Medicare
Rehberg Claimed House “Cut, Cap, and Balance” Bill Would “Explicitly Protect Spending for Social Security, Medicare and Veterans.” According to the Missoulian, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) criticized Rehberg’s vote for the House “cut, cap and balance” bill, saying the legislation would “lead to severe cuts in important programs, like infrastructure, education and Medicare.” Rehberg “dismissed the criticism as ‘scare tactics and divisiveness,’ and noted that the House plan explicitly protects spending for Social Security, Medicare and veterans.” [Missoulian, 7/20/11]