Posted on 09/17/2011 12:34:35 PM PDT by cc2k
On the surface, it’s been a relatively slow week in Washington legislatively. Don’t let that fool you though. There is a serious debate going on behind the scenes about what Congress can do to work with the President to support job growth.
It goes without saying that there is a deep philosophical difference in how the parties view the government’s role and capability in “creating jobs”. At the center of it is the fundamental question of whether the government can, in fact, create sustainable jobs, or whether it merely creates the environment for businesses to create jobs.
I think the difference is in the rhetoric as much as the legislation. The President and his backers in Congress have trotted out expert after expert who swears up and down that the “stimulus” and this new plan have or will create millions of jobs.
But if you go and ask a small business owner, keeping in mind all the while that they historically have created more than 65% of all net new jobs each year, what they think about their prospects for job creation, you don’t get the same certainty or even optimism. I’ve visited with dozens of small business owners around the District (when you’re new to Congress and facing a once in a century jobs crisis, that seems like a good place to go for advice).
Invariably, their answers come back to three things. You’ve heard me say it before: Demand from customers is weak, the banks aren’t lending like they did during the boom, and entrepreneurs have no earthly idea what to expect from Washington.
I have never once heard a small business owner say, “we need more government programs or goofing around with the tax code to help grow my business.” They say they need as much predictability as we can give them and most of all, they need something that will make them feel confident about the future.
That’s why, for all of the expert testimony from Berkley PhD economists and rosy predictions from administration spokesmen about what the various “stimulus” proposals will do, they haven’t gotten the results. The government, for all of its borrowing, has done nothing – nothing – to make families and businesses feel like tomorrow will be a brighter day, that the country is back on the right track, and that next year will, without any doubt, be better than this year. That is the great failure of the “stimulus”.
If you go back to the debates in 2009, when the President was selling his trillion-dollar plan, you never really heard him focus on the confidence piece. He focused instead on the predictions that his plan was magically going to create millions of jobs by throwing billions of dollars blindly at the economy and hoping something would stick. It demonstrates a total misunderstanding of how the economy works.
If more than sixty-five percent of people think the country is on the wrong track, they think the country is in decline, and they have lost their faith in their government’s ability to make good decisions, throwing bags of money out the door won’t help – not nearly enough anyway.
I’ll put it in terms that are personally meaningful to me. I was a Sheriff up until last year. If the government came to me and said, here’s a pile of money for you to go and hire a new deputy, the first thing I would think about is what on earth am I going to do the year after next when the money runs out? Where on earth is the county going to come up with more money to pay these salaries? Do I hire somebody just to fire them again a year later?
While I appreciate that it’s politically popular to push for funding for teachers and police and firefighters (I genuinely appreciate the support), this is the kind of flaw in the logic of the President’s “stimulus” programs.
They are temporary jobs. And maybe that’s better than no job at all, but it certainly isn’t better than a permanent, naturally created job. So how does Congress help facilitate those permanent, naturally created jobs?
We need to do something game-changing. We need to do something to give every American a reason to believe that the country is back on the right track.
It isn’t about trying to goose the stifled economy so we can squeak through the next election. It’s about throwing the windows wide open and letting the economy take a big, deep breath of fresh clean air. If Americans don’t believe that this country will lead the world in the 21st century, it won’t happen. And if they think the country is on the wrong track and that their government has lost the will to do what is right, they will never, ever have that belief.
That’s what I want to change. That’s why, after nine long months of watching Washington operate, I know we need a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. I know that it will give the country such a burst of confidence that we are doing something new and bold and that we are stepping up to the challenges this century has presented us with. And I’m not the only one.
In polls conducted after the President’s speech, a full two-thirds of Americans surveyed said that they thought a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution would create jobs in a meaningful way. Considering that nobody has really been making the case for it in the media, and two-thirds of Americans came to that conclusion on their own, it tells me it’s time to push.
So… With all of that in mind, I hope you’ll be able to join me at my Rally for A Balanced Budget tomorrow morning in Dade City. And if you aren’t, click here and sign my petition to do the same. I need your help.
This is from my Ruling Class, RINO, establishment Republican Congress Critter. He sends a weekly update to us "little people."
Where do they keep coming up with the bull that banks will not lend, look at the amount of consumer lending last month. Of course they are not going to lend to build a new empty building when there are a dozen within a mile for rent.
Not sure, maybe this could use a Florida Ping. I get pinged to Allen West reports all the time.
I like to hear about our FL members of congress who send out news letters to the members of their districts. Even better when they also have town halls in their districts.
