Congressman Lou Barletta On Senate Passage of Immigration Bill

 

 

Statement of Rep. Barletta Regarding Senate Passage of Immigration Bill

 

WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today issued the following statement regarding Senate passage of S. 744, the bill that claims to address illegal immigration.  The statement is as follows:

“It has been the worst kept secret in Washington these past few months that the Senate was determined to pass a sweeping immigration bill that in reality isn’t even a Band-Aid on our illegal immigration problem.  We have immigration laws for two main purposes: to protect our national security and to protect American jobs.  This bill violates both of those principles.

“I cannot support any legislation that does not secure our borders first.  While it is true that this means our southern, northern and maritime borders, it also means our interior ports of entry.  I fear that not enough people are talking about our visa system.  If you consider that nearly half of the illegal immigrants currently present arrived on a visa that has since expired, you will realize that if your state is home to an international airport, you effectively live in a border state.  As we have seen too often – and very recently – the holes in our immigration system represent a real and credible threat to the safety of Americans.

“If signed into law, this bill will greatly increase the number of newly-legalized workers in this country, who would then compete for scarce resources and jobs with legal immigrants and the 22 million Americans who woke up this morning unable to find a job.  Granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants would be a fiscal drain on the federal budget, the economy and legal American residents.  It will suppress wages, and cost taxpayers about $6.3 trillion in social benefits over the life spans of the new residents – even after tax receipts are realized – according to a study by the Heritage Foundation.

“I will oppose this bill when it reaches the House and anything that remotely resembles amnesty for illegal immigrants.”

Congressmen Barletta, Marino, and Cartwright Advocating For Jobs At Tobyhanna Depot

It is refreshing to see a bipartisan announcement out of Washington.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, has authored a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration advocating Tobyhanna Army Depot as the location of the FAA’s Integrated Control Facility for air traffic control. The new site must be within 150 miles of New York City, but currently, locations outside of New York State are not being considered. Congressmen Tom Marino, PA-10, and Matt Cartwright, PA-17, also signed the letter.

“We would like to express our continued concerns about the exclusion of federal installations in Pennsylvania in the FAA’s request for information,” the Members of Congress wrote to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD), for example, is just one facility in Pennsylvania that meets all of the relocation criteria outlined by the FAA except the arbitrary limitation based on state boundaries.”

The Members noted that Tobyhanna, which is “located 81.3 miles from downtown New York City, contains an operational radar and antenna range campus. Additionally, TYAD already has a 240,000 square foot building available with the opportunity for expansion.”

The Pennsylvania Representatives argued that Tobyhanna or other sites would offer better surroundings for workers.

“Many locations in Pennsylvania offer a significantly lower cost-of-living standard for current and future employees,” they wrote.

The three reminded Administrator Huerta that he has said he would be open to sites outside of New York.

“Recently, on February 27, 2013, during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation hearing, you testified that you would consider an ICF site outside of the state of New York,” they wrote. “We request that you give equal consideration for the establishment of this facility at the TYAD. Ultimately, we urge the FAA to allow fair competition to determine the best site for the relocation of the ICF without imposing arbitrary limitations based on state boundaries.”  

Barletta, Marino and Cartwright requested information on an ongoing analysis the FAA is conducting, including an opinion survey of current employees, while noting that the issue is also important as the fiscal crisis continues.

“The federal government must eliminate federal overspending,” they wrote. “This begins by making commonsense leasing and procurement decisions regarding federal buildings.”

Congressman Barletta on CBS21

Congressman Lou Barletta appeared on "Face The State", a CBS21 telecast.

Barletta Working To Create Jobs

Rep. Barletta, colleagues unveil five-year, $260B transportation bill that will put Americans back to work

01/31/12

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, PA-11, joined his colleagues on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to unveil a $260 billion, five-year reauthorization and reform of transportation programs that will create jobs and rebuild infrastructure in the district and the nation.

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) will be the largest transportation reform bill since the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956.

This act will reform and streamline transportation programs, cut red tape in the project approval process, increase states’ flexibility to fund their most critical needs, and encourage private sector participation in financing and building projects.

“Workers in the 11^th District and around the nation are in desperate need of work, and our infrastructure is in desperate need of updating. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act is a $260 billion, five-year plan that will give construction companies stability so they can hire more employees and buy more equipment. It gives more power to the states so they can set their own transportation project priorities. It will consolidate or eliminate 70 duplicative programs, streamlining the project approval process and reducing wasteful overspending. Basically, this bill will create jobs, fix our infrastructure, let states and not Washington pick their transportation projects, and make American taxpayer dollars go farther. It’s much needed, and I’m proud to be a member of the committee that created it,” Rep. Barletta said.

