On the evening of December 17th, 2009, current CD 2 Representative John Kline conducted a tele-conference town hall. Participants had to be called by the system, so the make-up of the listeners probably tended to come from a list of known supporters - one can infer that the Congressman was using it mostly to shore up his support.
While hammering on the notion of massive federal spending bills, Kline did allude to the fact that there had been excessive spending during the Bush administration. But his closing point on spending was to suggest citizens should "be alarmed" when they hear the term "omnibus" associated with a spending bill, implying it was a somehow a new tactic of the majority party although the term has been in use in Congress for decades.
The Congressman is unsurprisingly opposed to the current health care cost reform initiatives, he glossed over the steep increases in the cost of health care which have gone on at triple the rate of inflation for the past 30 years - you could say he stuck to the GOP talking points, which would be consistent with his vote on the House bill.
He left a lot of ambiguity on military policy, though, in response to a caller suggesting we should withdraw from both Iraq and Afghanistan rapidly. Complimenting the impressive logistical undertaking already in progress on the Iraq withdrawal, he pointed out there are mixed opinions from the military brass regarding the best course of action in Afghanistan, including the setting of a date to begin the turnover process, but noting we cannot let the country "collapse" by a precipitous departure. Kline did not specify or even outline what policy he'd advocate with regard to the Afghan deployment or the larger War on Terror.
Perhaps the most puzzling exchange came in response to a caller who evidently wanted tax policies to create domestic jobs, recalling when "Made in America" meant top quality and noting that it was tax breaks for corporations that had led to the outsourcing of jobs while lamenting what he described as buying televisions from China that end up in our land-fills in a year. Kline responded that taxes push jobs overseas, which resonates well with the GOP's traditional tax rhetoric, but failed to address how he'd reconcile additional tax cuts with the cost of the growth of a "huge bureaucracy with enormous power" over the first decade of the century (largely under a Republican administration which had, in fact, enacted massive tax cuts simultaneously with massive military spending commitments.) As a former small business owner I'm wary of folks who think we can have our budgetary cake and eat it, too.
In general callers seemed concerned about the obvious talking points, though often seemed to lack any substantive rationale as they cited Tort Reform, Cap-and-Trade, and partisan bickering (which most seem to blame on the Democrats.) These are legitimate matters for Congress and the White House to debate and address - we need to deal with the costs of medical malpractice even though it pales in comparison to the amounts flowing to the insurance companies, just as most agree we need to find a way to deal with the impact of climate change globally.
Most, that is, except for a woman from Lake City who expressed confidence that climate change is a complete hoax as one of her points. Evidently Kline agrees with her: he started his response by noting she was, "...right on point across the board..."
Still, this reluctance to consider human impact on climate runs close to the GOP mantra,
and so on the whole the only news was the former Colonel's apparent support for Obama's decision regarding a surge in Afghanistan - and even that is in accord with the GOP strategists' guidance to avoid taking any position which could be construed as anti-military.
Hopefully at his next Town Hall Congressman Kline can open up to any interested voters, and tell us what he'll actually do on behalf of the the district, state, and country, instead of targeting certain constituents for a pep talk.
While hammering on the notion of massive federal spending bills, Kline did allude to the fact that there had been excessive spending during the Bush administration. But his closing point on spending was to suggest citizens should "be alarmed" when they hear the term "omnibus" associated with a spending bill, implying it was a somehow a new tactic of the majority party although the term has been in use in Congress for decades.The Congressman is unsurprisingly opposed to the current health care cost reform initiatives, he glossed over the steep increases in the cost of health care which have gone on at triple the rate of inflation for the past 30 years - you could say he stuck to the GOP talking points, which would be consistent with his vote on the House bill.
He left a lot of ambiguity on military policy, though, in response to a caller suggesting we should withdraw from both Iraq and Afghanistan rapidly. Complimenting the impressive logistical undertaking already in progress on the Iraq withdrawal, he pointed out there are mixed opinions from the military brass regarding the best course of action in Afghanistan, including the setting of a date to begin the turnover process, but noting we cannot let the country "collapse" by a precipitous departure. Kline did not specify or even outline what policy he'd advocate with regard to the Afghan deployment or the larger War on Terror.
Perhaps the most puzzling exchange came in response to a caller who evidently wanted tax policies to create domestic jobs, recalling when "Made in America" meant top quality and noting that it was tax breaks for corporations that had led to the outsourcing of jobs while lamenting what he described as buying televisions from China that end up in our land-fills in a year. Kline responded that taxes push jobs overseas, which resonates well with the GOP's traditional tax rhetoric, but failed to address how he'd reconcile additional tax cuts with the cost of the growth of a "huge bureaucracy with enormous power" over the first decade of the century (largely under a Republican administration which had, in fact, enacted massive tax cuts simultaneously with massive military spending commitments.) As a former small business owner I'm wary of folks who think we can have our budgetary cake and eat it, too.
In general callers seemed concerned about the obvious talking points, though often seemed to lack any substantive rationale as they cited Tort Reform, Cap-and-Trade, and partisan bickering (which most seem to blame on the Democrats.) These are legitimate matters for Congress and the White House to debate and address - we need to deal with the costs of medical malpractice even though it pales in comparison to the amounts flowing to the insurance companies, just as most agree we need to find a way to deal with the impact of climate change globally.
Most, that is, except for a woman from Lake City who expressed confidence that climate change is a complete hoax as one of her points. Evidently Kline agrees with her: he started his response by noting she was, "...right on point across the board..."
Still, this reluctance to consider human impact on climate runs close to the GOP mantra,
and so on the whole the only news was the former Colonel's apparent support for Obama's decision regarding a surge in Afghanistan - and even that is in accord with the GOP strategists' guidance to avoid taking any position which could be construed as anti-military.Hopefully at his next Town Hall Congressman Kline can open up to any interested voters, and tell us what he'll actually do on behalf of the the district, state, and country, instead of targeting certain constituents for a pep talk.
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