Florida ping here, and perhaps voters will support Congressman Nugent in 2012. We MUST zero in on the 6 DEMS still in the US House from Florida!
As always, if anyone wishes to be removed from my ping list just let me know through FreepMail. And if you have asked me before to remove you, forgive me as I lost my up to date lists. So please just ask me again. Thanks!
I thought we'd be redistricte by then, and I expect things to be different in district 5. I would be very surprised if this district wasn't basically split into two separate districts.
As for your statement:
My personal preference is that we find a new candidate who will be committed to actual spending reductions and actually reigning in the Federal government and respecting the limits of the Constitution. Nugent is not interested in that. He's the hand picked heir to our last RINO Congresswoman, and a strong establishment RINO.
seekthetruth wrote:
perhaps voters will support Congressman Nugent in 2012. We MUST zero in on the 6 DEMS still in the US House from Florida!
Republicans in general have not impressed me since the 2010 election. They don't get it on spending.
So far, the Republican controlled Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government in fiscal year 2011 at higher spending levels than in fiscal year 2010. They should have passed that continuing resolution at FY 2009 levels and then passed through whatever the Senate passed in it's place. I don't really hold FY 2011 against them, that was Pelosi's responsibility. But it was an opportunity to show that they were serious about actually reducing spending in terms of absolute dollars, not just "cutting growth rates." The Republicans under Boehner's leadership failed miserably at that.
Now, we have Fiscal Year 2012 about to start. The House has actually passed 7 of the 13 appropriations bills already. From what I can tell, all 7 have increased spending over Fiscal year 2011 levels. To date, there have been no actual reductions in spending for FY 2012. Only very slight reductions in growth rates.
That's really what I expected from Nugent. His big claim in the Primary last year was he "had the experience." His experience was in doubling a Sheriff's department budget in under 10 years. Oh, and he took over a privatized county jail and turned it into a government operation. He'll be a big spender in Congress. This is no surprise.
My information about the two new FL Districts is found on the FL state elections site. Seems the new FL District 26 is in the Orlando area and the new FL District 27 is in the Miami area. How the lines are established is not known yet.
Below is my list of the incumbent 6 DEM Florida reps to Congress, and those DEMS listed to be running in the two new Districts 26 and 27.
I agree that Nugent is a RINO and we have others too who are either RINOs or just been there too long...ie Crenshaw, Sterns, Webster. But my concern FIRST is that we vote out ALL the DEMS. If we can vote out some RINOs during the Primary to face other DEMS, fine. It is just most important that we vote out the DEMS and take on the RINOS when we can. I also hope to see stronger action from our present Republicans, and wish the next Speaker to be Allen West or Michelle Bachman.
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DEMOCRAT US HOUSE MEMBERS FROM FLORIDA TO DEFEAT IN 2012:
(Republican Primary Opponents Listed - To be updated)
DISTRICT 3 - Corring Brown (D)
http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/
Republican Primary opponents to face Corrine Brown:
Mike Yost (Mike also ran in 2010)
http://yostforcongress.com/
LeeAnne Kolb
http://www.kolb4congress.com
****************
DISTRICT 11 - Kathy Castor (D)
http://castor.house.gov/
Republican Primary opponents to face Kathy Castor:
??
********************
DISTRICT - 17 — Fredricka Wilson (D)
http://wilson.house.gov/
Republican Primary opponents to face Fredricka Wilson:
??
******************
DISTRICT 19 - Ted Deutch (D)
http://deutch.house.gov/
Republican Primary opponents to face Ted Deutch:
??
*******************
DISTRICT 20 - Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)
http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/
Republican Primary opponents to face Debbie Wasserman Schultz:
Karen Harrington (Karen also ran in 2010)
http://www.karenforcongress.com
Joe Kaufman
http://www.kaufmanforcongress.com/
***************
DISTRICT 23 - Alcee Hastings (D)
http://alceehastings.house.gov/
Republican Primary opponents to face Alcee Hastings:
Bernard Sansaricq (Bernard also ran in 2010)
http://sansaricq4congress.com/
***************
NEW FLORIDA DISTRICT 26 Orlando Area
Alan Grayson (D) (Filed 07-12-11) - No website listed as of 09/18/11
Email: grayson@graysonlaw.net
Republican Primary opponents to face Alan Grayson:
??
******************
NEW FLORIDA DISTRICT 27 - Miami Area
Manny Yevancey (D) (Filed 08-25-11) - No website listed as of 09/18/11
Email: yevanad@aol.com
Republican Primary opponents to face Democrat in new district 27:
??
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