Jack Seaman: I Thank Sinner And Cramer For Turning Off Voters

My Democrat opponent in this race, George Sinner, made news this week by calling out my Republican opponent and incumbent Congressman Kevin Cramer about missing some votes and taking his pay during the “Government Shutdown” of 2013.

If you are not familiar with the story you can read about it here.

Let the media soundbites and partisan bickering begin.

From the Grand Forks Herald, Sinner said:

“For all the rest of us here, if we don’t show up for work, we don’t get paid,” said Sinner, a Democrat running for North Dakota’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Why should it be any different for members of Congress?”

Sinner said that if elected, he would propose legislation that would impose financial penalties every time a member of Congress is absent for a vote. “If a member misses votes for unexcused reasons, they don’t get paid. Period.”

Let me see here, the first legislation I’ve heard of Mr. Sinner wanting to propose is some sort of record keeping nightmare that imposes personal financial penalties on members of Congress for missing votes? Who will keep these records? What will the fines be? How will they be collected? Will there be a Folgers can at the Speaker’s podium offending members will have to deposit their fines in to? How much time is the House and Senate going to take debating and voting on this bill when there are many, many better things they could be debating and voting on? One last question….how much will it cost and who will pay for it? Oh yeah, the taxpayers will.

Now it has come to light that Mr. Sinner himself missed votes as a State Senator in the last legislative session here in N.D. (you can’t make this stuff up, folks). Why somebody would play the “absent voter” card when they were also an “absent voter” is beyond me.

More on the story here.

Now on to the taking of a paycheck during the “government shutdown”.  Mr. Sinner originally brought this issue up during the NDNA debate in Bismarck on May 1st. I also personally heard him discussing it on News and Views with Joel Heitkamp yesterday morning. Mr. Sinner seems to think that Mr. Cramer shouldn’t have taken his salary while Sen. Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp donated theirs to charity.

First of all, it wasn’t a “government shutdown” it was a “government slowdown” which is exactly what we need…but I digress. Again, not to defend Mr. Cramer, but Mr. Sinner thinks it’s actually important with everything else we have on the table?

Since I’ve entered this race I’ve done my best to talk plainly about issues that matter to North Dakotans and America. Anyone who follows my campaign knows I’m out there talking about REAL issues like our national debt and out of control spending, criminal NSA and IRS activities, overseas meddling and military spending, immigration, the failed war on drugs and marriage equality. I’m campaigning on a platform of real change and real solutions- and that, my friends, is why my campaign is gaining ground every day.

The voters of North Dakota are sick and tired of the partisan bickering over small potatoes while there are so many extremely important issues, many of which are critical, that we face right now.

Thank you Mr. Sinner and Mr. Cramer for engaging in the exact activities that simply turn off voters and reinforce my appeal as the only candidate in this race that is issue focused and representing real change for North Dakota.