-By Warner Todd Huston
My friend Iowahawk recently Tweeted (@iowahawkblog) an interesting fact:
“91 of 435 US representatives and 40 of 100 US senators are over the SS retirement age. 15 members of Congress are over 80.”
So, why are these people telling all of us that we need to retire at 65 while they are sticking in there long past their “sell by” date?
Just wondering.
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, IL)…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) today issued the following statement in response to the partial verdict in the retrial of Rod Blagojevich, former governor of Illinois:
“Rod Blagojevich never seemed to understand the difference between serving the public and serving his personal self interests. The evidence presented and verdict confirms that he was found guilty of seventeen of the twenty counts including wire fraud, attempted extortion and attempting to sell President Obama’s old Senate seat, but far worse, he abused and shattered public trust. The shame and national embarrassment Blagojevich cast onto our state has only created further financial bearing.
“I applaud the U.S. Attorney’s office for their hard work, dedication and effort to see to it that justice has somewhat been served. Unfortunately, Blagojevich’s verdict and punishment will not restore statewide, much less nationwide certainty in Illinois. We must now move beyond Rod Blagojevich and turn our focus toward working together to rebuild Illinois.”
From the office of Rep. Peter Roskam (R, IL)…
We’re at a crossroads in America. The Obama economy continues to underperform: 9.1% national unemployment, 14 trillion in debt, and a potential double-dip recession on the horizon. Even with all of America’s assets, endless potential, and the unrelenting American spirit, this Administration has led our country astray with one failed policy after another.
Americans are tired of the Obama Administration’s continual underperformance and seemingly never-met expectations: an $800-billion failed “stimulus” and the promise that summer 2010 would be “recovery summer.” Yet, even in the face of proven failure and a weak economy, the Democrats that run Washington continue to cheerlead for their failed policies.
Just weeks ago, Democrat National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz actually told NBC’s Meet the Press that Democrats have “turned this economy around.”
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Roskam: The Dems Are Out of Touch”
-By Warner Todd Huston
There is a jester of a Chicago Alderman named Ed Burke who back in the early 1990s made local radio audiences laugh by his plaintive plea of “what about the horses” on the floor of Chicago’s City Hall. He was worried that horses in downtown Chicago’s carriage trade were somehow being mistreated and so he tried to pass all sorts of absurd new regulations in Chicago to help his equine buddies. His plea rings in my ears as I read this new story of the “unintended consequences” of federal regulations meant to save the horses that has only made their lives more miserable.
Since we became a country there have been businesses geared to dispatch and butcher ailing, broken down, or unwanted horses. These horse abattoirs may be remembered once upon a time as supplying some of the raw materials for glue factories. But they also supplied the meat for zoos, circuses and increasingly for meat markets overseas where consumption of horsemeat by humans does not carry the cultural shock that it might here in the United States.
But congress knew better, you see. Congress had become the ultimate horse whisperers and could read the horses minds to know that they felt abused by these evil slaughterhouses. And so, because congress is oh, so caring, that august body passed laws that materially harmed horse slaughterhouses in America. These rules eventually made such businesses close up and disappear in the USA.
It’s for the horses, ya know?
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For Every Awful Gov’t Action There is An Equally Awful Reaction, Horses Worst Hit!”
-By Frank Salvato
Greece, the cradle of democracy, is experiencing chaotic violence at the hands of Socialists and anarchists. That country’s Socialist government has come to a moment in time – like most Socialist and Marxist enterprises – when the system has failed. The promises of the Nanny State and prefectorial centralized government have come up empty and “the people” are angry as a result. Of course, “the people,” the ones who, today, are refusing to realize that you can’t bleed a turnip, are exactly the ones who are to blame for the situation they are in. If the citizenry of the United States of America isn’t careful and willing to make some painful adjustments, economically, we may be starring this future directly in the eye.
Today, We the People – we Americans, stand at a moment in time when a very hard decision needs to be made; honestly, the fate of the nation rides upon it. We can either follow the path of the Socialist Greeks; the path that has led them to national bankruptcy, debt and that nation’s unenviable position as the fuse for a global economic chain reaction that would send the world into the depths of an economic abyss the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Great Depression, or we can feel a good deal of pain in the form of sacrifice so that our country might continue to exist for future generations.
