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Daily Star Journal.letter to the editor, missouri, Teabaggers, town hall, Vicky Hartzler, Warrensburg
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) held a series of town halls on Wednesday in the 4th Congressional District. We attended the afternoon town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg. There were dissenting views and push back at both town halls, but the one in Warrensburg was by far the more raucous.
Previously:
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town halls in Clinton and Warrensburg (August 10, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Warrensburg, part 1 (August 11, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Warrensburg, part 2 (August 12, 2011)
Vicky Hartzler is trying trying to scare you (August 12, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Warrensburg, part 3 (August 13, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Warrensburg, part 4 (August 14, 2011)
There was a letter to the editor in today’s edition of the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal addressing Representative Hartzler’s (r) expressed view on government regulation:
Get government off backs of business? Is that good?
I attended Congresswoman’s [sic] Vicky Hartzler’s town hall meeting in Warrensburg and am concerned about her comments about getting the government off businesses’ backs.
She spoke about the Environmental Protection Agency and how it was out of control, that we needed to get rid of all these regulations for businesses to grow. It may be that Congress should start doing its job on oversight of government agencies but I am concerned with this notion that we have too much regulation, that we need to slash whole agencies….
….The EPA was founded to improve human health. It is fun to watch the eagles but the important thing about them is that, if they are healthy, then we humans have a healthy environment to live in as well.
[emphasis in original]
Interestingly enough, the paper had a lead editorial in the same edition on the same subject:
Business regulations beneficial to public
Without environmental regulations, many businesses would not self-regulate – either due to greed or ignorance….
….Businesses know the risks, but coal continues to provide a major source for business profits and for Missouri energy. This is not to suggest coal, for now, remains a needed source of energy, only that regulations have resulted in cleaner-burning coal at places such as Iatan II in Platte County. Such regulations should be strengthened, not weakened, for the sake of public health.
If you only get 50.4% of the vote in a non-presidential year election with relatively low turnout you probably shouldn’t act like you won by a three to one margin.
Official Election Returns
State of Missouri General Election – November 2, 2010 General Election
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
As announced by the Board of State Canvassers
on Tuesday, November 30, 2010U.S. Representative – District 4 – Summary
Precincts Reporting 415 of 415Candidate Party Votes % of Votes
Skelton, Ike DEM 101,532 45.1%
Hartzler, Vicky REP 113,489 50.4%
Braun, Jason Michael LIB 6,123 2.7%
Cowan, Greg CST 3,912 1.7%Total Votes 225,056
[emphasis added]
Of course, if you’re a right wingnut that’s a feature, not a bug.
Hartzler’s comments about the EPA and dust left me scratching my head, so I did some research. Turns out the EPA started regulating dust in 2006 (when the White House and both chambers of Congress were controlled by the GOP). The EPA is required to evaluate its rules periodically and that’s why dust came up recently. But the EPA didn’t end up suggesting any changes to their current rules, which apparently haven’t been onerous for farmers or other gravel road dwellers. So, Vicky is just blowing smoke, grasping for an example that will help her dismantle the EPA. I, for one, enjoy my clean air and water. As someone who lives 18 miles downwind from the Kansas border, I don’t want pollution to be an issue decided at the state level. We can’t let her destroy our federal environmental protections. It’s not even about saving the earth, it’s about protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink.