Dean Heller has lowest rating by League of Conservation Voters

Photo: Las Vegas Sun, CATHLEEN ALLISON / NEVADA APPEAL

Dean Heller, Republican Congressman for Nevada's Congressional District #2 (which includes Nye County) has the lowest rating of the League of Conservation Voters of Nevada's five members of Congress. [Las Vegas Sun]

Heller voted against ending the $18 billion tax incentive for big oil companies. The reason, as I understand it, is that removal of the incentives is essentially a tax hike on the oil companies that will discourage them from exploring for more oil reserves, which in turn, he thinks will lead to higher gas prices. Besides, his constituents, he surmises, drive pick-up trucks.

No Dean, the current thinking is to "end the addiction" to oil, go solar, wind, geothermal, and for alternative fuels to run vehicles. Get with it man

Heller's anti-environmentalist formula for success

Cross posted at Desert Beacon

If Representative Dean Heller’s (R-NV2) explanation to the Las Vegas Sun is to be believed, then the ‘logic’ of his vote last week on the energy bill in the House goes as follows: (1) Big Oil companies need tax breaks to keep prices low; (2) Big Oil companies will raise prices if they lose their tax breaks; (3) Pickup drivers in his district want low prices; therefore (4) Big Oil companies should get tax breaks. However, one gets the distinct impression that the real reason for the vote is explained further down the article – Heller continues to play the contrarian, counting on any vote against “environmentalists” as a position that will play well in his district.

The practical effect: Unfortunately neither items one, nor two, hold up to even the most casual scrutiny. The Big Oil corporations got tax breaks, to the tune of $18 billion – and did customers see any relief at the pumps in Battle Mountain, Elko, or Winnemucca? Pull up to a pump in Elko County and the best you can hope for is $3.01 for regular, [NGP] Park the pickup next to a pump in Incline and expect to pay about $3.50. [NGP]

When the House passed legislation allowing tax breaks for Big Oil in 2005 [WaPo] the average price for a gallon of regular was $2.54. [NGP] This information hardly supports Heller’s contention that allowing Big Oil to take tax breaks equates to lower prices at the pump. During the period when Big Oil was enjoying the tax breaks, prices at the pump in Elko County increased 47 cents, or by about 18.5%.

The philosophical effect: Railing against the “Feds” does, indeed, play well in rural areas of Heller’s district. A very vocal cadre of anti-government types in favor of “wise use” (exploiters) and “no regulation” (polluters) hold sway in many local media outlets in the region. However, more well informed citizens are familiar with the local politics underpinning the Great Shovel Brigade ‘movement’ in Elko County – and the connection between the road to the ‘outhouse’ and a former Elko County commissioner. Additionally, they are also cognizant of the Fed’s efforts to assist a valley rancher by offering a way for him to keep cattle from foundering in a spring and keep the water source in better shape – which were refused. There are still individuals in the area who hold the untenable position that wildland fires can be prevented by deliberately allowing overgrazing. Heller is counting on the prevalence of these attitudes to keep him in office.

He’s “OK with a soccer mom wanting to drive an SUV;” he wants the “lights to come on when he flips a switch.” [LVSun] This is almost Presentism at its finest. By Representative Heller’s lights nothing needs to be done until the soccer mom can no longer afford to put gas in the tank, or until we’ve created enough carbon emissions to render human life on the planet all but impossible. These are short-term and ultimately really very selfish views, a perspective most often demonstrated by small children who want what they want when they want it. Further, the number supporting Heller’s position may be shrinking, not dramatically, but perceptibly.

When Representative Heller was elected in 2004 there were 9,074 registered Democrats in Clark County’s portion of CD 2, and 9,053 Republicans. In the remainder of the State in CD 2 there were 132,195 Democrats and 180,255 Republicans, a difference of 48,060 votes. [NVSoS] The number of “active voters” listed in January 2008 still indicates a tight race in Clark, 10,160 Democrats and 10,410 Republicans. The remainder of CD2 shows 118,184 Democrats and 161,226 Republicans, a difference of 43,042. [NVSoS]

In the mean time drivers in Washoe County are paying at least $3.12 per gallon, in Fallon at least $3.25, and in Lovelock $3.56 at the Chevron Station. [NVGP] Meanwhile Chevron reported a fourth quarter net income of $4.9 billion in February 2008, up 29% from $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006. [Chevron] Did any of those SUV driving soccer moms see a 29% increase in earnings over the last two years?