At this crossroads, We the People find ourselves confronted by some very uncomfortable questions. Are we willing to push ourselves back from the “feed trough” of government dependence? Are we willing to embrace self-imposed personal responsibility, charity and self-reliance? Or are we too uncaring of our nation’s well-being that greed is somehow justified; too narcissistic to abstain from the too easy to attain government entitlement; too self-absorbed and addicted to the “I’ve got mine, to Hell with you” machinations of the Progressive “Me Generation”?
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Greece Is the Word”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Washington, D.C. – The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) serves on, yesterday passed the North American-Made Energy Security Act, H.R. 1938, with bipartisan support by a vote of 33 to 13. Kinzinger issued the following statement:
“What does the Keystone XL pipeline mean for the United States? For starters it means reducing our addiction to foreign oil and creating directly and indirectly more than 100,000 jobs.
“It means 1.3 million barrels of oil from our friends to the North, which means we will need less oil from the Middle East, less oil from Venezuela, less oil from countries we can no longer rely on.
“And, it means $5.2 billion in new property tax revenue for bankrupt states.
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Kinzinger Supports Bill to Increase North American Energy Production”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Representative Adam Kinzinger made what is in my opinion a principled vote on the pair of resolutions concerning the authorization and funding of Obama’s mission in Libya today. His principles however ran counter to the Republican’s conventional wisdom on this and he was one of only eight Republicans to do so in one case.
The first resolution that came to a vote was H.J.Res.68 – Authorizing the limited use of the United States Armed Forces in support of the NATO mission in Libya. It was introduced by extremist, left-wing Democrat Alcee Hastings (D, Florida). The resolution was meant to give cover to President Obama’s military involvement and hoped to give Obama up to a year of extra time to stay in Libya without further authorization.
Kinzinger voted with the Democrats on this, but I feel he did so in keeping with his support of the mission as opposed to his desire to aid Democrats. He supports this mission and that is that. Whether you agree with the effort or not, I think Kinzinger stayed true to his ideals and did not use this vote to play politics with the issue. (Kinzinger voted “yea” along with eight other Republicans: Dent; Dreier; S.King; P.King; McCotter; Rivera; Rogers of Michigan)
**BELOW, see video of Kinzinger’s floor speeches and a transcript of his comments**
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Rep. Kinzinger Defies GOP Opposition to Democrats War Resolution”
From the Office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, IL)…
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke out on the floor of the House in support of H.R. 2021, the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011. This bipartisan legislation would ease the permitting process in order to increase domestic energy production opportunities, reduce our addiction on foreign oil and create American jobs.
“The American people are beginning to understand that this Administration and its agencies are having real consequences and real impacts on the unemployment rate, on the joblessness and on the price we are paying on a barrel of oil and a gallon of gasoline,” said Kinzinger. “Every dollar that a gallon of gasoline increases, it is a regressive tax on Americans. Meanwhile, we sit around and argue while bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. have their way.”
Development in two of Alaska’s Arctic seas (the Beaufort and Chukchi), which contain up to 27.9 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, could deliver up to 1 million barrels of oil per day of domestic energy.
Congressman Kinzinger represents the Eleventh Congressional District which is home to three nuclear power plants, hydropower plants, ethanol and biodiesel plants, and an oil refinery. The district embodies the all-of-the-above approach to energy that Kinzinger stands for. Nuclear energy production alone employs more than 2,500 people through the Illinois Valley.
From the Office of GOP Minority Leader Tom Cross…
After action by the General Assembly today — the state’s construction program will continue without interruption this summer keeping tens of thousands of people on the job repairing our state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
This is another example of the General Assembly working together this session to achieve the common goal to put our state back on the right track.
We worked together to pass a budget that spends less money than we did last year—and made some tough choices to keep our spending down.
This has to be our new way of life.
We are not finished working on budgets that continue to bring our spending under control and reforming our government to make our state a place we can be proud of.
CLICK HERE to watch my comments on the House Floor today.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Congressman Peter Roskam, House GOP Deputy Majority Whip, got on record the fact that as things stand right now Medicare is dead by 2024. No ifs, ands, or buts, unless a major overhaul of the system is undertaken, Medicare is done in a little more than a decade.
Before congress two officials testified that based on our current path in 2024 there would be “actual” cuts to Medicare at 17%. They also confirmed that Medicare would end itself by 2024 unless actions are taken to save the program.
Democrats have tried to claim that it is Republican cost cutting that dooms Medicare, but this is simply untrue. Bt the very rules under which it now works, it seems that Medicare is already headed for doomsday.
