Democrat ‘jobs’ policies bring few to WI, but record numbers to Washington

(Green Bay, WI) – Earlier this week Politico ran an article detailing economic growth and federal spending in Washington, D.C since the beginning of the recession. To paraphrase authors Jim VandeHei and Zachary Abrahamson, new regulations and expansion of the federal government, pushed by Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration is causing regulators, government implementers, and even private businesses to relocate to Washington.

“With the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.5 percent, Congress should focus more on growing the economy in the rest of the country, rather than just in their own backyard,” said Reid Ribble, a candidate for Congress in the 8^th Congressional District.

According to Politico, the federal government spent more than $20 billion on federal procurement money in Fairfax County, Virginia – the county just outside Washington D.C. In contrast, Wisconsin, actually shed private sector and government jobs in June, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

“Actions like these are exactly why the general public is upset with government,” Ribble said. “Politicians in Washington are more focused on passing laws that stifle job creation in the rest of the nation than helping the districts they represent. Voters are sick of politics as usual, and it’s long passed time to change that mentality in Washington.”

- 30 -

Reid Ribble is a former Kaukauna area small business owner who has created hundreds of jobs and balanced budgets. He is running for Congress against Steve Kagen.

For the complete Politico article visit: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=DC341545-18FE-70B2-A82B27D1E792DF6A

For Immediate Release:
July 8, 2010
Contact: Kerry Niemcek (920) 499-4000

Ribble Gets Over Twice the Number of Signatures Required;
On The Ballot For Wisconsin 8^th Congressional District Race

The Reid Ribble Campaign for Congress officially submitted nomination papers to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. Ribble submitted more than twice the required amount of signatures to place his name on the ballot for the Eight Congressional race.

“I am deeply honored to receive this amount of support from voters.” Ribble stated. “With so many citizens volunteering to fill out and collect signatures for my nomination, it speaks volumes about how much voters are concerned about the direction of this country. Receiving so much support from voters in the 8^th District underscores the momentum my campaign has been building. I cannot thank my supporters enough for their encouragement and help,” Ribble concluded.

- 30 -

Today, former State Senator Joe Leean of Waupaca endorsed Reid Ribble, a candidate for the Republican nomination to replace Steve Kagen.

“Reid is by far the best candidate for the Eighth Congressional District seat, “ said Leean.  “We need a representative in Congress who knows how to work, knows how to create jobs, has community service accomplishments and family values, and then has the ability and courage to stand for these values in Washington.  Reid Ribble is that person.”

Leean represented the Waupaca area from 1984 – 1995.  Then he served as former Governor Tommy G. Thompson’s Secretary of Health and Family Services until 2001.

During his service in the Wisconsin State Senate, Leean served as chair of the powerful budget-writing Joint Finance Committee and worked with Governor Thompson for welfare reform, lower taxes and school choice in Milwaukee.   Additionally, as Secretary of Health and Family Services, Leean created and implemented the BadgerCare Health Insurance Program.

“The problems in Washington are serious,”  Leean added.  “There are other Republicans currently in this race but Reid knows how to create jobs and balance budgets, and I encourage you to vote September 14^th for Reid Ribble.”

- 30 -

Reid Ribble is a former small business owner running for Congress against Dr. Steve Kagen.

Today, Wisconsin Right to Life endorsed Reid Ribble’s campaign for Congress against Dr. Steve Kagen.

“I am deeply privileged and honored to receive this endorsement. Wisconsin Right to Life has a proven track record of defending life, from conception to natural death,” Ribble stated.

Ribble has actively participated in religious and philanthropic organizations – whose missions include protection and dignity of human life – in the Northeastern Wisconsin over the past thirty years.

“I have supported right to life causes in Wisconsin and the nation my entire adult life, and I will continue to support federal policies respecting and defending life in Washington,” Ribble concluded.

- 30 -

Reid Ribble is a former small business owner running for Congress against Dr. Steve Kagen.

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor released their monthly unemployment numbers, showing that the U.S. economy shed 125,000 jobs in June. However, the unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent from 9.7 percent in June. This drop is largely attributed to the amount of discouraged workers who stopped looking for work.

“The latest unemployment report shows exactly how the policies President Obama and Congressional Democrats have worked for the American family. The unemployment rate falls only because too many Americans have flat out given up searching for work. That’s the wrong way to reduce our unemployment rate,” stated Reid Ribble, reacting to the latest jobs report.

America currently has 2.6 million discouraged workers – meaning they have not searched for work in the past four weeks.¹ The job market has added 415,000 discouraged workers since June 2009.

“American businesses and employees are stagnant simply because they don’t know what the government will do next. It’s time for government to create sensible growth policies rather that create more uncertainty and confusion within the job market,” Ribble ended.

- 30 -

Reid Ribble is a former small business owner running for Congress against Dr. Steve Kagen.

1.   Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation — June 2010

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

President Obama visited the Racine area today to discuss his plan to create jobs and grow the economy in Wisconsin and the rest of the country.

