Why I support Sen. Sherrod Brown
To the editor:
This letter is in response to the column titled “Sen. Brown is proud of his record”
I thought about responding in kind, but decided instead of trying to convince everyone to vote against Mr. Mandel, I would address why I will vote for Senator Brown.
Since both my wife and I are veterans and we have a daughter in the Air Force, his support for vets is obviously important to us. A couple of examples from Mr. Browns record:
He co-sponsored the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act to guarantee that members of the Armed Forces would continue to receive pay and allowances during a government shutdown.
He co-sponsored the Hiring of Heroes Act, giving tax credits to businesses for hiring veterans and increasing training and education opportunities for veterans.
He co-sponsored the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill that helps veterans get graduate and undergraduate degrees as well as vocational training.
On a personal note, about a year ago I contacted both of my senators with concerns about legislation affecting health insurance for my daughter. I won’t bore you with the details, I’ll just say I received an auto response e-mail from both senators.
The next day I received a phone call from Senator Brown’s office. The intern I talked to answered as many of my questions as she could, then told me she would get back to me on the rest. She did – within 24 hours.
She also signed me up to receive e-mail updates on the legislation addressing my concerns. Senator Brown fully supported the legislation that made veterans insurance comparable with company paid insurance, and his office kept me apprised of its progress through the system. The other senator? Never heard from him.
I’m sure that at some point someone will bring up the fact that Josh Mandel served in the military and Senator Brown didn’t. While I appreciate and thank our treasurer for his service, I don’t see that as an overwhelming reason to vote for him.
Being a veteran and supporting veterans are very different things. Two very high profile veterans both opposed passage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill – G.W. Bush and John McCain.
Senator Brown has demonstrated consistent strong support for veterans and military families throughout his career. Mr. Mandel is, at best, an unknown.
Some non-veteran related examples of Senator Browns priorities:
In response to an attempt to increase the Social Security retirement age, he proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 1323 titled “Congressional Retirement Age Act of 2011” to “set the age at which members of Congress are eligible for an annuity to the same age as the retirement age under the Social Security Act.”
He voted to make it illegal for insurance companies to refuse to insure people with preexisting conditions or to drop their insurance when they got sick. He voted to allow family members up to the age of 27 to remain on their parents insurance. He voted to require insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on medical care and quality improvement or return the difference to consumers and employers.
He voted to end subsidies to oil companies. By the way in the Fortune 500, Exxon Mobile is #1 with a 35% increase in profits this year, #3 is Chevron with a 41% increase, and ConocoPhillips is #4 with a measly 10% increase. Perhaps it’s possible they don’t need taxpayer-funded subsidies?
Finally, I’d like to address the statement “On Dec. 14, 2011, he voted against a balanced budget amendment which would have required a supermajority for tax increases.”
While true, it is equally true to state “On Dec. 14, 2011, he voted FOR a balanced budget amendment which would have required a supermajority for tax increases.” Senator Brown did vote against the “Hatch Bill”, but it was not the only balanced budget amendment voted on that day.
The “Udall Bill” – which Senator Brown voted for - would also have required a supermajority for tax increases. The biggest difference between the bills was that the Udall Bill placed the Social Security Trust fund in a “lockbox”, the Hatch Bill would have allowed Congress to use it to balance the budget.
Perhaps it might be more accurate to say “On Dec. 14, 2011, he voted for a bill to prevent Congress from using the Social Security Trust fund to balance the budget.”
Sincerely,
John Tallieu
Hillsboro