Heller votes against tax credits for renewable energy in Nevada

Congressman Dean Heller, (R-NV 2d District) voted against a House bill to extend tax credits for renewable energy industries. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

"The bill, which passed 236-182, would give $8 billion in tax breaks through 2011 to companies that produce new electricity from natural sources like wind, geothermal, biomass and hydropower. A 30 percent credit for investments in solar products and fuel cell technology would be in place through 2016."

Sounds like a good move to me, considering record oil company profits and Governor Jim Gibbons' anxiety to build new coal power plants in Nevada. Nye County appears to me to be a ready-made locale for producing electricity from wind, geothermal, and solar sources.

But, the Review Journal reports, "Despite the House action, the bill faces long odds. Earlier bills were killed in the Senate by Republicans, who opposed giving tax breaks for renewables because their cost to the Treasury would be offset by taking away some tax breaks now enjoyed by oil and gas companies."

I don't know about you but I'm not at all offended by "taking away some tax breaks now enjoyed by oil and gas companies."

"The vote fell along party lines. While [Shelley] Berkley voted for the bill, Nevada Republican Reps. Dean Heller and Jon Porter voted against it as did all but 17 Republicans."

I suppose I just can't understand Republicans. I do understand their obsession with corporate profits, but why punish residents of the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Nye County?

Jill Derby going negative against Dean Heller?

Douglas Hill of Fallon wrote a letter to the Lahontan Valley News published today. He opens his letter with "Does Jill Derby have to open her campaign with an attack on Dean Heller? According to her, Heller just follows the Republican line." [Lahontan Valley News]

"Yet at the Republican Lincoln Day Dinner, Heller stated, 'We (Republicans) truly need to change,' adding that the Republicans mishandled the war, had undisciplined spending habits and corruption. Sounds like Heller is pretty independent to me!"

Having read Mr. Hill's letter I turned to the Derby website to see what she said in her announcement she was going to run against Heller again. [Jill Derby for Congress] Here is what she wrote:

"* Rather than be independent, he (Heller) put the profits of drug companies ahead of making prescription drugs affordable for Nevada's seniors.

"* Rather than push for new solutions to the quagmire in Iraq, he has been in lockstep with the Bush Administration.

"* Rather than be independent and put Nevada first, he has put Big Oil first, giving corporate welfare to Oil companies making record profits, while Nevadans struggle with record prices at the pump.

"* Rather than be independent and put Nevada's children first, he chose tax breaks for the wealthy and voted against check ups for kids.

"* Rather than be independent, he has voted over 90% of the time towing the line of the Bush administration and his Party."

I fail to see those remarks as being attacks, as Mr. Hill appears to think. I see Derby's remarks as pointing out deficiencies in Mr. Heller's representation of Nevada's 2nd Congressional District. They are fair criticisms which Derby should be highlighting.

Mr. Hill's letter pointed out that "Heller states he voted against the expansion of the SCHIP because "If H.R. 3162 just focused on improving children's health care, my vote probably would have been different. Yet 75 percent of this bill cut Medicare and raised taxes on the middle class ... Medicare cuts affect 30 percent of seniors in Nevada ... This legislation includes ... mandating new taxation on private health plan." This bill would have eliminated the current proof of citizenship requirement."

But read what health care professionals were saying back when SCHIP was moving through Congress (September 2007) before Bush vetoed it.

"A group of healthcare professionals gathered today to voice their support for the SCHIP bill.

"According to the professionals, Nevada has one of the worst insurance rates in the country and this legislation is critical to ensuring the healthcare of children uninsured in Nevada.

"If President Bush vetoes the bill, it might not just be these children who lose out.

"They say the healthcare of the estimated 30,000 children enrolled in the Nevada Checkup program would also be jeopardized.

"Martin Gallacher, a registered nurse, says "if it doesn't pass, it will affect the neediest of us in the state of Nevada. Again, parents who are forced to choose the emergency room as a primary source of care".

"The group says the veto of the bill will force thousands of families to continue to choose between basic needs, including food and healthcare." [KTNV Channel 13, Las Vegas]

How does Heller square his rejection of SCHIP with the children of families in the 2nd Congressional District? Even Jon Porter voted for SCHIP.