“After being in office for over 18 months, passing the $787 billion “stimulus” package and massive omnibus spending bills, Wisconsin has lost over 72,000 jobs, and President Obama, Steve Kagen, and other congressional democrats have added $3 trillion to our national debt,”¹ stated Reid Ribble, a former small business owner, in response to the Obama visit. “There could be no clearer sign that the federal government’s spending policies have not worked.”

Obama also made plugs for Wisconsin Democratic candidates, as they face tough elections this fall.

“It is clear that Washington has chosen what to focus its time on. After Steve Kagen and other Washington Democrats chose to not submit a budget last week to avoid voting for more spending and higher deficits, they instead have chosen to focus on the November elections rather than fixing the economy for struggling families.” Ribble concluded.

Reid Ribble is a former small business owner running for Congress against Dr. Steve Kagen.

-  30  -

1. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: FRED Graph: Gross Federal Debt

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?chart_type=line&s[1][id]=FYGFD&s[1][range]=5yrs

Last week, Dr. Steve Kagen announced his support to help small businesses by lowering their tax requirements and easing their access to credit.¹ It’s interesting to see Kagen aiding Wisconsin small business, because since Kagen was elected in 2006, federal figures show that Wisconsin has actually lost 6,700 businesses.² In contrast to the last four years, before Kagen was elected, from 2001 to 2006, when Wisconsin businesses grew faster than the national average.³

“This type of double-talk from a politician is exactly what Wisconsin residents don’t want, “ Reid Ribble, a former small business owner and candidate for the 8^th Congressional District stated, responding to the jobs numbers. “Since Kagen has been in office, he has continued to vote for federal policies that hurt Wisconsin small businesses. Votes in support of the federal takeover of health care, cap-and-trade legislation, and massive omnibus spending bills create harmful regulatory and tax policies that drive jobs out of Wisconsin.” “It is clear Steve Kagen doesn’t understand how small businesses operate,” Ribble concluded.

Ribble ran his Kaukauna area roofing business for more than 25 years.

“Wisconsin needs a Congressman who understands how small businesses operate, and will work to create pro-growth, pro-job policies that will keep Wisconsin open, growing, and hiring,” Ribble continued.

- 30 -

1.  Steve Kagen, M.D. Press Release, Kagen Pushes For More Help For Small Businesses, June 16, 2010.
2.  Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, “Wisconsin Loses 4.3% of Business Establishments in 2006-2009,” February 15, 2010.
3.  Ibid.

Congress: We Won’t Pass A Budget This Year
More “fiscal responsibility” from Washington we simply cannot afford

House Democrats will announce later today that they intend to not propose a budget resolution – the first time since the 1974 Budget Act was signed into law. Instead, they plan to offer a “functional equivalent” of a regular budget resolution.

Offering this alternative budget measure does not require the Congress to factor in future deficit projections, safely allowing Democrats – including 8^th Congressional District Representative Steve Kagen – to avoid voting for an unbalanced budget that raised the budget deficit in an election year.

“This resolution is a brazen attempt to hide even more government spending without having to vote for it,” said Reid Ribble, after hearing the news. “Once again, Steve Kagen and his leaders in Congress look to continue their path of massive government spending, behind closed doors. Once again, Congress continues to spend money and pass the buck down the road, only to place this burden on the backs of the American taxpayer.  This is a very far cry from the ‘fiscal responsibility’ that Congressman Kagen campaigns on in Wisconsin.”

“Wisconsinites are sick of Washington politics-as-usual,” continued Ribble. “They want a Congressman who will stand up for common sense solutions that help their businesses and create jobs, not a Congressman who just falls in line with what is best for his party.”

Reid Ribble is a former small business owner who is running for Congress against Steve Kagen.

- 30 -

For more information on the federal budget, please read:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/104373-house-dems-prep-budget-alternative-that-would-avoid-deficit-vote

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/104635-dems-wont-pass-budget

By Tim Ryan, Leader Reporter for the Shawano Leader

The passage Sunday of a historic health care reform bill in the House of Representatives was met with a swift response along party lines as Democrats celebrated the measure and Republicans attacked it.

U.S. Rep Steve Kagen (D-Appleton) said the vote would begin to fix what is broken in the health care system and improve on what’s working.

“With tonight’s vote, no longer will a child’s accident or illness cause their family to go broke and lose their home,” Kagen said. “Senior citizens will see a stronger and better Medicare and the prescription drug program’s donut hole begin to close. Small business owners will soon be able to buy health care coverage for themselves and their employees at the same discounts as big corporations.”

Kagen called the Affordable Health Care for America Act “a positive step in the right direction for the health of our citizens and our economy.”

Though some of the bill’s changes won’t kick in until 2014, Kagen said there would be immediate benefits for many Americans.

Among those benefits, Kagen said, small businesses that provide coverage to their employees will be eligible for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of premiums; those uninsured because of a pre-existing condition will be able to buy affordable coverage; insurers will be banned from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions; insurers will also be prohibited from dropping people when they get sick and placing restrictive lifetime or annual limits on coverage; young adults will be able to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26.

“The Affordable Health Care for America Act guarantees access to quality affordable health care for all of us, while also cutting the federal budget deficit by about $143 billion in the next ten-years, and $1.2 trillion in the decade after that,” Kagen said.