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Dems Plan Proves Medicare Dead by 2024″
“So we have come to a time for choosing,” warned Ronald Reagan in his famous speech nominating Barry Goldwater for President in 1964. It was one of the most important speeches in American history — and remains terrifyingly true today.
Millions without jobs. American values under attack. Bailouts, deficits, and debt that threatens the future for our children and grandchildren. Will the citizens of this great country allow it to continue?
America truly faces a time for choosing in November 2012. Stand with us to retake America and win one for the Gipper.
From the Office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, IL)…
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11), a pilot in the Air National Guard, issued the following statement on the President’s announced plans in Afghanistan:
“Last month during my trip to Afghanistan, I spoke with generals on the ground who believe we are winning and have turned the corner. The wrong thing to do at this stage would be to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, which will happen if the number of troops withdrawn exceeds the recommendations of our generals. Decisions regarding troop withdrawals must be determined by conditions on the ground, not political timelines.
“Stability in Afghanistan remains a top priority in the interest of our national security. History will judge us by the decisions we made to ensure the safety of our men and women overseas and of our country during this critical time. Our mission must be about the long-term safety of our nation, not the next election – this is something we cannot lose sight of.”
– By Jeff Lukens
The U.S. federal debt is our nation’s greatest strategic weakness. As the debt continues to grow, our military posture around the globe is threatened. Defense cuts are coming, and with that reduction must come a reduced mission. In this environment, what our nation’s strategic mission should be, and what the corresponding defense funding should be to meet that need, are open questions. They are questions that need to be openly explored by politicians and the American people alike.
In a recent speech to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “A smaller military, no matter how superb, will be able to go fewer places and do fewer things.” Ever the public servant, Gates seeks to kindle a debate the country seems reluctant, but needs, to have. It would be an invitation to disaster if we kept the same mission with reduced funding, or a reduced force. By bringing the issue to the public forum, Gates apparently seeks to avoid that calamity.
The core Pentagon budget is now about $530 billion, and accounts for roughly 20 percent of federal spending, and roughly half of discretionary spending. Defense cuts are coming, that much we know for sure, and the easiest of them have already been made. Gates acknowledged that over the past two years, “more than 30 programs (weapon systems, etc.) were canceled, capped, or ended that, if pursued to completion, would have cost more than $300 billion.”
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The Strategic Debate We Need To Have”
Many Democrat Senators were all about fiscal responsibility… waaay back in 2006. Today, though, that whole idea is out the window.
Check out some info on the Democrat Budget Plan HERE.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Barack Obama’s interference in the business operations of Boeing new Dreamliner manufacturing project will likely cause thousands of workers in South Carolina to lose their jobs. Because of this, one Palmetto State worker is suing the federal government for its part in his probable future job loss.
This is a story about Obama’s status as the top bought-and-paid-for union hack in the country and how he is attempting to use his powers to wield regulations as a tool to punish an American business for wanting to open a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina all because the president feels that a union will be hurt in the process of the creation of thousands of new jobs.
As it happens, airplane manufacturer Boeing wants to open a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina for its new Dreamliner plane because the manufacturer had been having so many union-caused troubles in its Washington State plant.
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South Carolina Worker Sues Federal Gov’t Over Possible Loss of His Job”
-By Warner Todd Huston
While the Obama administration plays its games with “czars,” more “boards,” and “committees” to implement government accountability policies, Representative Darrell Issa (R, Calif.) has introduced some measures that would do a far better job to meet those goals.
President Obama has touted a “Government Accountability and Transparency Board” (GATB) as well as the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (RATB) meant to bring more accountability to federal actions. But what real power will these “boards” and “committees” have? What real good will they do? Worse, how can we expect boards appointed by the president to shine the light of transparency on the Executive branch?
So, what will these new presidential projects be doing? The GATB “shall work with the RATB to apply the approaches developed by the RATB across Government spending.” Absurdly, these new boards won’t even be making a report for six more months.
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New Open Government and Spending Transparency Reforms Introduced”
-By Warner Todd Huston
OK, someone really needs to have a nice long sit down with troubled New York Democrat Anthony Weiner. In his resignation speech he actually thanked his parents for the “values they instilled in me,” the ones that got him “this far”… which apparently is thrown out of Congress on his ear. Does he not understand that the entire mess he is currently wallowing in was because of the lack of values he displayed?
Here is the absurd line in question in his resignation speech:
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Did Rep. Weiner Really Thank His Parents for the ‘Values’ They ‘Instilled’ In Him?”
