Tagged: Ann Marie Buerkle

The lawn signs started popping up a few weeks ago, but Dan Maffei didn't officially launch his campaign for Congress until this weekend.

In fact, Maffei said, the signs are from his previous campaigns. He hasn't printed the new ones yet.

Maffei met with several dozen supporters at his newly opened campaign headquarters on East Washington Street in downtown Syracuse Saturday afternoon.

After opening with acknowledgement of the veterans present and the work she's done for them, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-Onondaga Hill) turned her focus to a flyer that was being distributed outside.

Buerkle held her 17th town hall since taking office in Cicero Friday morning. The flyer being handed out by the political advocacy group Citizens Action of New York discussed her "dangerous record" on social security and Medicare.

Buerkle told the crowd of mostly senior citizens that it wasn't true.

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-Onondaga Hill) wants the federal government to take a more hands-off approach when it comes to energy costs.

The congresswoman hosted about two-dozen central New York business leaders Tuesday morning at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub in Syracuse.

Buerkle's main contention: The federal government should stop playing venture capitalist for startup energy companies. Deregulation is the best way to help small companies innovate and grow, Buerkle said.

"That's very different than saying, 'Here's money from the government. We're going to prop you up,' " said Buerkle. "That never works ... You've got to let the free market work."

U.S. Representative Ann Marie Buerkle will run for a second term in congress, but the day she made that official was marked with protest.

Staffers for the representative got in a brief scuffle with demonstrators at the event to kick-off the re-election campaign.

It became the buzz inside her christened campaign office on Erie Boulevard in Syracuse as dozens of supporters awaited her arrival Saturday afternoon.

It's an entirely political discussion on this week's Campbell Conversations, as Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle and political consultant Scott Armstrong consider the Republican presidential field in light of the Iowa Caucus results.  Among the questions they consider are:  What surprised them?  Is the party dangerously fractured as it heads toward the general election?  What could unite it?  Are the norms of the Republican Party changing in important ways?  Is Romney still the nominee apparent?  And what are the calculations about a vice presidential candidate at this point?

2011 has not been a good year for Congress. Just last week, the House narrowly passed an extension on a payroll tax cut. Earlier this year, a government shutdown was avoided after a battle over the debt ceiling. 

Most people do not have a positive view of Congress. A recent Gallup Poll shows Congress with just an 11% approval rating.

As 2011 comes to a close, WRVO spoke with central and northern New York's Congressional representatives.