Thursday, August 17, 2006

Interest groups on Rehberg's Dismal Record


In this post last week, Craig from mtpolitics.net called me to task on my use of the word 'experts'. I cited interest groups like the National Education Association as 'experts' in the area of gauging Rehberg's record on issues like education. How silly of me. It is true that the NEA is an interest group and it is also true that I cherry picked groups that gave Rehberg poor ratings. I will now try to present a more panoramic view of Rehberg's record in the eyes of interest groups.

First, lets take a more in depth look at those who think Rehberg hasn't done so well, including a recap of those covered in the last post:

Education
National Education Association 25%
National Association for College Admission Counseling 25%
National Parent Teacher Association 8%
National School Boards Association 40%
School Nutrition Association 33%

Animal Rights
The Humane Society of the United States 0%
Fund for Animals 11%
Society for Animal Protective Legislation 11%

Health Care
American Public Health Association 12%
American College of Emergency Physicians 50%
National Breast Cancer Coalition 0%

children's Interest
Children's Defense Fund 0%
School Nutrition Association 33%

Civil Liberties and Rights
American Civil Liberties Union 5%
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 30%
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 0%
Human Rights Campaign 0%
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 5%

Environment and Wildlife
American Wilderness Coalition 0%
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund 0%
League of Conservation Voters 11%
Republicans for Environmental Protection 4%

Gender
American Association of University Women 33%
National Organization for Women 29%
Federally Employed Women 0%
Business and Professional Women USA 43%

Labor
Service Employees International Union 19%
United Auto Workers 21%
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 0%
American Postal Workers Union 13%

Elderly Issues
Alliance for Retired Americans 0%
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association 20
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging 50%

Veterans
Disabled American Veterans 0%
The Retired Enlisted Association 33%

What do we see from this? Well, Denny does not appear to be a friend to education, healthcare, children, the environment, freedom, women, children, puppies, old folks or veterans. Well, who are his friends then?


Business
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 89%
Business-Industry Political Action Committee 89%
National Association of Government Contractors 67%
Financial Executives International 50%
National Retail Federation 100%

Conservative
Christian Coalition 100%
Christian Action Network 96%
Center for Reclaiming America 100%
Family Research Council 92%

It was difficult to find anyone who gave Rehberg a positive rating. It looks like Denny like business and Jesus. Before you jump to conclusions that this is the real Jesus, let's look at some of these interests groups:

Family Research council:The Southern Poverty Law Center has linked the Family Research Council to racism through the activities of its president Tony Perkins.[2]. In the April 26, 2005 issue of The Nation magazine journalist Max Blumenthal wrote that Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has longstanding ties to racist organizations, including a deal with white supremacist David Duke to share his mailing list. "Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke."
-Don't forget, this is where Dobson said SpongeBob was gay.
Christian Coalition: This group was started by Pat Robertson and headed by Ralph Reed. Remember, Pat was the one that said that Katrina hit New Orleans because god doesn't like homos? An remember this:

On his November 10, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson told citizens of Dover, Pennsylvania that they had rejected God by voting out of office all seven members of the school board who support "intelligent design."

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city", Robertson said on his broadcast.

"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because He might not be there."


Don't get me started on Ralph Reed, another friend of Abromoff.

Disclaimer:
The ratings presented above can be found at Project Vote Smart. They do not represent 'expert' testimony, only the ratings by certain interest groups. This is not an objective review, but the view of a partisan pundit who is very interested in seeing Denny Rehbergs replaced by Monica Lindeen. I encourage all of you to do your own research into the issues, weigh your choices and the vote Lindeen!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

let's see a person dedicated to his church and beliefs and creating business for Montanans vs. worrying about the spaying and neutering of our pets. Silly me I'm supporting the wrong f-n person. I want to spay all those damn dogs and worry about our bloated dr. salaries as well. Get real man you just made the point about what really matters for Denny

Shane C. Mason said...

Paying lip service to organizations full of crazy people says nothing about a person dedication to anything.

You set up a straw man argument here. What about veterans, elderly, children, health care, women and labor? None of those things matter? The only things that matters is playing it up to crazies like Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed and folks who think that SpongeBob is gay?