Jun 26, 2012
Congressman Reed Can’t Defend Cutting Medicare and Shipping American Jobs Overseas
Congressman Tom Reed (NY-23) enters the general election as a vulnerable incumbent who will be forced to defend his vote for a budget that drastically cuts Medicare in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires, Big Oil and companies shipping American jobs overseas. While Congressman Reed may try to cover up his extreme voting record, voters will not forget Reed’s priorities: protecting subsidies for Big Oil companies over middle class families. Even Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has said that Republicans in New York like Congressman Reed are “frankly pretty vulnerable.”
“Congressman Tom Reed has been in lock-step with the Tea Party wing of the least popular Congress in history, wholeheartedly supporting their anti-middle class agenda and the partisan political point scoring that has plagued Washington,” said Josh Schwerin, Northeast Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Reed will have to spend the next four months defending the indefensible: his vote to drastically cut Medicare while protecting tax breaks for millionaires and Big Oil, and corporations that ship jobs overseas.”
Background
Congressman Reed Voted to Slash Medicare, Protect Tax Breaks for Big Oil and Millionaires, Encourage Companies to Ship Jobs Overseas. On March 29, 2012, House Republicans supported a budget that would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit, protects $40 billion in tax breaks for big oil, provides people earning more than $1 million a year with an average tax cut of $394,000, and provides incentives for corporations to shift profits and jobs overseas. [H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12; Tax Policy Center, Table T12-0078 and T10-0132; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12]
House Speaker John Boehner: Republicans like Congressman Reed are “Pretty Vulnerable.” During a Fox News interview, Speaker John Boehner claimed that Republicans had a 1-in-3 chance of losing control of the House of Representatives. “We have 50 of our members in tough races, 89 freshmen running for their first reelections, and we have 32 districts that are in states where there is no presidential campaign going to be run, no big Senate race, and we call these orphan districts,” he said. “You take 18 of them, California, Illinois and New York, where you know we’re not likely to do well at the top of the ticket, and those districts are frankly pretty vulnerable.” [The Hill, 4/23/12]
Congressman Reed Voted with GOP Leadership 91 Percent of the Time in the 112th Congress. [Washington Post, accessed 6/26/12]
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