DNC runs radio ad against Frank LoBiondo

The DNC is running a radio ad against Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2).

You can listen to it here: Lobiondo radio ad (mp3).

In last year's historic election, voters in New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District supported President Obama and his call for change.

But when it came to fixing our broken health insurance system, Congressman Frank LoBiondo voted for more of the same.

When the U.S. House passed health insurance reform that would provide Americans quality, affordable care, Congressman LoBiondo stood with the insurance industry, not the people he was elected to represent.

Congressman LoBiondo voted against ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, against reining in skyrocketing premiums, and against expanding health coverage to more Americans.

Congressman LoBiondo joined Republicans in Washington and voted against real reform. He stood with the health insurance industry instead of us.

Call Congressman Frank LoBiondo at (202) 225-3121 and tell him it's time to stand up for reform, not insurance companies.

Paid for by the Democratic National Committee. Democrats.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. The DNC is responsible for the content of this advertising.

DNC takes aim at Frank LoBiondo's No Vote on Health Care Reform

Following Frank LoBiondo's vote against reform, Michael Czin of the DNC put out this statement:

Rep. LoBiondo and the Party of No Vote Against Health Insurance Reform, Side With the Insurance Industry over New Jersey Residents

Move Will Place Rep. LoBiondo in Political Peril Next November

Washington – Tonight, the House of Representatives passed historic health insurance reform legislation that will end unfair insurance industry practices like denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition, dropping coverage for those who get sick and placing lifetime caps on coverage. But instead of standing with New Jersey residents who want and need these protections, Rep. LoBiondo chose to stand on the side of profit hungry insurance companies.

The legislation Rep. LoBiondo voted against will not only provide these important consumer protections, but it will also reduce the spiraling cost of health care, rein in out of control premium increases, place a cap on out of pocket costs and extend coverage to nearly every American without it today.

The so called “plan” Rep. LoBiondo’s party did propose would give more goodies to the insurance companies that help their bottom lines: allowing them to charge more while providing less, deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions and drop New Jersey residents when they get sick. And, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the Republican Plan would only cover 3 million more Americans who currently lack insurance over the next ten years - barely a dent in the tens of millions of Americans who lack insurance today. The Republican Party’s plan—the "Health Insurance Company Protection Act"— would do more to protect insurance companies than patients.

Rep. LoBiondo’s vote tonight may score him points with the extreme far right wing of the Republican party, but it won’t get him any credit with the voters of New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District.

“It’s disappointing, but not surprising that Rep. LoBiondo chose to stand with the insurance companies instead of New Jersey residents. Today, Rep. LoBiondo voted against a historic bill which will protect New Jersey residents from unfair insurance company practices and will provide coverage for millions of Americans,” said Democratic Party spokesman ­­­­­­­Michael Czin. “But standing on the side of insurance company CEOs and the far right wing of the Republican party isn’t just bad policy, it’s bad politics. Rep. LoBiondo can rest assured that after voting against health insurance reform today, the people of the 2nd Congressional District will not be voting for him next November.”

LoBiondo statement on heath care reform

Frank LoBiondo's statement on health care reform is out. He continues to oppose the bill. The statement is quite detailed, which I have to respect even if I disagree with his conclusions.

I wasn't joking, conservatives want to purge LoBiondo

I wasn't joking in the last post and I wasn't trying to make trouble.

Here's a conservative post, inspired by the NY-23 special election, calling for LoBiondo and other moderates to be defeated.

Bad News for Frank LoBiondo in the NY-23 Special Election

Today's withdrawal by Dede Scozzafava in the NY23 special election to Congress is an important milestone. In her statement, she says "It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support." It's a polite way of noting that the far-right conservatives -- mostly outside the district -- have successfully purged her for perceived disloyalty to conservatism.

This must be a very unwelcome development for Frank LoBiondo. To be sure, he's "pro-life" and part of the Gingrich's Revolutionary Class of 1994, so he has right-wing credentials she doesn't. But his occasional moderate votes are increasingly unwelcome to conservatives both inside and outside of Congress. His vote in favor of the energy bill earned him attacks nationwide by outraged conservatives. There's many who would love to get rid of him.

Now, LoBiondo, unlike Scozzafava, has lots of money and the advantage of incumbency. It's now possible to imagine a successful challenge to him, but it's extremely unlikely. But today we see one more step down a road along which moderate Republicanism is extinguished.