Of course George Bush vetoed SCHIP, twice I recall. Heller backed Bush's vetoes. And keep in mind that Bush flew into Heller's District in 2006 to help him raise campaign funds.

No, one of the primary problems Heller has in getting re-elected is the fact he joined himself to George Bush's hip. George Bush has been a disaster as President of the United States. I admire Heller's loyalty to Bush but I fail to see that loyalty as a benefit to the residents of Congressional District 2.

Heller Snubs Benefactor

Last August President George W. Bush came to Nevada for the American Legion National convention accompanied by Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV2), and the President visited Nevada three times in 2006, twice on behalf of Heller’s campaign. So, why won’t the Congressman be appearing with Mr. Bush during his appearance in Las Vegas? “Rep. Dean Heller's Washington spokesman did not return repeated calls regarding the congressman's schedule.”

Also “Among the Republicans not sharing the stage with him: Rep. Jon Porter, who said he is committed to appointments in Washington . He didn't elaborate.” Senator Ensign begged off citing the FISA bill debates in the Senate. [LVSun]

Heller votes to sustain Bush SCHIP veto again

The U.S. House of Representatives was 13 votes shy of over-riding President Bush’s veto of the SCHIP bill, H.R. 3963, and no one expected Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV2) to cast his ballot in favor of working American families who find themselves unable to afford medical care for their children. Heller, presumably basking in his role as a stalwart supporter of the Bush-Cheney administration, is still clutching those long-refuted contentions that the bill “is an unnecessary tax” (on cigarette manufacturers), [DB] would “cause families to abandon private insurance plans” (without a shred of evidence to support this), and might allow “illegal immigrants to be covered” (it never did, and has been strengthened since). [LV Sun] [DB]

The House Republicans have just defeated the measure, again, on a 260-152 vote, [roll call 22] despite the veto-proof margin of victory in the Senate. [Gavel] Expect Heller and his cohort Steve King (R-IA5) to follow the “slippery slope to socialized medicine” line into the 2008 election season. [DKos] It seems enough for the right wing Republicans to have the current 18 month extension of the current program without expanding coverage to additional families who are finding themselves in financial trouble at the moment, and to allow additional leave time for veterans’ caregivers.

Nevada Representatives Berkley (D-NV1) and Porter (R-NV3) voted in favor of the veto override. [roll call 22]

Cross posted at Desert Beacon

Heller Votes to Sustain Bush Veto of H.R. 3043

Cross posted at Desert Beacon

Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV1) and Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV3) were among the 277 members of the House to vote in favor of over-riding the President’s veto of H.R. 3043, the Labor, HHS, and Education funding bill. Representative Dean Heller (R-NV2) voted to sustain the veto. [roll call 1122] The over-ride failed 277 to 141, with 15 members not voting.

The Gavel has a listing of the appropriations in the bill and compares those to the cost of the Iraq occupation, which is evidently of greater importance to Congressman Heller than:

$30 billion for National Institutes of Health medical research;

$14.8 billion for Title I education funds for disadvantaged youngsters;

$11.3 billion for Special Education state grants;

$7 billion for Head Start and Early Childhood Education;

$3.4 billion for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services for Veterans;

$2.4 billion for Heating Assistance for Low Income Families;

$2.2 billion for Community Health Centers;

$1.5 billion for Job Training and Career Placement for Dislocated Workers;

$1.2 billion for Career and Vocational Education;

$1.1 billion for 21^st Century Learning Centers: After School Programs;

$228 million for Veterans’ Employment Programs;

$23.6 million for Homeless Veterans’ Services; and

$9.5 million for programs for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries.

The total expenditures listed above would equal approximately what it’s costing to occupy Iraq for 222 days, 16 hours, and 30 seconds.

So, when Representative Heller says “We Should Support the Troops” one might ask him if he means that we should support them only while they are occupying Iraq and not necessarily after they come home?

Heller to Nevada middle class families: "I Got Mine..."

Cross posted at Desert Beacon:

Should Nevada District 2 Congressional Representative Dean Heller ever have anything to say about the 110^th Congress not accomplishing anything, or some comment to make about parliamentary stunts – merely saying “October 25, 2007” should quiet him immediately. The House Republicans pulled out all the parliamentary stops to prevent the passage of H.R. 3963 (Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act). The fun began on roll call 1001 and lasted through roll call vote 1009.

