Campaign 2010

Jul 25, 2012

National Republicans Running “Baggage Brigade” Against House Democrats

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) continued on offense today, launching the “Baggage Brigade” to highlight House Republicans’ so-called “top-tier challengers” to Democratic incumbents. These Republican challengers carry significant baggage that makes them unelectable. From millions owed in back taxes to outsourcing and mismanagement, these Republican candidates are weighed down by baggage that ensures middle class families can’t trust them and won’t vote for them.

 

“House Republicans’ so-called ‘top-tier’ candidates this election cycle have more baggage than Paris Hilton at an airport,” said Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Whether it’s owing $4 million in back taxes, being the lawyer-lobbyist for an indicted Governor, outsourcing American jobs, laying off workers, or believing that the answer for America’s middle class is just more Tea Party extremism, not one of these Republican candidates can win and represent the middle class voters of their district. Republicans failed to recruit candidates who can even stand up to the rigors of a Google search and their baggage-laden challengers are drowning any hopes they had of being on offense this election cycle.”

 

Introducing: The Baggage Brigade

Examples of Republican 2012 Challengers

 

Abel Maldonado (CA-24)

 

  • The IRS said Maldonado and his family’s business owed more than $4 million in back taxes. [Los Angeles Times, 5/31/12]

 

Andy Barr (KY-06)

 

  • As a top aide to corrupt former Governor Ernie Fletcher, Barr stood with corruption. Barr was the lead lawyer for the department that was called “a corrupt political machine” by prosecutors. His office was searched by police in the criminal probe, and Barr refused to release documents related to the scandal. [Herald Leader, 9/16/10]

 

  • Andy Barr was caught lying by police and ended up being arrested in Florida, where he was convicted and sentenced for his crime. Then he applied for a government job and lied about his criminal record. [Herald Leader, 10/05/10]

 

Richard Tisei (MA-06)

 

  • Richard Tisei has publicly stated that the wealthiest one percent of Americans pay too much in taxes, but that families in the middle are not paying enough. If elected, Tisei would vote to shift the tax burden from the rich to the middle class. [NECN, 11/16/11]

 

  • Richard Tisei called the Tea Party a “god-send.” If he's elected he will vote in lockstep with Tea Party extremists who want to repeal patient health care protections, further subsidize Big Oil companies, cut taxes for millionaires, restrict women's access to health care and end Medicare. [Tewksbury Patch, 1/13/12]

 

Mike Parry and Allen Quist (MN-01)

 

Both Mike Parry and Allen Quist don’t fit in the main stream.

 

  • Parry has reportedly “garnered a reputation as something of a loose-lipped caricature of old white male rage.”  He has called President Obama a “power-hungry, arrogant black man” and tried to link Democrats to pedophiles. [City Pages, 3/31/10; MN Progressive Project, 12/31/09; Waseca County News, 1/06/10]

 

  • Not to be outdone, Allen Quist, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann’s mentor, believes men are genetically predisposed to be the heads of their households and said that Mankato State was contributing to the spread of AIDS by sponsoring a counseling center for gay students. Quist even compared the counseling center to a center for the Ku Klux Klan. [AP, 4/25/94; Minnesota Independent, 11/03/11; Mother Jones, 5/14/12]

 

Randy Altschuler (NY-01)

 

  • Randy Altschuler founded a company with the sole purpose of convincing companies to dump their American employees and replace them with workers in low wage countries such as India—and he made millions. According to Time Magazine, Altschuler was “devoted to making outsourcing happen,” and his company was called responsible for the outsourcing boom. [Time, 3/1/04; 2012 Altschuler PFD, 6/25/12; Information Week, 2/10/07]

 

  • Randy Altschuler has said that “we can't afford Medicare” and that Paul Ryan’s plan – which privatized Social Security and Medicare – was "doing the right thing." [YouTube footage, 8/26/10; Washington Post, 2/01/10]

 

Matt Doheny (NY-21)

 

  • Matt Doheny made a fortune as a Wall Street vulture taking over troubled companies for pennies on the dollar and profiting by selling off their assets. Instead of creating jobs, Doheny made his money letting American businesses die. At one company, Doheny's actions resulted in $41 million dollars in bonuses for wealthy executives while 500 workers were laid off. [Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 1/23/12; Post-Standard, 4/20/10; New York Times, 2/12/07; Washington Post, accessed 7/19/12; Doheny 2010 PFD; Recorder News, accessed 3/15/12; New York Times, 6/26/02; Bloomberg News, 9/16/04; Reuters, 2/26/04; Rocky Mountain News, 8/24/06]

 

  • Matt Doheny said Social Security is unsustainable and needs to be cut to reduce the federal deficit. He has also called Social Security the “worst, worst, worst investment you can ever make.” [Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 4/09/10; Watertown Daily Times, 8/26/10]

 

