Fact Check: John Hall Called Out By Local Law Enforcement In The Hudson Valley

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Angered By False Claims From Congressman’s Office

Washington - Congressman John Hall is in hot water with local law enforcement in the Hudson Valley after his office issued a press release containing statistics that the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says are inaccurate.

According to the Putnam County News & Recorder, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office is criticizing the two-term lawmaker's erroneous claim that the Sheriff’s office contacted Immigrations & Customs Enforcement just twice in the past year to verify the status of illegal immigrants.

The article states that:

“Captain William McNamara of the Putnam Sheriff's Department disputed the congressman's claims. Capt. McNamara said, "under the protocols established between ICE and the Putnam Sheriff's Department, ICE personnel are contacted in Castle Point at the agency's Detention and Removal Office and not the ICE Enforcement Support Center in Vermont. The Dutchess County office is the action force that works with local law enforcement to detain and remove illegal aliens."

According to the Department spokesman, in the past three years, the Putnam Sheriff's Department reported 558 illegal immigrants who entered the Putnam Correctional Facility on state or local criminal charges. The contacts to ICE resulted in the lodging of 215 detainer warrants, as well as the turnover of 156 detainees to ICE custody. "In the past nine months, the Sheriff's Department contacted ICE to report 150 illegal aliens—not two," the spokesman said. "By any objective standard, no local law enforcement official in New York State has worked more diligently than Sheriff Smith at reporting and detaining criminal illegal aliens as well as forging a model of cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.” (Eric Gross, "Sheriff: Hall Got It Wrong", Putnam County News & Recorder, 7/28/09)

“John Hall has gone on the record to misrepresent the dedicated men and women of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office who are working hard to keep communities in the Hudson Valley safe and secure,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Coming from an elected official who supported a trillion-dollar stimulus without reading the bill, it’s no surprise that Hall can’t even scrutinize what’s being sent from his own office.”

John Hall Squares Off against Local Businesses

Prominent Business Groups Speak Up as Hall's Party Attempts to Force Government Healthcare Takeover

Washington- With businesses and business groups across the country speaking out against the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover, John Hall is once again squarely at odds with job creators in his New York congressional district. As the devastating economic impact of the Democrats’ bill becomes clearer, opposition continues to mount against the latest piece of the majority party’s anti-jobs agenda.

The Business Council of New York State joined 39 national business organizations as well as groups across the country to pen a letter telling Democrats in Congress that their push toward government-run healthcare would have devastating consequences:

“The creation of a new government-run insurance plan is a step in the wrong direction. Employers currently suffer a significant cost-shift from existing public programs, and the program described in House legislation would significantly increase costs for every American who purchases private insurance.” (Letter from National and Local Business Associations to Members of Congress, 7/24/09)

“As if it wasn’t obvious that John Hall's anti-jobs agenda is squarely at odds with businesses and families in New York, he and his party are now facing off against the engines of economic recovery,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “New York families know the dangers of a healthcare bill that could kill millions of jobs, but John Hall seems more concerned with pushing his party’s government healthcare takeover at all costs.”

Text of the letter can be found here.

John Hall Green-Lights Massive Tax Hikes

New York Dem Endorses Job-Killing Agenda with Support of Paygo Sham

Washington- John Hall handed Nancy Pelosi and his Democrat leaders a free pass to tax New York businesses and families to the hilt today. By voting for the Democrats’ so-called Paygo bill, Hall gave the go-ahead for his party leaders to spend all the taxpayer money they want – and virtually ensured that they would have to raise taxes to do so.

Though Democrats have tried to sell their Paygo sham as a step toward fiscal responsibility, the ugly truth is that the bill is a free pass to spend taxpayers’ money and stick them with the bill:

“[T]he President is trying to give Democrats in Congress political cover for the health-care blowout and tax-increase votes that he knows are coming… The other goal of this new paygo campaign is to make it easier to raise taxes in 2011, and impossible to cut taxes for years after that.” (“The ‘Paygo’ Coverup,” Wall Street Journal, 6/12/09)

“John Hall likes to play the ‘fiscal responsibility’ game, but the dirty truth is that he just gave his party leaders a blank check signed by New York taxpayers,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “As Hall and his Democrat friends attempt to push an agenda that is bankrupting the middle class, the last thing New York families want to see is a free pass for Nancy Pelosi to squeeze as much money out of them as she pleases.”

