Political Op-Ed: Rebuttal to 'Tester's Lies'

This Op-Ed is in response to Jim Buterbaugh’s last two Op-Ed submissions to the Whitehall Ledger in the last several weeks. First, Jim was correct in stating that we civilly discuss political topics and usually agree to disagree. Although once in a blue moon, we agree on an issue or two. I thank Jim for the past invigorating and civil discourse. Ok, enough with the pleasantries, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

In last week’s Ledger, Jim stated that Senator Tester voted against auditing the Federal Reserve Banks, but he did not cite the law or bill voted on. After some looking, I located the Federal Banking Agency Audit Act, (Pub. L. No. 95-320) dated July 21, 1978. This act authorizes the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit certain aspects of the Federal Reserve System operations. These audits are conducted annually. Senator Tester did not start serving in the Senate until January of 2007 so he could not have voted for or against the above act. Now granted, maybe there was a bill that amended some nuance in the above act that the Senator voted no on, but I could not find the bill, and Jim did not cite the bill or his source.

All of our First Amendment rights are equally paramount. Jim’s mention of freedom of speech is important but incomplete. Our First Amendment rights also include, and I’m paraphrasing, freedom of religion, freedom from having any establishment of religion imposed on us, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, to peacefully protest, and to petition the government. His description of what Senator Tester voted against concerning our First Amendment rights was far from concise, and again, he did not cite the bill or act Senator Tester allegedly voted against.

Jim is correct in that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), expanded under the USA Patriot Act in 2006, does, in fact, allow the federal government to spy on American citizen’s and resident’s international emails and phone calls, potentially in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Apparently, there is also a workaround for monitoring domestic communications. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) considers FISA to be unconstitutional because the law was designed to address mainly terrorism threats but intercept communications that have nothing to do with terrorism or criminal activity. You can read more on these potential constitutional violations at the ACLU website at aclu.org.

I have several questions that Jim does not address. Does FISA target us common citizens who have no access to government secrets? Does FISA monitor those Americans, civilians, and the military who work in the so-called deep state and have access to sensitive secrets? What bill or act did Senator Tester vote against? Was this alleged bill a compromise between constitutional rights and national security? Once again, Jim did not cite his source. So how are Ledger readers to know if Senator Tester’s no vote was in the best interest of national security or not?

Concerning the Keystone XL pipeline, it would be built to transport primarily tar sands oil, which is momentarily and environmentally expensive to produce. So why bother reauthorizing the canceled pipeline when the nation and world are transitioning, like it or not, to renewable energy? Construction and manufacturing jobs created from continued renewable energy growth will more than make up for job losses in the declining fossil fuel industry.

I asked both Tim Sheehy and Senator Tester, at separate meet and greets, the same question as follows. What is your party’s plan to prevent bankrupting the Social Security and Medicare trust funds? Sheehy’s answer, in part, was that Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme. Sheehy had no answer for saving the Medicare trust fund. Tester’s answer, in short, was that negotiating drug prices as Medicare has done and can continue to do will save Medicare hundreds of billions of dollars and will sustain the trust fund indefinitely. Tester’s answer for saving the Social Security trust fund was to withhold FICA payroll taxes on those earning over $400,000 annually. Currently, FICA payroll taxes are not withheld for income over $168,000 annually. So, I ask you readers, whose answer would be more likely to sustain the Social Security and Medicare trust funds? I voted for Senator Tester because I cannot afford to lose my Social Security or Medicare coverage.

It has been my hope that Jim could continue, as in the past, to be an advocate for listening to all sides of issues. That apparently is not the case any longer. So, I’m not going to comment on the rest of Jim’s partisan hyperbole because it contains little or nothing of substance worth commenting on. After reading his last two Op-Eds, I’m asking myself, has Jim had one too many twisted teas? No, that’s not the case because Jim does not drink, to my knowledge. Jim is simply twisting the facts as any skilled politician does. One item I do agree with Jim on is that a lie is definitely a lie, no matter how it is told.