Shots and Chasers with Rehberg’s latest talking points

Congressman caught again in unfaithful relationship with the truth

Billings, Mont. – Congressman Dennis Rehberg couldn’t help but cheat on the truth again this week when he found time to call a Bozeman radio station.

Rehberg tested his credibility on Bozeman’s KMMS radio Wednesday morning. His comments need fact-checking—shot-and-chaser style:

Farm Bill

SHOT: REHBERG: “We’re gonna stick around this week and get as much done on the Farm Bill as we possibly can with some disaster assistance for Montana producers and hopefully that’ll release some of the pressure, but it never makes a person whole when you’ve got a drought like this.” [KMMS, 8/1/2012]

CHASER: Rehberg left for a five-week break after telling Montanans that he wanted to stay in session to pass a Farm bill [H.R. 6233, Vote 553, 8/2/2012]. Before leaving Rehberg blocked a bipartisan Farm bill Jon Tester helped pass through the Senate two months ago. Rehberg has irresponsibly left Montana ranchers and farmers with uncertainty during a devastating drought.

Budget

SHOT: REHBERG: “The Senate hasn’t passed a budget in over three years. Now that’s just unconscionable. You can’t run a government of a multi-trillion dollars a year without a budget, but they just refuse to get their work done.” [KMMS, 8/1/2012]

CHASER: In 2011 Jon Tester helped pass a bipartisan budget that would reduce the deficit by $2.1 trillion. [CQ; S. 365, Vote #123, 8/2/11]. Meanwhile, Rehberg was in charge of the only House committee that failed to pass a budget last year. [Committee on Appropriations—Minority, 9/29/11]. As Chairman Rehberg knowingly put forward a budget he knew couldn’t pass. [Billings Gazette, 9/29/11]

Debt Ceiling

SHOT: REHBERG: “I quit voting to raise the debt ceiling in 2005 when we started seeing the spending getting and spiraling out of control.” [KMMS, 8/1/2012]

CHASER: Rehberg voted twice just last year to raise the debt ceiling and eight other times before that. [Press Release, 7/30/2012]. Now we are $10 trillion more in debt.

Balanced Budget Amendment

SHOT: REHBERG: “We must have a Balanced Budget Amendment and our two Senators continually vote against it. They’re wrong. We’re never going to get control if we don’t have a balanced budget requirement in our Constitution.” [KMMS, 8/1/2012]

CHASER: Tester was one of a few Democrats to buck his party and vote in favor of the Balanced Budget Amendment last year. Tester has supported over $2 trillion in spending cuts while Congressman Rehberg has defended tax breaks for multi-millionaires and corporations who ship jobs overseas. [Flathead Beacon, 12/15/2011]

Big Government Rehberg

SHOT: REHBERG: “There’s two differing philosophies. There’s one that believes government is the solution and the other that believes that government partially is the problem.” [KMMS, 8/1/2012]

CHASER: Rehberg has consistently attacked the freedoms of Montanans by supporting the Patriot Act, Real ID and No Child Left Behind. Rehberg voted to support the Patriot Act five times and in a recent radio interview told listeners the bill was a “necessary piece of legislation.” Rehberg recently passed his controversial, big-government border police bill through the House to give Homeland Security unprecedented control over public lands within 100 miles of Montana’s northern border with Canada. [HR 2975, Vote 386, 10/12/01; HR 3162,Vote 398, 10/24/01; HR 3199, Vote 414, 07/21/05; HR 3199, Vote 627, 12/14/05; S 2271, Vote 20, 03/07/06]

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