'Fight to the Finish'
Congressman Jim Ramstad talks about Bush, Iraq, tax cuts and Olympic flip-flops
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Rep. Jim Ramstad speaks to a packed Full Committee Meeting dinner
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Senate District 41's full committee dinners returned after a summer hiatus with a thunderous start as Congressman Jim Ramstad addressed an overflow crowd. As energetic and eloquent as always, Rep. Ramstad covered the range of current political topics from the war on terror to the economy and more. Ramstad's impassioned speech underlined the battleground nature of Minnesota; a rarity for this once Democrat stronghold.
"Minnesota is one of sixteen battleground states which is why you see so many commercials on T.V." Ramstad proudly announced. "Can you imagine what it's like to live in one of those 34 other states? They haven't seen anything", he joked. "This is a fight to the finish....the whole election is about getting 7% of undecideds that live in these 16 states. It's that close." But Ramstad reminded all in attendance of the reward: the first GOP Presidential victory in Minnesota since Richard Nixon's nationwide landslide in 1972.
Ramstad's speech returned many times to criticisms of Democrat candidate Sen. John Kerry. Although Ramstad praised Kerry for originally voting to support military action against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Ramstad called Kerry "the Olympic gold medal winner in flip-flopping" on Iraq. "John F. Kerry now says we did the right thing in Iraq. At least that was his statement last week." Ramstad, who voted in favor of the use of military force in Iraq, defended his vote and the war in simple, but direct terms. "We liberated 25 million people." Ramstad's voice rose as he spoke of the freedoms now enjoyed by average Iraqis in contrast to the brutal lifestyle imposed by Saddam's regime.
The recovering economic picture was often stressed by Ramstad as he chagrined that "we need to do a better job at selling tax cuts as a party...we've haven't seen job growth like this in 20 years. The tax cuts are working." Ramstad said he was encouraged by news that the nation's 50 top economists agreed that 2 million new jobs would be created by the end of the year. "When do 50 economists agree on anything?" he laughed. But Ramstad expressed concern that John Kerry's tax plan, which would raise taxes on the top 2% of incomes, would hurt small businesses. According to Ramstad, 80% of small businesses would see their taxes increased. "We can't let that happen."
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Neil Peterson, Amy Grady, Pat Peterson, and Senator Geoff Michel talk before the meeting about Neil's recent endorsement
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Aside from Iraq, Ramstad spoke on the larger war on terrorism and the current push for intelligence reform. "We have 15 different agencies dealing with intelligence and no one's in charge", he said. But Ramstad believes Congress must let go of some of its jurisdiction as 88 sub-committees deal with the department of Homeland Security. Secretary Tom Ridge recently bemoaned to Ramstad that he had little time to do anything other than testify before Congress. Ramstad made no apologies for the intelligence surrounding the Iraq war, simply stating, "we need better human intelligence."
In assessing the presidential race, Ramstad said: "It all comes down to values." "It comes down to faith, family, freedom and country. They are America's values and Senate District 41's values." He closed with several comparisons of the candidates. "Who do you trust more to keep taxes low and grow the economy? Who do you trust more to protect our national security? Who do you trust more to keep your family safe?" The obvious answer for Rep. Ramstad and his audience on this night was President George W. Bush.
To volunteer for Rep. Jim Ramstad’s campaign for reelection, call 952-738-9100.