-By Frank Salvato
Weiner-mania: if the story weren’t so infuriating and sad – and such a damning commentary on our society – it would be laughable. Alas, here we stand at a moment in time when a sitting US congressman – a newly married, sitting US congressman – felt it was “okay” to take pictures of his erect penis and send them – unsolicited – to much younger females. And if that weren’t bad enough, we are led to believe that it is appropriate to have a “discussion” as to whether this idiot should resign or not. Of course he should resign! To believe otherwise is to engage in moral relativism and – contrary to what the Progressive Movement believes – that is a bad thing.
All one has to do to divine whether Congressman Weiner’s actions were as unacceptable as I feel they were, is to consider this singular point. If your daughter was to receive an unsolicited photograph of an erect penis from a man more than twice her age, a photo accompanied by salacious and suggestive comments, would that be acceptable to you? If you say yes then you have some terribly troubling issues that you should seek help with immediately.
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It’s About Personal Responsibility”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On Monday I alerted you all to a jobs-killing, union-favoring amendment being considered in the House of Representatives in Washington, one that needed to be defeated. Unfortunately, the amendment was successful and now, in this dour economy, unions will be able to make matters worse just when we need a shot in the arm. (See previous post for particulars of the bill.)
Sadly, we lost this battle by one stinking vote and this example shows that even though we may have a GOP controlled House of Reps. they still don’t always support conservative measures — and they need to be carefully watched! Those supporting this jobs-killing amendment numbered 204 and those voting in favor of economic success only numbered 203. (25 representatives did not vote at all)
Now, seeing as how I am from Illinois — the most corrupt state in the union — I focused in my previous post on those of the Illinois Republican delegation that had in the past supported Big Labor bills similar to the one in question. So, this is a follow up to that report.
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Illinois Congressmen Help Tip in Big Labor Amendment”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The news just keeps getting worse for the Democratic Representative from New York, Anthony Weiner. Now even President Obama is saying if he were the embattled congressman, he’d resign. That’s gotta hurt.
Obama sat down with TODAY’s Ann Curry for a show that will air on Tuesday and Curry asked the president about the Weiner incident. “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign,’’ Obama said.
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Today there may be a vote on striking a section of H.R. 2055 that will insure that federal construction projects for the military are fairly priced and will save money for the taxpayers. Some representatives want this advantageous section struck out and replaced with a union-favoring provision that will cost the tax payers millions and will cause even more job loss in an already failing economy.
The bill is the Military Construction (MilCon) and Veterans Affairs (VA) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012 (H.R. 2055). The section the Democrats want to eliminate is section 415.
Section 415 removes the requirement for companies bidding for federal construction projects for the military to sign anti-competitive project labor agreements (PLAs) that will force these companies to pay union dues, union benefits and adhere to union rules regardless if the companies themselves are staffed by union members of not.
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Urge Congress to Vote ‘NO’ On Striking $$ Saving Section From Federal Construction Projects Bill (Illinois Especially)”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) highlights “Pledge to America with measures designed to remove government obstacles to private-sector job growth – the kind of growth the ‘stimulus’ promised but failed to deliver. Republicans have urged President Obama to change course and work together to enact this job creation plan, an invitation Rep. Kinzinger renews here. A member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Kinzinger is in his first term representing Illinois’ 11th Congressional District.
Transcript
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Weekly Republican Address: Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the GOP’s Plan for America’s Job Creators”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Washington, D.C. – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today announced that job creation will be the focus when Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) delivers the Weekly Republican Address on Saturday, June 11. The news that our economy still isn’t creating enough jobs has raised new questions about Washington Democrats’ ‘stimulus’ policies. Republicans recently unveiled “A Plan for America’s Job Creators,” a blueprint that builds on the Pledge to America with measures designed to remove government obstacles to private-sector job growth – the kind of growth that the ‘stimulus’ promised but failed to deliver. These will be among the topics discussed in the weekly address.
“I’m humbled to have an opportunity to address our nation about the future of job creation, which is on the minds of folks throughout Illinois’ Eleventh Congressional District and across the country,” Rep. Kinzinger said. “In Illinois, businesses are sapped with more taxes and increased government regulations that directly impact them, creating greater consumer uncertainty, which translates to less confidence in the markets. At a recent town hall meeting, I spoke with constituents and job creators who are fed up with the doubt and distrust over our economy. In order to refuel economic growth, we must eliminate out-of-control spending and end unnecessary regulations and skyrocketing taxes on job creators.”