Maggie Brooks (NY-25)

 

  • During her tenure, a Monroe county employee claimed patronage jobs frequently went to Maggie Brooks’ cronies. She even allowed her husband to take an $80,000-per-year government job. To pay for these political perks, the property tax levy increased, and she sunk the county into $389 million worth of debt. In fact, her mismanagement of the budget was so severe, Moody’s Investors Service cited “weak budget management,” and the local paper said the county’s rating sat “two notches above junk bond status.” [Monroe County website, accessed 5/04/12; Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 3/14/10; Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 11/11/05; Monroe County Budget, 2005-2012; Monroe County 2012 Budget, p. 470; Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 5/6/04; Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 7/10/07]

 

Chris Collins (NY-27)

 

  • Although Chris Collins is running on his record as a businessman, his business practices raise serious concerns. Collins’ mode of operations is to acquire a business and fire most of the workers, eliminate union contracts, and slash wages for those remaining, all while reaping in government-funded assistance. In one instance, Collins bought out the Buffalo China plant from Oneida Ltd. and renamed it Niagara Ceramics in 2004. He fired 115 people on day one, ousted the union, and severely cut wages for the employees he kept. [Buffalo News, 3/13/04;  Buffalo News, 9/23/07]

 

  • Chris Collins abused his office. As County Executive, Collins' administration gave a lucrative county business contract to company he owned. [Buffalo News, 2/26/09; Buffalo News, 3/04/09]

 

  • Chris Collins also has a history of making gaffes. He has said “people now don't die from prostate cancer, breast cancer.” He compared the Speaker of the State Assembly—who is Jewish—to Hitler and the anti-Christ and asked a woman for a lap dance during Gov. Paterson’s State-of-the State address. [Buffalo News, 7/04/12; New York Daily News, 10/26/09; New York Daily News, 1/13/10]

 

David Rouzer (NC-07)

 

  • David Rouzer has been bought and paid for by special interests. He was a federal lobbyist for tobacco and immigration interests, where he collected $433,000. He has also raised money from lobbyists for his federal campaign when the assembly was in session – skirting state campaign finance laws. [Senate Office of Public Records, accessed 7/24/12; News & Observer, 9/02/11; Fayetteville Observer, Editorial, 9/02/11]

 

Richard Hudson (NC-08)

 

  • Richard Hudson will be a “yes man” for Washington Republican elites and special interests.  For most of Hudson’s adult life, he has worked as a congressional staffer, lived inside the beltway and lived off the taxpayer’s dime. [RedState, 5/2/12; Legistorm, accessed 7/20/12; Charlotte Observer, 11/26/11]

 

  • A day before he announced his candidacy for Congress, he set up a new business, Cabarrus Marketing Group LLC, which appears to be a sham company. No news reports indicate that the company has performed any actual work, and the company’s website is basically an empty WordPress template. In fact, Hudson’s primary opponent went on the record as claiming that it’s not a real business. [Richard Hudson Press Release, 10/13/11; North Carolina Secretary of State Filing, 10/12/11; Nexis News Search, performed 7/6/12; Cabarrus Marketing Group website, accessed 7/6/12; The Dispatch (Lexington), 6/27/12]

 

  • Richard Hudson is also a birther. He told a Rowan County Tea Party group, “there’s no question President Obama is hiding something on his citizenship.” [News and Observer, 5/4/12]

 

 Keith Rothfus (PA-12)

 

  • Keith Rothfus supports unfair trade agreements that hurt workers and send Pennsylvania jobs to other countries. Rothfus supported the Columbia Free Trade Agreement even though NAFTA, which was similar, has cost Pennsylvania more than 44,000 jobs. [Wexford Republican primary forum, via Youtube.com, accessed 3/19/12; Economic Policy Institute, 7/20/05]

 

  • Despite claiming to oppose the TARP bailouts, Keith Rothfus actually worked for the Bank of New York Mellon, a bank that received $3 billion in bailout funds from the taxpayers. He and his wife held investments in banks that received bailout funds. [Rothfus campaign website, 3/14/10; New York Daily News, 2/21/09; Rothfus 2011 PFD]

 

Mia Love (UT-04)

 

  • As a member of the city council, Mia Love wanted to reduce the Saratoga Spring Police Department’s budget, then violent crime increased 400 percent and non-violent crime more than doubled. [City of Saratoga Springs Annual Budget Reports, 2008 and 2009; Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports, 2008-2010; Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports, 2008-2010]

 

  • In 2007, 2008 and 2009, as a member of the city council, Love voted for budgets that increased property taxes. From 2007 to 2008, property tax rates increased by 116 percent. From 2008 to 2009, they went up another 21 percent, and another 13 percent in 2010. [Daily Caller, 3/20/12]

 

  • Mia Love supports privatizing Social Security. [iCaucus Utah, 2/25/12]

 

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