Since the last surface transportation law was signed into law on August 10, 2005 – 2,366 days ago – Congress has approved eight short-term extensions.

“Short-term extensions only create more uncertainty among job creators, so putting a five-year plan in place will provide long-term program reform and stability for job creators and states to rebuild our highways and bridges,” Rep. Barletta said. “In years past, Washington bureaucrats told states how to spend their transportation money. I believe the states know what projects need to be completed, so this reauthorization puts the decision-making power back in their hands.”

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act streamlines and condenses the project review process by allowing federal agencies to review transportation projects at the same time, setting hard deadlines for federal agencies to approve projects, and granting more decision-making authority to states. Bureaucratic reviews often bog down infrastructure projects; for example, a project in California proposed to widen a dangerous roadway by no more than two feet, construct 2,000 feet of new guardrail, replace two culvert pipes, and resurface the road. It took more than seven years just to complete the environmental reviews and permit approvals – during which time there were additional serious accidents on that road.

“As a businessman who worked in the road construction business, I can tell you that there are huge hurdles to leap when you want to fix or improve our infrastructure. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act will help make our roads and bridges safer, put people back to work, and maintain fiscal responsibility,” Rep. Barletta said.

Is Bill Vinsko Telling The Truth?

In this segment of "You Be The Judge" Bill Vinsko tells the public that his campaign money came from individuals, not PAC money like other candidates.



How does he explain this picture?

I guess every profession has one.

How To Try To Influence Votes And Make Friends

From Bill Vinsko For Congress website:

I am very proud to receive such great support from I.B.E.W. and its outstanding membership. Their workers exemplify the hard-working Americans and Pennsylvanians that I will represent when elected to Congress. They need jobs, the 11th District needs jobs, Pennsylvania needs jobs and America needs jobs. It’s time to ensure that the middle class is protected and that we put America back to work. With the help of IBEW and other great organizations, it can still be done. I want to publicly thank I.B.E.W. and Mike Kwashnik for their faith in my candidacy.

Bill, why don't you ask your Democratic friends in the Senate why they haven't passed any of the 27 jobs bills sitting before them?

On November 18, 2011 Gort published Vinsko's response to Congressman Lou Barletta's fundraising efforts.  Here is one particular statement from Vinsko.

The people of the 11th Congressional District need a congressman who is ready to lead and not to follow; someone who is truly an independent thinker, guided by principle and not party doctrine.

If that check isn't party doctrine then nothing is.

Joe Valenti in Pittston Politics basically makes the case that the magisterial arm of the Pennsylvania Court System is a "quasi political machine" where Vinsko has deep roots.

You see, Bill Amesbury was in Vinsko’s law office from 2003 until he won a spot on the bench. And, I’m sure Vinsko was quite supportive of Amesbury’s run for judge.
Now it’s time to return the favor.
  
While a District Justice is not allowed to participate in any partisan politics and you’ll never see them at a political rally, the District Justice network is a tight organization that takes care of their own.

And, the only one running for congress that truly has only one degree of separation with that network is Bill Vinsko.

And, no one politician, political organization and or machine can personally touch the vast area of the congressional district with one exception, the District Justice network.

Who said corruption left the Luzerne County Court System?  Maybe it just changed its face with Vinsko being their rally cry.

There's A Catch- Another Obama Gimmick

Barletta Rips Obama Campaign Visit

In this Times Leader article by Jonathan Riskind Congressman Lou Barletta rips into President Obama for playing politics with his visit to Scranton, Pennsylvania today.

U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta said Tuesday he supports extending the Social Security payroll tax cut into 2012, but criticized President Obama’s visit to Scranton today as playing politics with the issue.

Guest speaker, U.S. Congressman, Lou Barletta, addresses the gathering at the Chamber of Commerce autumn Breakfast Meeting.

Obama

Obama is to make a pitch for the payroll tax cut extension during his speech this afternoon at Scranton High School.

Barletta, a Republican from Hazleton, said keeping the payroll tax low for another year is a good idea because “I believe that money is better staying in the pockets of American citizens than it is in the coffers of the federal government.”

But Barletta said Obama would be better served by staying in Washington and working with Senate Democrats to pass “some of the 20-plus job-creating bills that we in the House passed, and that are now sitting in the Senate.

