“Secretary Sebelius is finally stepping down from her
position atop the agency in charge of Obamacare. All I can say is, it’s about time. Obamacare has been a disaster for the American people, and
Secretary Sebelius has played a large role in that disaster. In fact, just over two weeks ago, she
lied to Congress and the American people when asked about potential Obamacare
delays.”
Chuck
Fleischmann Representative TN 3rd
District
I just got this in from the Congressman. All I can say is,
going into his fourth year as Congresman, he has spent the bulk of his time
working AGAINST the needs of his
constituents. He and his cronies spent 50 MILLION DOLLARS in YOUR TAX dollars
to try to stop, then overturn the Affordable Care Act. And, the damned fool is proud
of it.
He’s proud of the fact that, while over 7.1 MILLION
AMERICANS have signed on for affordable health care, most of them for the very
first time, he was worked against it.
He's proud that the TN state legislators did their best to deprive all the State's constituents, including his.
He’s proud that he and his cronies spent the $50 million to send a message, even if it failed.
What’s the real message in
all this?
It’s, “Hi, I’m Chuck Fleischmann, I am proud to have spent
over three years in this battle to deny my neediest constituents much needed
health care. As for myself and my family, we have excellent coverage – thanks
to you and the $174,000 you pay me every year for a little over 100 days
‘work’. The fact that teachers work 180 days/year for 1/5th of that
number should not make you wonder if we’re over paid. After all, we’re the US
Congress, the group most Americans hold in lowest esteem.
“ To be fair, there are other issues I could have worked on*, but I didn’t. I could have introduced
bills to
Pass the American Jobs Act
Raise the minimum wage
Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act
Pass a Responsible Homeowner
Refinancing Act
Create an infrastructure bank
Repeal tax breaks for outsourcing
jobs
Create tax incentives for
insourcing jobs
**See fuller list below
But I didn’t.
I did sponsor four bills
in the House of Representatives which, by one account, govtrack.us*, had between
ZERO and SIX percent chances of being enacted.
WHAT WERE THESE BILLS THAT RECEIVED SUCH LITTLE ATTENTION?
H.R. 282: REFUND ACT
January
15, 2013
What does that name tell you about the bill?
The full title reads:
To rescind certain Federal funds
identified by States as unwanted and use the funds to reduce Federal debt.
Out of 434 other representatives in the US House of
Representatives, I was able to find only 33 to co-sponsor his bill. Chances of
being enacted: 6%
Was there any real savings there? Not so much. States may
say they don’t want the money but none of them try very hard to send it back.
H.R. 283: Account Act January
15, 2013
What does that name tell you about the bill?
The full title reads:
To require the approval by the
head of an agency for any conference costing more than $25,000, and for other
purposes.
Out of 434 other representatives in the US House of
Representatives, I was able to find
20 members to co-sponsor his bill. Chances of being enacted: 1%
H.R. 1931: EASY Savings Act of 2013
May
9, 2013
What does that name tell you about the bill?
The full title reads:
To amend title 5, United
States Code, to enhance the authority under which Federal
agencies may pay cash
awards to employees for making cost saving disclosures, and
for other purposes.
Out of 434 other representatives in the US House of
Representatives, I was able to find 15 to co-sponsor his bill. Chances of being
enacted: 1%
H.R. 2885: Growing Jobs Through Capital Act of 2013 July 31, 2013
What does that name tell you about the bill?
The full title reads:
To amend the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 to temporarily exclude capital gain from gross income.
Out of 434 other representatives in the US House of
Representatives, I was able to find ANYONE to co-sponsor this bill. Chances of
being enacted: 0%
Hey, it was my way to give money back to people who are
already rich beyond their needs.
Thank YOU for the Money!
For this performance, Tennessee taxpayers (that’s YOU!) paid
Me over $174,000 PLUS.
Let’s not forget that I did sign on to over 300 bills
introduced by others, some of which damaged the lives of many of my District 3
constituents, including hospitals, nurses and doctors; teachers, fire fighters
and police; low income parents of children ranging from newborns to school age;
seniors, the underemployed and unemployed. But signing they endeared me to the
people who matter – to me.
While There’s Time, Ask Yourself,
“Is it possible to elect to office a person with the
competence to represent Tennessee’s interests, to work on issues that mean
something, someone who is committed to the benefit of All Tennesseans?”
“Is it possible that there is one candidate on the ballot
who has a proven track record of achievement in professional life whose work
demonstrates the caring, commitment and competence our state needs in these
chaotic times?”
Sure, it’s possible.
But that’s not me, and I’m here. And, even though I’m doing nothing for my
state, I still get elected. Why is that, do you think?
**Other Things
I Could Have Done
Update and strengthen the Voting Rights Act
Revive the 2010 DISCLOSE Act to shed light on corporate
money in politics
Pass a Supreme Court ethics act
Authorize states to restrict out-of-state campaign
contributions
Institute a carbon tax to address climate change
Reduce tax breaks for oil companies
Increase support for sustainable clean energy
Pass an immigration bill
Ban assault weapons
Institute universal background checks for gun sales
Institute universal pre-K education
Pass a paid parental leave act
Hold a conference with the Senate to pass a federal budget
Revive domestic safety-net programs shredded by
sequestration
Restore the 1.6 million jobs being lost to sequestration
Restore international development aid lost to sequestration
Restore sequestration cuts to Medicare’s fraud-control
program
Renovate the U.S. Postal Service
Restore the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka
food stamps)
Restrict junk food advertising to children
Cut subsidies to agribusiness
Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Ban racial profiling by police departments
Reform drug laws to end mass incarceration
Hold open hearings on the NSA’s XKeyscore program
Hold open hearings on the NSA’s PRISM program
Restrict and regulate drone assassinations
End restrictions on the transfer of cleared prisoners from
Guantanamo
Repeal the Hyde amendment and restore Medicaid funding for
abortion
Remove military sexual assault proceedings from the military
chain of command
Address the backlog on VA benefits
Are there any other things I could have done? Sure. But more
than likely I wouldn’t have.
Thank you for your support – and for your welfare checks
(the checks you pay for my welfare).
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