Actually Congressman….

The Congressman Buck McKeon interview that appeared in Saturday’s Signal is interesting on a number of levels. First of all, it’s rare to see our Congressman interviewed in our local paper on national subjects. Usually our local media just asks him what he’s doing for us in Washington.

Perhaps that’s why Congressman McKeon seems caught off guard and even a tad irritated at Randles line of questioning. And maybe that’s why some of his responses don’t hold up under examination.

To wit:

Term Limits:

Check out McKeon’s deflection when Randles’ asked him directly about federal term limits:

THE SIGNAL: On March 3, you announced you will be running for re-election. You have served in Congress for more than 15 years. How important are term limits for elected officials?

McKEON: How important are they? In what way?

THE SIGNAL: Do you think it’s important to have some sort of term limits on elected officials? You’re the only Congressman that’s serve in the 25th Congressional District…

McKEON: We had a 25th Congressional District before i served in the 25th Congressional District, it was just a different congressional district.

We have term limits every year. Every two years we stand for election so the people have a chance to make a choice at that time and I think that’s a good system.

That’s quite a contrast with what he told the Daily News in 1995. From the May 23, 1995 edition*:

“I believe term limits are necessary to increase citizen participation and revive the concept of the citizen legislator who serves for a short time as a civic duty rather than as a career,” McKeon said. “Without term limits, we will continue to move more and more towards a system dominated by an entrenched class of politicians that erode accountability and responsiveness.”

…

McKeon, serving his House second term, has pledged to limit his congressional career to eight to 10 years. McKeon’s district covers the Los Angeles County portion of the Antelope Valley.

Zoom forward to 2010 and McKeon tells the Signal that he will serve in Congress “as long as I’m healthy and able to continue on.”

Stimulus

But that wasn’t the only flip-flop.  On the topic of the federal stimulus program, McKeon denied to The Signal that he ever said the the stimulus had failed to create jobs.

THE SIGNAL: You have said the $800 billion dollar federal stimulus has created no new jobs and…

McKEON: No, I didn’t say it hasn’t created no new jobs. When you throw out that kind of money it’s bound to create some jobs. What I have said is, since that bill was passed, we were promised it would create 3 million new jobs, but in fact what has happened is we have lost 4 million jobs. What I said was it’s been basically ineffective and for the amount of money that’s been spent, very few jobs have been created.

Actually Congressman, as recently as February you were saying the stimulus didn’t create jobs:

“The question is ‘Did the Stimulus Bill create new jobs?’  The answer is no.  The Democrats’ claimed their stimulus plan was going ‘create new jobs’ and hold unemployment at or below 8.5%.  The reality is new jobs have not been created.   In fact, millions of jobs have been lost, despite the $800 billion boondoggle that was rushed through Congress.

And that was only the latest flip flop. Back in November, McKeon toured a local lock factory that hired 17 new employees with stimulus money. The Signal story about that tour said, “The congressman voted against the stimulus package but conceded that in the case of Pacific Lock, the program is working.”

Health Care

Few issues have lit up our Congressman’s press and outreach machine like Health Care reform.  You should read his discussion with Jonathan Randles on the topic, but I wanted to zero in on McKeon’s abuse of the phrase “government takeover of healthcare,” which has appeared 16 times in outreach emails over the last year.

McKEON: Such as government basically taking over healthcare, and I have real concerns about that.

He goes on to claim that if Health Care reform passes, the 80% of Americans who like the insurance coverage they have “will lose it.”

For the last time, there is no proposal in the House, the Senate or in the President’s desk drawer that amounts to a “government takeover” of healthcare. Respected fact-check website Politifact.com tags Congressmen who say such things as “Liar Liar, Pants on Fire,” saying:

By any reasonable definition, there’s no way that the Democratic plan could be considered a government takeover. Indeed, its primary approach is to set up new systems to encourage private health insurance companies to provide more coverage and better services.

The cornerstone of the Democratic program is actually the status quo. The majority of Americans would continue to get health coverage the way they do now — from private insurance companies. That coverage would be paid for the same way it is now — by private employers and individual premiums. That’s not a government takeover.

Indeed, FactCheck.org said the whole “Government Takeover” mantra was one of 2009′s biggest “whoppers” alongside death panels.

It’s easy to figure out why Congressman McKeon continues to use this inaccurate phrase. Back in May 2009, pollster Frank Luntz said that was the only reasonable chance Republicans had of derailing health care reform.

I hope The Signal and other local media will do more interviews like this as the 2010 campaign season kicks off. Congressman McKeon works for us, after all.

* Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer.  (1995, May 23). CONGRESSMEN BACK MEASURE ON TERM LIMITS MCKEON, THOMAS SUPPORT BID FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT :[ANTELOPE VALLEY Edition]. Daily News,p. AV.1.  Retrieved March 7, 2010, from California, South Newsstand. (Document ID: 19938913)