Rep. Tom Marino On President Obama's Visit To Scranton, PA.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Marino, PA-10, today issued this statement regarding President Obama’s visit to Scranton, Pa., in the neighboring 11th Congressional District:

“A visit by a President is always exciting but today’s appearance has lost some of its luster because of the President’s poor performance in the White House.

“His lack of leadership and his refusal to do what is best for the country and his insistence on sticking to his worn-out ideologies and Chicago-style politics is clearly hurting the national economy and Americans of all walks of life.

“He delays making important decisions and leading at a time when we need a strong and reassuring President.

“One of the best examples is the President’s delaying of the Keystone Pipeline, a project that would immediately employ 20,000 people with the promise of 200,000 jobs down the road.

“A true leader would not table such an important project just to appeal to opposing sides of his political base. The question is clear: `President Obama, do you want to pander to extreme leftist environmentalists or do you want to create thousands of good-paying, union-labor jobs?’

“If the President wants to make a career out of not being able to make a decision, he should go back to the U.S. Senate where the Democratic leadership has refused to vote on important bills passed by the House including 20-plus job-creating measures.

“President Obama can do all the campaigning he wants but we in Pennsylvania have a good memory. We remember what he really thinks of us and how he mocked our respect for our religion, for life and for our Second Amendment rights.”

Boehner Visits Flood Victims

Barletta and Boehner Tour Bloomsburg Flood Area Just a year ago the political pundits were saying our area would have no clout in Washington if Paul Kanjorski was not reelected. Bringing the Speaker of the United States House of Representative to tour the flood damaged areas in your district during your first term is an accomplishment worth noting on both sides of the political party aisle. Lou Barletta deserves credit, I don't care who you are.

Federal Employee Benefits Outstrip Social Security

It is hard for public employees to understand why there is such a backlash by the private sector against their benefit package and overall work environment.  On a federal level there are about 10 million persons involved compared to 54 million Social Security beneficairies.

ABCnews published this story that outlines this issue in a very succint perspetive.

The government paid a record $268 billion in pension and health benefits last year to 10 million former civil servants, military personnel and their dependents, about $100 billion more than was paid a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation. And $7 billion more was deposited into tax-deferred accounts of current workers.

In addition, the federal government last year made more than a half-trillion dollars in future commitments, valued in 2010 dollars that will cost far more to pay in coming decades. Added last year:

•$107 billion in retirement benefits accumulated by current workers.

•$106 billion in new benefits granted to veterans.

•More than $300 billion in the snowballing expense of previous retirement promises that have no source of funding.

In all, the government committed more money to the 10 million former public servants last year than the $690 billion it paid to 54 million Social Security beneficiaries.

Government employees will foster the argument that they work for their money just like the private sector.  What they fail to understand is the liberties they have working for government agencies, holidays, personal days, sick day accumulation, payments made to remain off the government sponsored healthcare, defined pensions, etc. are NOT the norm in the private industry. 

Obama just today announced he wants a federal takeover of the nation's power grid.  Our nation does not need another bureaucratic agency with more employees that we can't afford through taxation.

Car czar, energy czar, count them; there are 32 czars in the Obama administration.  In April Obama announced his czars aren't going anywhere.  He won't abrogate his Presidential perogative.  Although not a supporter the liberals don't have to look far to understand why the Tea Party was formed.

Clinton Tells Obama His Plan Won't Work

Foxnews is reporting that Bill Clinton stated raising his taxes won't solve the current economic problem.
 
Both sides in the debate on job growth and deficit spending are claiming an ally in Bill Clinton, the multimillionaire former president who has declared his willingness to pay more in taxes, but said that it won't help get the economy moving.

Clinton, in interviews over the weekend, touted President Obama's $447 billion jobs package as a smart move. But speaking with Newsmax, he criticized the president's deficit-reduction plan, which calls for $1.5 trillion in tax hikes to be collected by raising the rates on people making $200,000 or more and adding an additional calculation for people making more than $1 million.

"It's okay with me. I'll pay more. But it won't solve the problem," Clinton said, adding that the country shouldn't deal with increased taxes or spending cuts "until we get this economy off the ground."

Clinton also said that Obama "knows perfectly well the Republicans aren't going to be for" a debt-reduction package that raises taxes. He said he would advise Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to "go work it out. Meanwhile, focus on putting America back to work now, because it just confused Americans."

Following the interview, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said he hopes Obama will "heed" Clinton's advice
.

Barletta Fights For FEMA Help Desperately Needed In His District

This Morning Call blog reports Congressman Lou Barletta has joined 70 Democrats in asking Republican Leadership to give FEMA a larger relief pool of funds.