Offshore Drilling there but not here

I noticed "That's My Congress calling our Frank LoBiondo for trying to ban offshore drilling, but only near New Jersey:

Last year, LoBiondo voted in favor of H.R. 6899, the ironically-entitled Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act (the legislation helped to promote risky sources of energy from which American consumers need protection). That legislation effectively lifted the moratorium on offshore drilling for oil in American waters.

This year, however, LoBiondo is the primary sponsor of H.R. 2439, a bill that would forbid new offshore drilling for oil - but only in the waters belonging to LoBiondo’s home state of New Jersey.

Whoever wrote it went to on to make an interesting point:

With H.R. 2439, Representative LoBiondo and his colleagues have fallen prey to a cynical divide-and-conquer strategy devised by lobbyists for big oil companies. First, these lobbyists convinced members of Congress to vote in favor of expanded offshore drilling - but with the idea that Representatives could create special protections for their own states, letting other states take all the risks. Now that the barriers to new drilling have been taken down, members of state delegations to the House of Representatives have put together legislation that would ban offshore drilling, but only in their own states. Each little state-based coalition lacks the votes it needs for its own bill, with a state-against-state dynamic, and so the coastline in every state remains vulnerable the oil spills that inevitably come as a result of increased drilling.

I'd add, though, that there's no particular reason to think LoBiondo or anyone else is sincere when introducing such a local bill. More likely it is just posturing, so he can point to the bill when criticized. Of course I have no idea what's in his heart.

Did Frank LoBiondo Have a Conservative Radio Host Fired?

This is an interesting dispute. Conservative Seth Grossman claims Frank Lobiondo had him fired:

Last July I got tired of hosting a two-way talk program every weekday afternoon on an Ocean City radio station. So I started a new one-hour program Saturday mornings on 92.1 FM WVLT in Vineland. Then I set up a second one-hour program for Friday afternoons on an Atlantic County station.

I agreed to pay the full market rate, and signed up more than enough sponsors. Both I and the station made public announcements, and I even appeared twice as a guest host in advance... But talk radio is very important to local Republican politicians like Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo and Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson...

My daily radio program messed things up for both of them. I told the details of how LoBiondo voted to blackmail President Bush into using union contractors for Katrina relief home repairs, end secret ballots for union elections, and waste billions around the country to get beach erosion money down here. I told how LoBiondo was one of only eight Republicans who voted for big new taxes on coal, gas, and oil – while banning offshore drilling for cheap oil...

Seth Grossman continued to press his claims in Shore News:

Last month I asked, “Cui bono?” (who benefits) to find out who “persuaded” the owners of an Atlantic County radio station to cancel my one-hour-a-week program before it even began. I then concluded that Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo and Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson benefited the most, had the means, and were most likely the culprits.

After I wrote that, Dennis Levinson wrote a letter that was published in this paper disputing much of what I wrote – but not my main point: that he had used his public office to kick me off the air. By describing me and my column as “purposely misleading … mean spirited … vindictive … dead wrong,” etc., he seemed to confirm it.

Since my program was cancelled, Levinson has been a “guest” on that same radio station more than many regular hosts. His message is this: Wise, honest and caring Republican Dennis Levinson is there to help every senior (even one who needs loan guarantees to buy bankrupt department stores), veteran, union member, friend of the environment, etc. who comes to him; but the high taxes and expensive regulations that go with this kind of politics are caused by others – like those big-spending, corrupt Democrats in Washington, Trenton, and Atlantic City!

Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo plays the same game. And it works. Levinson has been county executive or freeholder for 20 years. LoBiondo has been in Congress for 15 years. When LoBiondo broke his 12-year term limit pledge in 2006, Levinson was the first to publicly praise him for it. Would politicians stay in power this long if more media outlets were like this newspaper and gave all views a chance to be heard?

Reader Mike Conte of Ventor wrote in too:

Mr. Grossman’s recent editorial, "Cui bono," Latin for "Who benefits?" suggests the county executive and Congressmen LoBiondo had a hand in getting his conservative talk-radio program pulled off the air for fear that it would continue to expose their liberal agendas.

Curiously, Levinson does not deny the accusation, but his response appears somewhat disingenuous.

Now, I like the pro-union vote that Conte criticizes and some of the ones Grossman criticizes, and I certainly don't want to listen to Grossman's show, but this is not good if true.