Mike believes in fiscal responsibility and smaller government. As a business owner, he knows first-hand that businesses create jobs – not the government. Thanks to his seat on the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee, Mike is in a position to promote pro-growth tax reform that would simplify the tax code and lower tax rates.
DCCC Chairman Deflects Question on Inaccurate Ad Against GOP Congressman
By Cameron Cawthorne | Washington Free Beacon
Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D., N.M.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on Sunday deflected a question about an inaccuracy in one of the committee’s ads targeting Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Pa.).
Luján appeared on “Fox News Sunday” alongside his Republican counterpart, Rep. Steve Stivers (Ohio), at the National Republican Congressional Committee, where they discussed the upcoming midterm elections. Host Chris Wallace played a clip of the DCCC’s ad targeting Kelly and then pressed him on an inaccuracy in the ad.
“2010, car dealer Mike Kelly is elected to Congress and while there, his net worth increased by millions, so it’s no surprise he helped give special tax breaks to car dealers like himself,” the ad narrator said.
Wallace then referenced the Center for Responsive Politics, the source cited in the ad claiming that Kelly’s net worth has increased, saying that their data shows that his net worth has “dropped dramatically.”
“It hasn’t risen,” Wallace added.
“When we see our Republican colleagues voting for a tax package dubbed by the American people as a tax scam that was prioritizing corporations and the most wealthy in America over hardworking middle-class families, we are going to call them out on the record,” Luján said.
Wallace followed up by saying that his question was about Kelly’s net worth, calling it a “fact.”
“To the point of your question, I think that all committees and all spenders out there that are investing in campaign ads across the country, they need to be respectful of that tone, but I would agree with Steve that when we’re looking at voting records, that I think that is fair game as well and we need to make sure we are all looking to see that we can make sure we are having a better conversation with the American people whether it’s the last nine days of this cycle or going into next election as well,” Luján said.
Factcheck.org featured the ad in a post from last week about misleading ads from the DCCC.
Decisions made hundreds of miles away can drastically impact the fortunes of a community.
And when government makes one of those pronouncements, it can be easy for bureaucrats sitting in an office in Washington, D.C., to forget that there are people behind the consequences of those decisions.
Such is the case with NLMK Pennsylvania.
The decision to impose tariffs on some imported goods, while a policy that is in part a correction of what has been an unfair advantage for some foreign manufacturers, is not a black-and-white issue when it comes to the steel trade.
NLMK has applied for an exemption to the steel tariffs. The company imports steel slabs from Russia, which means that now it is paying huge amounts of money in tariffs.
NLMK uses that steel to create other products, which are manufactured and finished in plants in Farrell and Sharon.
So while an argument about trade and tariffs in Washington might be based simply on theory, in this community, this issue is personal.
It is about jobs, and a community’s future.
NLMK has been up front — it cannot continue to compensate for the huge costs imposed by the tariffs. And if there is no relief, the company cannot guarantee the future of the Farrell or Sharon plants.
That would directly affect hundreds of local jobs. And you can imagine the effect that would have on this community.
But, unfortunately, all of this is happening during an election season — and a relatively aggressive one at that. Some of the challengers and incumbents for those Washington jobs seem to be more interested in hurling barbs than acting quickly to help a community.
What we need now from our leadership in Washington is action, not more campaigning.
And U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is busy doing just that.
He has spoken to the president and vice president and made his way to the Commerce Department, where a request for an exemption from the tariffs for NLMK sits waiting to be reviewed.
Those who run the agency say they are understaffed and they just have not gotten to every request yet.
But that is simply not acceptable.
And Kelly has told them so.
He knows why this matters, and he is at the forefront of pushing to get it done.
When we asked him for an update, he did not hesitate to give it.
His staff knew how important the question was to his constituents, and they got the message to him that our community needed to hear details on what action is being taken.
And we got them — right from him.
It is time to make an impression on our senators about the need to get on the ball and to communicate with the constituents they say they are fighting for in Washington about what their plan is to make sure NLMK stays right where it is.
Every election season is peppered with promises of how our leaders in Washington are there for the people they serve.
But when it comes to the heartland of our state — the areas where there is no flashy money or urban cocktail parties – they seem to be content with lip service and not, well, action.
We can fall for another round of promises or we can start calling our senators and anyone else who will listen about what we expect when it comes to this important issue.
After all, partisan bickering and identity politics are great for politicos, but wouldn’t it be so much nicer if there were a few more people really paying attention to what matters to the rest of us?
We will see how many of them are listening.
But for right now, our congressman gets an A for being there when his community needs him. We hope he stays on the case.
Our community’s future depends on it.
As my staff and I continue to read through the White House’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal and assess its details, I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to ensuring a strong national defense, promoting a healthy economy, ending the opioid crisis, and more.
Read the full story here:
Congressman Mike Kelly Reviews President Trumps Proposed Budget
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