From The Montana Democrats:

Multimillionaire Congressman Dennis Rehberg’s GOP primary opponent is raising some legitimate questions about the 11-year Congressman’s history of irresponsible government spending and power grabs.

According to the Lee Newspapers, Dennis Teske is frustrated that,

“Rehberg has voted for unconstitutional expansions of government power, like the Patriot Act in 2001, and plenty of government spending.”

Mr. Teske is right — Congressman Rehberg not only supported the Patriot Act twice, he co-sponsored his own controversial bill to give Homeland Security total “operational control” over the 100 northernmost miles of Montana.  Named the number one earmarker in the Tea Party Caucus, Congressman Rehberg also voted to raise the debt ceiling 10 times.

“Congressman Rehberg has been of part the problem in Washington for 11 long years,” said Ted Dick, Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party.  “Montanans of all stripes are right to be upset with Congressman Rehberg’s support for the Patriot Act and his hypocrisy on the debt.  Unfortunately, playing games with our freedoms and tax dollars is part of the culture in Washington, and Congressman Rehberg is too out of touch to put Montana first.”

Here’s more:

HOMELAND SECURITY LAND GRAB:  Congressman Rehberg is sponsoring a bill that “would give the secretary of homeland security total operational authority over all federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. international and maritime borders” [Great Falls Tribune, 9/21/11].  Critics said the bill was “exactly the kind of big government Montanans don’t tolerate” [Missoulian, 9/28/11].

REAL ID:  In 2005 Congressman Rehberg praised a plan to force all Montanans to get government ID cards saying, “something states should have been doing all along”  [Rehberg Press Release,5/6/05].

PATRIOT ACT:  Congressman Rehberg has long supported the controversial Patriot Act, something Jon Tester has consistently opposed  [HR 2975, Vote 386, 10/12/01; HR 3162, Vote 398, 10/24/01; HR 3199, Vote 414, 07/21/05; HR 3199, Vote 627, 12/14/05; S 2271, Vote 20, 03/07/06, HR 514, House Roll Call Vote 29, 2/10/11].

TEA PARTY’S TOP EARMARKER:  According to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, Congressman Rehberg  “takes the prize as the Tea Partier with his name on the most earmarks” [National Journal, 12/2/10].

10 VOTES TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING:  

1. [S. 627, House Roll Call Vote #677, 7/29/2011]
2. [HR 2560, House Roll Call Vote #606, 7/19/2011]
3. [HCR376, Vote #158, 5/18/06]
4. [HR 4297, Vote 67, 3/16/06; CQ, 3/16/06]
5. [CRS, The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases, 1/10; HCR95, Vote #149, 214-211, 4/28/05]
6. [HRS 683, Vote 280, 6/22/04; CQ Today, 6/23/04; AP, 6/22/04]
7. [SCR 95, Vote #198, 5/19/04]
8. [S 2986, Vote 536, 11/18/04; Washington Post, 11/19/04]
9. [CRS, The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases, 1/10; HCR95, Vote #141, 216-211,4/11/03]
10. [Congressional Research Service; S 2578, Vote 279, 06/27/02]

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