Reid Ribble, one of several candidates seeking the Republican nomination for a chance to run against Kagen called the bill a reminder that Kagen is more interested in helping House Speaker Nancy Pelosi than his constituents.

“The health reform proposal passed today will not reduce costs and will increase taxes on every sector of the economy including the most poor and underserved,” Ribble said. “Most importantly, it has the potential of limiting and rationing care when Americans need it most.”

Ribble called health care reform essential, but said the bill passed Sunday would not fix the system’s problems.

“It’s tragic that the government takeover today will do nothing to bend the cost curve downward and will only serve to raise premiums and drive costs up,” he said. “The most unfortunate aspect of the Pelosi/Kagen approach is the high number of hidden taxes that will be foisted on already-struggling families and businesses.”

Ribble said the bill would create a financial burden for future generations of well over $1 trillion.

“I would not have voted for this legislation. There are parts of this bill that will harm our economy for generations to come and keep us from turning it around and putting people back to work,” he said. “If elected to Congress, I will vote to repeal the portions of the legislation that will harm our economy, add to the burdens of businesses and taxpayers, and that do not fix the problems at hand.”

Another candidate for the Republican nomination, posted the following statement on her Facebook page:

“Steve Kagen was one of the first to give a speech in favor of the Government Health Care Takeover on the House Floor today. He was cited in the Washington Post as saying the Government Health Care Bill will save jobs. No, Kagen, it will take additional taxpayer dollars from Wisconsin and employ more bureaucrats in DC.”

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) called the House passage of the Senate reform bill an important step toward fixing the broken health insurance system.

Fox Valley businessman works to unseat Kagen; Republican running to unseat incumbent in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District
By Joe Van DeLarrschot of the Lakeland Times

Reid Ribble decided last July that the time had come for him to stop complaining about how our federal government is being run and instead try to do something about it. “My son and I were talking and he heard me complaining about our government and he said, kind of tongue-in-cheek ‘instead of complaining about it, why don’t you run for office,’” Ribble said. Ribble said he began thinking seriously about what his son had suggested. “It was keeping me awake at night sometimes and after some talk with my family and others I decided to run. I filed my candidacy with the Federal Election Board on July 4.”

And since that time the Fox Valley businessman has been campaigning and visiting all four corners of the 8th Congressional District in his effort to defeat incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen. Ribble paid a visit to the offices of The Lakeland Times Monday while on his tour of the 8th Congressional District. He said his business background – 35 year in the roofing business 00 allows him to bring practical economic experience to his campaign and to a seat in the US House of Representatives.

Ribble puts his position simply – he wants a smaller and much more efficient government, fewer regulations to allow small businesses to grow jobs and a health plan for Americans that cuts the costs of medical care instead of just replacing it with a costly US Government bureaucracy. “This government just spends, spends, spends,” Ribble said. “You can’t spend your way out of a recession and with the spending spree this government has been bent on our children and our children’s children will be paying for the mistakes we are making today.” Ribble said the government’s current spending spree is only going to make the future of this country even more difficult for those who follow in America’s future. He said all Americans must admit that the “government is too big.” “Too many Americans are now living in fear of what the future holds. That’s not how it should be. They should be looking forward to the future.”

Ribble also said he is against the proposed national health care plan as it’s now been passed in Congress. He calls it “a jobs killer.” “They (the Obama Administration) want to penalize small businesses and force them to offer medical insurance. That makes it difficult for small businesses to make enough money to stay in business. They should be working to promote health insurance that employees can buy, ot through their company, but on their own so they can take it wherever they go for ajob. That’s what makes sense, not forcing companies to offer the insurance. Make it so the employees can take it where ever they go.” Ribble said the current health care proposals “won’t do anything to reform health care.” Ribble said he cares deeply that Congress and President Obama continue to spend money that they do not have. “I care deeply that my grandchildren will be forced to pay for benefits to recipients who will have long since passed on,” Ribble said. “I care about the impact of unnecessary government regulations that have driven up the costs for businesses and consequently to consumers. I also care that Congress routinely disregards the US Constitution when promulgating laws.” Ribble said many in Congress wrongfully believe they can cure all the nation’s ills by merely raising the taxes on the wealthy. “I believe the real solutions are more complicated. In this campaign I plan on offering salutation and a plan to balance the federal budget, to reduce the size of government and to restore the Constitution to its rightful place. We must do better.” Ribble said the nation’s budget problems are now the problems of the current administration. “You can’t borrow your way out of debt,” Ribble said. “The administration must now admit that this is their budget and their problems. Just borrowing more money and spending it is just throwing money at the problem without it being the real solution.” Ribble also said too much of the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus was directed to places that did not provide stimulus.

Including Ribble there are now eight declared Republican candidates for the 8th District seat. They are Door County Board supervisor Marc Savard; How physician Marc Trager; Brown County Board supervisor Andy Williams; former state Rep. Terri McCormick of Greenville; Kerry Thomas of Sayner and state Rep Roger Roth who is a relative of former 8th District Congressman Toby Roth. Roth was also a Republican.