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Health & Fitness

John Kline: Too Little, Too Late

Congressman John Kline has been very visible in the Second Congressional District lately: he has to be. He has a formidable challenge from Mike Obermueller this fall. In the only poll taken so far, Obermueller has the lead; Kline is playing catch up.

Unfortunately, Kline’s efforts speak volumes about his lack of leadership and representation in CD2 over the years. In an April 6 letter to constituents he describes what he has done lately:

Charter schools: Kline has introduced a separate charter school bill, designed to fund the charter school movement throughout the country. Of course, this is little more than a re-authorization of existing federal funding for charter schools. Charter schools can be fine educational institutions, although over 10% in Minnesota are failing. The problem: Kline has no support for his master education plan and, like with immigration and the farm bill, he feels he can only pass part of a bill at a time. The Senate won’t go along with this continued piecemeal approach from Kline and his friends in the House.

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Seniors: Kline is planning on holding a public event in Rosemount on April 24 to discuss aging and wellness. He is bringing along others in the field, so he can avoid questions, just as he did months ago with his college financing night. Why avoid questions? Because he can’t live down the Ryan budget on Social Security cuts and a proposed Medicare voucher system. He can’t live down his proposal to raise the retirement age as the solution to Social Security solvency.

Obamacare: Kline claims to have championed a change in the definition of full time work for purposes of the health insurance mandate for large employers; the change increases the definition of full time from 30 hours per week to 40 hours per week. He claims this will save jobs. Unfortunately, he ignores the Congressional Budget Office which, on this issue, has said: there is “no compelling evidence that part-time employment has increased as a result of the ACA.”' The report  also indicated that labor force changes predicted under the ACA are “almost entirely because workers will choose”' to leave  jobs they no longer want or need, now that they can obtain health benefits elsewhere.

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Just remember what he has not done: passed an increase in the minimum wage, passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, passed an extension of unemployment insurance for the long term unemployed, passed an immigration bill. And that’s for starters.

No wonder he is running scared.





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