Background:

Senate Dems and policy experts think the House Paygo plan is empty: “House Democrats’ pay-as-you-go bill does not impress its Senate counterparts or various budget experts, who argue the legislation isn't as strong as the rules now in place… [S]enior Democrats in the upper chamber aren't eager to take up the legislation, arguing that it will do little to rein in deficits.” (Walter Alarkon, “House Dems Not Winning Over Critics with Pay-As-You-Go Legislation,” The Hill, 7/21/09)

Democrats are using Paygo as a building block for their tax-hiking, big-government agenda: “Paygo also can be used to justify all kinds of new taxes — from a Euro-style value-added tax to cap-and-trade levies. Since entitlements — the fastest-growing part of the budget — are excluded from Paygo, it won't stop the inexorable growth of government. It won't even slow it down much.” (“The President’s Paygo Schtick,” Investor’s Business Daily, 6/10/09)

Even liberal allies see through the Paygo sham: “‘Concerned that a slew of early PAYGO waivers would undermine the law's long-term effectiveness, Robert Greenstein, executive director of the liberal-oriented Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told the [House Budget] committee: ‘It makes no sense to put in place a pay-as-you-go rule that says these extensions must be paid for when everyone knows they will not be.’” (David Dickson, “White House Pushes Pay-As-You-Go Bill,” Washington Times, 6/26/09)

Did John Hall Flip Flop On Healthcare?

Nancy Pelosi Now Claims She Has the Votes to Pass a Government Takeover of the Health Care System, Is John Hall One of Her Silent Co-Conspirators?

Washington- After expressing serious concern over a government takeover of the health care industry, has John Hall suddenly changed his position? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is suddenly claiming she has the votes. Pelosi stated today:

“I have no doubt we have the votes on the floor of the House to pass this legislation,” she said. She added that she wants to squeeze more cost savings out of the system before setting a surtax on wealthier Americans’ incomes. (Bloomberg, “Pelosi Says She Has Votes to Pass Health Care Overhaul in House,” 7/22/09)

“If John Hall is intent on changing his mind and voting for Nancy Pelosi’s government takeover of health care, then he will have to live with the political baggage that comes with it,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Not only will this massive expansion of government have devastating consequences on small businesses, it will do nothing to lower healthcare costs for middle-class families while running up an already massive deficit.”

With the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stating that the Democrats’ government-run health care bill will increase costs, run up the deficit and raise taxes, John Hall’s constituents can only hope that he isn’t planning on supporting such a disastrous policy. Just recently Hall offered staunch criticism of socialized health care:

“Rep. John Hall, D-Dover, Dutchess County, has reservations about the tax component. ‘This is a bill that is still in a state of flux,’ Hall said, noting that he's working to make sure small businesses are not harmed.” (Brian Tumulty, “Health Plan Tax Meets Resistance,” Democrat And Chronicle, 7/20/09)

As many as 42 Democrats have already expressed deep concerns with Pelosi’s health care takeover. What exactly has changed for Democrats to radically reverse their positions on the issue? It certainly isn’t due to any major changes in the legislation. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill does not address the rising costs of care, and it is not paid for as President Obama and the Democratic leadership promised it would be.

"According to CBO's and JCT's assessment, enacting H.R. 3200 would result in a net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion over the 2010-2019 period. That estimate reflects a projects 10-years cost of the bill's insurance coverage provisions of $1,042 billion ... It is important to note that the figures presented here do not represent a complete cost estimate ... They do no include certain costs that the government would incur to administer the proposed changes and the impact of the bill's provisions on other federal programs." (Congressional Budget Office, "Preliminary Analysis Of H.R. 3200, The America's Affordable Health Choices Act," Letter To Congressman Charles B. Rangel, 7/17/09)

As the health care debate continues, the focus should remain on Hall. Will he keep his word and vote no on socialized health care or will he fold to the pressure of his party bosses?