It’s hard to understand why Dayton voters keep returning Mike Turner to Congress. The “Campaign for America’s Future” tracks ten key congressional votes dealing with the economy and the middle class, and Mike Turner, my congressman to the U.S. Congress, according to this organization, is the worst of the worst and deserves a score of zero.  In its report, the CAF analyzes ten pieces of legislation and, Mike Turner, in every case voted against the middle class. Turner voted for the Ryan Budget, voted against a jobs bill, voted to diminish consumer financial protection, voted to weaken unions, voted to repeal Obamacare. Here are the ten votes:

1. Voted for the Republican FY 2013 Budget
 (The Ryan Budget)  — Would slash domestic spending including converting Medicare into a voucher program,
2. Voted against the FY 2013 Progressive Caucus Budget for All
 — H.Con. Res. 112 amendment would reduce long-term federal debt through short-term job-creation measures, such as increased spending on rebuilding roads and schools.
3. Voted for the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act
 — Extends the Bush tax cuts giving millionaires an average bonus of $160,000 next year.
4. Voted for the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act
 — H..R. 10 would allow Congress to exercise veto power over the health, safety and environmental regulations the executive branch writes to implement legislation.
5. Voted for the Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act — 
Guts the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers.
6. Voted for the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
 — Diminishes the rights of private-sector workers to hold union elections.
7. Voted for the South Korea Trade Agreement
 — H.R. 3080 lowers tariffs on U.S. auto exports to Korea while maintaining incentives for outsourcing of U.S. jobs.
8. Voted for the Surface Transportation Extension Act
 — H.R. 4348 would weaken environmental protection efforts, fast-track the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and widen the gap between transportation needs and available funding.
9. Voted for the Interest Rate Reduction Act
 — H.R. 4628 keep student loan borrowing costs low for 7 million college students but at the cost of ending a vital public health program.
10. Voted for the Repeal of Obamacare Act
 — The 31st failed attempt by Congressional Republicans to repeat the Affordable Care Act.

The Campaign for America’s Future explains:

There are many guides that seek to measure how “liberal” or “conservative” an elected official is, but this guide takes on the unique task of measuring members of Congress against the kitchen-table needs and concerns of middle-class voters. Put another way, this is an effort to look at the votes and priorities of Congress through the lens of the daily economic struggles of working families, unemployed people, students, retirees — all those who consider themselves members of the middle class or who are trying to climb their way into the middle class.

That focuses this guide on a particular set of priorities: an economy that produces ample numbers of good jobs — jobs with living wages and strong benefits; health care that is affordable and accessible; top-quality education that fully equips children for the challenges of tomorrow without crippling them with debt; watchdogs who stand against those who would prey upon consumers or poison the environment; economic protection for those going through hard times, simple dignity for seniors at the end of a long worklife., and a democracy in which the voices of ordinary citizens are not drowned out by the rich and powerful.

The key votes in the 112th Congress graded in this voter guide symbolize this range of priorities. It is not a comprehensive measure of all of the consequential decisions that were made on the floor of the House and Senate that impacted middle- class voters. Before Congress went on its August 2012 summer recess, the House had passed 263 bills, and the Senate had passed 66. Many of these bills would have had significant impact, for better or worse, on the day-to-day lives of working people had they been signed into law. (Many of these bills are featured on TheMiddleClass.org.)

The key votes in this guide serve as a clear measure of whether legislators were defending the interests and concerns of the broad middle class. The bills were chosen before we compiled how legislators had voted.

 

Sharen Neuhardt is the Democratic challenger to Mike Turner

Yesterday, the “Nuns on the Bus” arrived at the University of Dayton and were greeted by a group of about 150, mostly students. UD is a Marianist school and several of the nuns are UD graduates. The nuns urged the UD students to, “help carry out the mission of the gospel.”

The nuns will be in Ohio for five more days and their schedule can be seen here.

The nuns are promoting “The Faithful Budget”and scolded both Democrats and Republicans for not creating sufficient policies to help the poor. The preface to the Faithful budget states, “Our message to our national leaders — rooted in our sacred texts — is this: Act with mercy and justice by serving the common good, robustly funding support for poor and vulnerable people, both at home and abroad, and exercising proper care and keeping of the earth.”

The nuns are particularly responding to Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, who is know for the “Ryan Budget” and who defends his budget in terms of his own Catholic faith. According to Think Progress, the Ryan Budget “would devastate the poor,”  and the nuns, evidently, agree.

After Ryan defended his budget in Christian terms, the Nuns on the Bus released this statement:

“As communities of faith we have long believed that the budget is a moral document and we judge each proposal not by the arbitrary fiscal support it provides, but rather by the human impact it holds. A Faithful Budget protects the common good, values every individual and lifts the burden on the poor. In light of all the religious comments around the budget debate, we hope members of Congress will look at the Faithful Budget and make an honest effort to build a more just society and a healthier world.”

But, at UD yesterday, the nuns did not mention the Ryan budget by name. They said that Christians should work to help make a world where “no one is left out.”  They encouraged the UD students that they should follow Catholic social teaching and should partner with them to help make a better society and to help the most vulnerable.

At their meeting on October 9, 2012, the Kettering City Council, by a vote of 5 to 2, approved a resolution recommending that Kettering citizens in this election reject two proposed changes to the city charter (Issues 28/29). The two members of the Council who identify with the Dayton Tea Party — Rob Scott and Ashley Webb — disagreed with the other five members of the counsel, and refused to support the resolution.

A Tea Party associated group, “Citizens For A Better Kettering,” are sponsors of the two proposed changes to the city charter. Issue 28, if approved, would limit the council members and the mayor to two consecutive terms of four years each. Issue 29 would reduce the pay of the mayor and council members by 50%.

Ashley Webb in his comments to the council, protested that, in his view, it is not appropriate for council to take a public stand on matters that directly impact council members. He explained that he is not in total agreement with the issues. He said that concerning these issues, he previously had remained neutral, but that now, he was forced to take a stand.

Webb said that “It is tough to beat an incumbent,” and suggested that, in some cases, council members use their salaries as a “war chest” to finance their re-election campaigns. He indicated that in a recent council contest, one candidate spent $11,500 — implying that this money had come from the salary this council member had saved from his or her salary. I have no idea who he was referring to.

Webb indicated improvements he would like to see in the proposed charter changes (Issue 28 and 29). Webb is now a candidate seeking election to the Montgomery County Commission and, no doubt, he is wondering how his stand on these two issues might impact his efforts to elected as County Commissioner. I wondered if Webb might abandon Scott and join the majority and approve the resolution. But, when the vote was taken, he and Scott both voted “No.” Scott, the founder of the Dayton Tea Party, and now the Chair of the Montgomery County Republican Party, made no comment.

Bruce Duke spoke for the majority and explained that in the late 1970’s, the City Charter was changed and term limits were imposed on the mayor, but, then, twenty years later, this change in the charter was reversed. He said term limits in Kettering have already been tried and that they didn’t work. He complained that the proposed charter revision (Issue 28), in his view, is poorly written and that, if approved, would likely result in individuals acquiring the office of mayor without sufficient experience. He named five previous Kettering mayors who, had the proposed changes been in effect, would have been disqualified from serving.

Concerning Issue 29, Duke said that, if approved, the salary for the Kettering mayor and Kettering counsel members, on a per capita basis, would move from the mid-range of salaries for city officials in the region to near the bottom.

Wow — In taping this, the distance separating me from the council members magnified the shakiness of my hand held camera. Next time, I’ll bring my tripod.