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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Daly Challenges Kline
Wednesday 12 May @ 13:57:28 |
 by Ed Felien
While most politicos are focused on the high-profile race of Patti Wetterling against Mark Kennedy in the Sixth Congressional District, an equally interesting race, in which the DFL might actually have a better chance, is that of Teresa Daly against John Kline in the Second Congressional District.
 Two years ago Kline easily beat Bill Luther for the seat: 152,970 votes (53.33%) to 121,121 (42.22%). But there were some anomalies in that election that might not be present in 2004:
Luther was severely distracted with the illness and death of his wife from stomach cancer, he had to move back into his district after being gerrymandered out of it through re-districting, and George Bush was beating the drum for war and questioning everyone’s patriotism if they weren’t rallying ‘round the President and his flag.
Also, the third party candidacy of Sam Garst (an activist in Luther’s campaign) on a No New Taxes platform had the appearance of a sleazy prank and probably hurt Luther’s turnout and helped Kline.
The war in Iraq played much better two years ago. It was all red, white and blue and beating the drum. It was the inspiring idea of war. It wasn’t the reality. There were no flag-draped coffins, yet.
There was no military standoff at Falluja. There were no atrocities. There was no talk about mercenaries. And there were no photos of the cruel torture of Iraqis by U. S. soldiers. Bush convinced America it needed a “splendid little war” to boost morale, and now we’ve had our noses rubbed in it. And it’s not pretty any more, and it smells rotten.
Flag waving patriotism comes easy to John Kline. He’s a 25-year veteran of the Marines, retired as a colonel. He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and commanded all Marine aviation forces in Somalia. [Didn’t we lose a helicopter and crew there?]
He is an unquestioning defender of Bush’s policies and the point man for attack on John Kerry’s patriotism.
He begins an article for the American Experiment Quarterly “Symposium” in Summer 2003, entitled “Results Matter,” by saying:
“The attacks of September 11 presented America with a bold challenge: act or be acted upon.” He continues: “In September 2002, President Bush issued a national security strategy, outlining his intended course of action to address the threat of terrorism, ‘In the new world we have entered, the only path to peace and security is the path of action.’ In good faith, President Bush and his administration engaged in the diligent preparation of research and intelligence-gathering—the result of which revealed the magnitude and immediacy of the threat posed by Iraq.”
The conclusion is in no way justified by the premise. It’s a fraud. We were attacked on September 11 by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda; therefore, we should invade Iraq. We were attacked on December 7, 1941 by the Japanese; therefore, we should have invaded Mexico?
Bunko artists love the shell game. They set up three shells and one pea. They tell you the hand is quicker than the eye. They move the shells around very fast, but you’re pretty sure you know which shell the pea is under. They stop. You pick. And there’s no pea under your shell, but there is a pea under a different shell that you’re sure hasn’t moved much the entire time. Bunko artists generally use two peas: the one you’re after (which they disappear) and the one they were going to reveal all along.
If some cheap hustler tries this on the streets of New York City he gets thrown in jail. If the President of the United States tries this, he and his big oil buddies get rich.
The shell game is the structural argument of John Kline’s “Results Matter.” He concludes, “Results do matter. The result of the Bush Doctrine is a world made more secure from the threat of terror and a world in which diplomacy is again an option for success. And it is on these results President Bush and his administration will be judged.”
Is Kline on crack?
How else could anyone believe the world is more secure today as a result of Bush’s policies in Afghanistan or Iraq or Israel? After 9/11 the world stood at our side. Two and a half years later we stand almost alone. How did we go from being the best loved nation in the world to becoming the most hated? Diplomacy is not an option for success. Not for the United States. Not now. Diplomacy depends on keeping your word and being truthful in your dealings with other countries.
Who could believe anything we would say after Colin Powell’s performance at the United Nations? We didn’t massage the data. We didn’t “sex up” the data. We lied. And the world knows it. And when the world didn’t go along with us on our great invasion scheme, we went in virtually alone. Now, we’ve gone back to the United Nations and asked them to bail us out of Iraq. The United Nations has replied by saying, “We’ll think about it, and we’ll think about it on our schedule and not yours.”
Someone would have to be smoking really great crack to believe we’re in a stronger position today than we were two and a half years ago.
 But it’s not just the war. Kline agrees with Bush on everything else. According to the tabulations of Project Vote Smart, he gets 100-percent support ratings from the Business-Industry Political Action Committee; the Associated Builders and Contractors; the U. S. Chamber of Commerce; a grade of A from the National Rifle Association; the League of Private Property Voters; and the Non Commissioned Officers Association. He gets a zero-percent rating from the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League; Planned Parenthood; Americans for the Arts; Americans United for the Separation of Church and State; Arab American Institute; American Association of University Women; American Public Health Association; Federation for American Immigration Reform; Transportation Communications Union; AFL-CIO; and Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.
Some particulars in his voting record deserve closer scrutiny.
He supported the Republican House leadership in passing a version of the Child Tax Credit bill that was eight times more expensive than the Senate version, a bill primarily aimed at leveraging increased tax cuts for the rich.
He supported the establishment of the first federally funded private school voucher system in Washington, D.C.
He opposed funding for the United Nations Family Planning Program, making maternity in the Third World much more dangerous than it has to be.
He voted with the Republican leadership to allow Headstart programs to hire people based on their religion.
On welfare reform he voted to increase the number of hours people had to work from 30 to 40 without adequate funding for daycare. Instead of daycare funding, the bill provides $300 million in new dollars for a marriage promotion program and $50 million for sexual abstinence programs.
And who is challenging John Kline?
 Teresa Daly has deep roots in rural Le Sueur County and the Second Congressional District. Her ancestors homesteaded farms there in the 1850s. For the past 12 years she has served as Senior Vice President for Right Management Consultants, a firm that assists displaced workers. She was just elected to the Burnsville City Council.
Calling for an independent commission to review weapons of mass destruction intelligence, she stated, “President Bush used the CIA’s intelligence as a primary factor in the decision to go to war in Iraq. That is one of the reasons why many Americans, myself included, supported military actions in Iraq.”
In response to Kline’s attacks on Senator John Kerry, she said, “It is a shame that John Kline spends more time playing partisan politics than working for the families of Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. Time and time again, John Kline puts the interest of the Republican Party and the President above the interests of our families.
“Last month, John Kline voted against the federal transportation bill because the President opposed it, despite the fact it allocated $8 million in transportation projects for Scott, Dakota, and Goodhue Counties.
“At the President’s request, John Kline voted against an important measure that would have given rural hospitals the same Medicare reimbursement rate as urban hospitals. That measure would have prevented the Zumbrota Community Hospital from closing its door last year.
“John Kline is the only member of Congress from Minnesota to tout the President’s No Child Left Behind program despite the fact it imposes federal standards, restricts parental and educator control, and cuts federal funding for Minnesota schools. That is why seven of the eight members of Congress from Minnesota opposed No Child Left Behind in 2001.
“It seems to me that John Kline’s priorities are wrong. Maybe Congressman Kline should spend less time being the President’s cheerleader and spend more time being a Congressman from Minnesota.”
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