The first gimmick from the GOP camp was a motion to adjourn. [roll call 1001] Remember from Civics class that a motion to adjourn is always in order, so as we’ll see, the Republicans tried it twice. The second motion to adjourn failed on roll call 1002, 170-222, with Nevada Representatives Heller and Porter both voting in favor of adjourning the House without discussing the SCHIP bill.

Fresh from that failure the Republicans lost their attempt to prevent the resolution calling for consideration of the SCHIP bill from coming to a vote. [roll call 1003] Again, Representatives Heller and Porter marched along with the Republican leadership.

However, the GOP’s bag of parliamentary tricks was far from empty, so CSPAN views got to watch a vote on whether to table a motion to reconsider H.R. 3963. The motion to reconsider failed as well, 218-183 on roll call 1004. Representatives Heller and Porter continued their “March of the Republicans.” But wait, there was more.

At this point the Republicans pulled out another motion to adjourn, the second attempt to do this on one bill. This second attempt failed on a 165-224 vote. [roll call 1005] Representatives Heller and Porter continued following the party line. The Republicans tried defeating a motion ordering the “previous question,” [roll call 1006] and lost 221-188. Representatives Heller and Porter faithfully followed leadership instructions.

The resolution providing for consideration of H.R. 3963 passed 215-187 on roll call 1007. Once more Representatives Heller and Porter had an opportunity to support the reauthorization of SCHIP and once more they passed on it.

Success for the SCHIP bill was now within sight, but faced the Republican’s New Favorite Toy, the “Motion to Recommit with Instructions.” This attempt to scuttle the bill failed 164 to 242 on roll call 1008. Representatives Porter and Heller were, again, on the losing end.

On the final vote on H.R. 3963, Representative Porter did exactly as he had done during previous SCHIP legislation; voting against it during the parliamentary votes and for it on final passage. [roll call 1009] Once more Representative Heller did exactly as he had done before; voting against the reauthorization of the SCHIP program. Of the three members of the House of Representatives from Nevada only Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV1) voted for the SCHIP reauthorization consistently.

Representative Heller was worried that illegal immigrants might “scam” the SCHIP program; language was added to H.R. 3963 to prevent that. He was disturbed that people earning $83,000 would be eligible, even though none were; language was added to address that issue. He was perturbed that the emphasis wasn’t on “poor children” although the purpose of SCHIP has never been to cover those in poverty; Medicare programs handle services for people with that level of need. In short, Representative Heller (R-NV2) has no interest in supporting state health care services for struggling middle class Nevadans who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid/Medicare programs but too little to afford family health care. He has hi federally subsidized health care program, but evidently sees no value in extending coverage to those less fortunate than himself. If I remember correctly, this attitude was once described as: “I got mine, now you try to get yours, sucker.”

New TV Ad Targeting Heller on Children's Health Care Vote

Americans United for Change are targeting Dean Heller and several other Republican House members to change their mind and override Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The powerful ad has a simple message: does Heller stand with Bush or the children of Nevada.

Watch:



Cross posted from My Silver State.

Heller refuses to override Bush's SCHIP veto

Dean Heller, Nevada's 3rd Congressional District representative in Congress, is being asked to help override the veto of SCHIP by George Bush. SCHIP is the children's health insurance legislation. [Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard]

The program was created to provide health insurance to the children of the country's working poor. Bush objected to the bill's expansion of that program to provide health coverage to 10 million children from the 6 million it now serves.

"In only his fourth veto ever, (Bush) blocked health-care coverage for millions of uninsured - and mostly poor - kids," organization officials said in announcing the rally. "We need just 15 more Republicans in Congress to break with Bush to override the veto."

"There are a few crumbs on the table for children and families that are struggling and I'd like to see them get the help," said Brad Merrill, of Carson City.

Lana Galyean, of Carson City, said Bush's veto was "irresponsible."

"It's extremely important we look after our children and this administration has been unwilling to do that," she said.

According to the MoveOn.org, Nevada has one of the nation's worst rates of uninsured children in the nation, with more than 100,000 not covered by any policy. About 34,000 children in Nevada are covered by SCHIP.

Heller refuses to override the Bush veto. Nevadans should refuse to return Heller to Congress in 2008. Heller has three children of his own; Harris, 17; Drew, 15; and Emmy, 10. Their daughter, Hilary, attends Arizona State University according to his website. Fortunately he isn't poor and doesn't have to face the plight of poor families when their children need medical help.