Adam Kinzinger, a pilot in the Air National Guard, represents the people of Illinois’ Eleventh Congressional District. Kinzinger serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as a Deputy Republican Whip. Kinzinger remains active in the military with the rank of captain and has earned the Air Medal six times serving in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
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Rep. Adam Kinzinger Will Talk Jobs in the Weekly Republican Address”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The debate about healthcare coming from the Democrats is steeped in purposeful misdirection on one hand and a complete lack of any real knowledge about what Obamacare will even do on the other. It is also a major overreach on a federalism level which is why it is hard to understand why more people aren’t talking about the Healthcare Compact plan (healthcarecompact.org).14 states have already signed onto it and has even been signed into law in two of them, Georgia and Oklahoma.
Of course, the problem is that we are expected to believe that Obamacare — which is essentially a nationalized healthcare policy — will work just fine on a national level. Despite that history has proven over and over again that centralized planning simply does not work, most especially with something as unwieldy and complicated as healthcare.
It doesn’t help that we are not being told the truth by those pushing Obama’s plan, either. Many times the president has claimed that with Obamacare you can “keep your health care plan” if you like it, you can keep your doctor if you like him. This, however, has been generously called a “questionable” promise. And that isn’t the only untruth coming from Obamacare supporters.
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Healthcare: Let The States Decide”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
From the Bloomington Pantagraph
Kinzinger strikes blow for curbing defense
Adam Kinzinger was able to combine his insight as a military pilot with his relatively new role as a congressman to gain House approval of a proposal that would save taxpayers about $100 million over the next seven years.
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Bloomington Pantagraph Editorial: Kinzinger Strikes Blow for Curbing Defense”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Kinzinger: Washington must get serious about reducing spending and growing our economy
On 6/3, Congressman Adam Kinzinger joined Neil Cavuto on Fox Business to discuss the Freshman meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the debt ceiling.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama will not take a check. You must sign over your homes, your 401k’s, the pink slip to your autos, all your savings…. come on America, be patriotic, pay Obama what you owe him. It amounts to $534,000 per person, so you better get your accounting in order.
Where does this $534,000 number come from? USA Today says that a little known government report pegs the government’s unfunded mandates at $61.6 trillion. Yes, that’s trillion with a “t.” That is the amount of money that all the un-Constitutional spending by the federal government will cost the taxpayers if it all continues to be mandated by law, court orders, regulations, and back room deals made by grasping government officials…
Read the Rest at RightPundits.com.
from the office of Congressman Peter Roskam (R, IL)…
House Republicans sent a clear to message to the White House last week: Washington must stop spending money it doesn’t have.
House Republicans were unified against increasing the country’s borrowing limit without meaningful spending cuts and reforms, and 82 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it. This White House has added $3.5 trillion in debt over just two years, so Americans simply don’t support giving them a blank check to keep on spending.
The continued borrow-and-spend madness hasn’t helped create jobs either. Just this past Friday, the national unemployment rate rose to 9.1%, a full 27 months after the “stimulus” passed.
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Roskam on Job Creation”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Despite the many left-wingers spinning tales to make Weinergate the fault of conservative media mogul, Andrew Breitbart, Democrat New York Representative Anthony Weiner now admits that it was he who sent the original photo, that the underwear-clad person in the photo was indeed a photo of himself, and that he lied about his Twitter account being “hacked.”
Interestingly, before Weiner took to the podium, reporters began to ask questions of Andrew Breitbart who was in attendance at the press conference. Breitbart was in the audience, in New York for his book tour. Breitbart took to the podium and demanded that Weiner apologize to him for all the many leftists that blamed Breitbart for the whole affair when it was really Weiner’s fault all along.
After admitting it all, Weiner had bouts of tears and apologized profusely. He has refused to resign, however, saying that it is in the hands of the voters in the next election to fire him. He did not feel he broke any real laws or House rules.
I live Tweeted the press conference and following are my entries:
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Anthony Weiner Admits He Sent the Original Photo, Lied About It”
From the office of Rep. Peter Roskam (R, ILL)…
Roskam: “The White House has to realize… simply hope for a change is not an economic policy.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Peter Roskam, Chief Deputy Whip, spoke at the House Republican Leadership press conference following the release of the May Jobs Report, which showed the unemployment rate rose to 9.1% after only 54,000 jobs were created last month:
Roskam Remarks:
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Roskam to White House: ‘Simply Hope For a Change is Not an Economic Policy’”