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
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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]
Dennis Rehberg On Wall Street Reform
Rehberg Voted to Limit the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Power. On July 21, 2011 Rehberg voted for the bill that would replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s director with a five-member commission. It also would lower the vote threshold required for the Financial Stability Oversight Council to override Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules from two-thirds to a simple majority and allow the council to override regulations that threaten the stability of individual institutions. According to the Washington Post, the bill would “make it easier to block the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s regulation of banking and other sectors of the financial-services industry. Under the bill, the Financial Stability Oversight Council in the Treasury Department could stay or veto the bureau’s proposed regulations by simple majority vote rather than the two-thirds majority now required.” [Roll Call 621, H 1315, 07/21/2011]
Scott Brown On Wall Street Reform
Brown Sought Provisions, Pushed By Banking Industry Lobbyists, to “Undercut a Central Pillar” of Wall Street Reform. While Wall Street Reform was in conference committee, Brown, other lawmakers, and banking industry lobbyists pushed for “provisions to undercut a central pillar of the legislation, known as the Volcker Rule, which would forbid banks from using their own money to make risky wagers on the market and would force them to sell off hedge funds and private equity units.” The changes would “benefit Boston-based money management giants like Fidelity Investments and State Street Corp. The biggest Wall Street firms would be helped as well.” [Boston Globe, 6/21/10]
Scott Brown On The Budget
Brown Said He Would Support Ryan Budget That Would End Medicare As We Know It And Double Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Seniors. In a speech, Brown said “The leaders will bring forward (Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s) budget, and I will vote for it, and it will fail.” 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, “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.” [Newburyport News, 5/14/11; Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 4/16/2011; Newark Star-Ledger Editorial, 4/7/2011]
Scott Brown On The Environment
Brown Questioned Climate Change. During a discussion on WBZ Radio with Dan Rea, Coakley and Brown debated climate change. Coakley said, “Scott acts as if there is no climate change problem. If you believe there is a climate change issue, then you have to take action.” Brown responded, “I [have] said the climate is always changing. The question I have is, is it man-made, or does it just happen naturally?” [Boston Globe, 12/22/09]
Scott Brown On The Economy
Brown Opposed Small Business Tax Breaks Bill, Which Passed Without His Support. In September 2010, Brown opposed and attempted to filibuster a bill to provide small businesses with tax breaks and other benefits. “The measure…would create a $30 billion government fund to encourage lending and would eliminate capital gains taxes for long-term investors in some small businesses.” In explaining his opposition, Brown said that the bill included a provision “just like TARP”. The bill included the extension of some Small Business Administration lending programs and fee waivers, which some 2,270 Massachusetts small businesses had already taken advantage of according to the SBA. The measure passed without Brown’s support. [Boston Globe, 9/15/10]