Around 70 House Democrats sent a letter to House Republican leadership urging them to accept a larger funding pool for FEMA disaster relief. Among those Democrat signatures one name sticks out: Pennsylvania Republican Lou Barletta.

Barletta, whose 11th district was ravaged by recent flooding, said he has joined the Democrats because his constituents need the extra help. He described grown men and women crying on their front porches, their homes destroyed, possessions lost, wondering if anyone will help.

How much to supplement FEMA's disaster relief fund in the wake of Hurricanes Irene and Lee has become a major sticking point in passing a resolution to keep the government funded through November. At issue is this: The House Republicans want to pass a "continuing resolution" with $3.65 billion for the fund with offsets. The Senate has already passed a stand alone measure providing $6.9 billion for FEMA. Majority Leader Harry Reid has said if the House passes its funding bill and sends it to the Senate he will attempt to amend it with the larger FEMA pot. House Democrats are also planning to vote against the bill.

Barletta said he has not yet decided whether he too will vote against the House Republican version.
In the letter, the members write that "FEMA cannot begin full recovery efforts in areas recently devastated because of the lack of adequate resources." The fund is expected to run out of money before the end of the month. "We have an obligation to fulfill to our fellow citizens," they write. "FEMA and other federal agencies need the entirety of the Senate's bill to help suffering Americans today. Please prevent disaster aid from getting caught up in budget brinksmanship by bringing the bill passed by the Senate up for a vote.

In related news, Reid secured a handful of Senate Republican votes to pass the $6.9 billion FEMA funding bill. Among those Republicans was Pennsylvania GOP Pat Toomey. Reid will need those votes again if he wants to amend the House bill and there's no guarantee Toomey and the other will vote for it a second time around.

Vinsko The Country Cluber- Insensitive During This Crisis

If Congressman Lou Barletta put out a press release like this one the local media would be all over him. Pundits local and afar would be chastizing him for insensitivity in this time of such devastation and destruction to homes and lives in Northeastern Pennsylvania.   He would be called a rich country cluber.

The Citizen's Voice announced on the VINSKO COCKTAIL PARTY.

The Bill Vinsko for Congress Committee will host a cocktail party from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Wyoming Valley Country Club, Hanover Township. Tickets are $125 per person. For information and tickets, call (well you didn't think I would really publish the number did you?).

Nice timing Attorney Vinsko. While he is enjoying the caviar and martinis at the Club people a few miles away have no heat, electricity, water, or sewer.  Kanjorski built a campaign around Frank Harrison's junket while the giardiasis crisis hit the region.  Look's like Tropical Storm Lee may show Vinsko what happened to General Lee in Gettysburg.







BTW Mr. Vinsko, this one is on me.  Why don't you have the mandatory federal disclaimer notice at the end of this political ad?  One would think an attorney would be up on federal laws concerning campaign notices but then again anyone who is part of Tom Leighton's machine seems to be able to skirt those laws.

Paul Kanjorski Are You Done Gloating??

Citizens Blame Levee For Damage To Town

Many residents said they now plan to move because they’ve suffered enough.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

SHICKSHINNY – Residents’ emotions in this borough of less than 1,000 ran the gamut Monday as they began recovery from Friday’s flood devastation.

One was resentment.

“I’m going to go to the dike (in the Wyoming Valley) and put a big sign on it that says ‘Happy 150th Anniversary, Shickshinny. Here’s your gift.’ I don’t care what the politicians say. These people know what that dike is doing to them. It’s killing this town,” Shickshinny Fire Chief/Emergency Management Coordinator Kevin Morris said.

Mayor Beverly Moore estimated 80 percent of the town was affected by flood waters that in lower-lying areas rose to the roofs of houses when the Susquehanna River crested at 42.66 feet.
Morris and others believe the Wyoming Valley Levee System north of them did its job – keeping the water within the river banks.

That is, until the waters pass through the system and hit downstream communities such as Shickshinny with greater force than ever because they can no longer spread out upstream.

“This may be the death of the town and it’s mainly due to that dike,” Morris said.
If it’s suggested that the Wyoming Valley would have been flooded without the levee, Morris believes fair is fair. “Let them share the pain. Why is Mrs. Smith on Main Street in Wilkes-Barre any better than Mrs. Smith on Main Street in Shickshinny?”

“I think this is the end of the line. I hope not and I’m trying to be optimistic, but there are a lot of homeowners who just said, ‘I’ve had enough,’ ” Morris said.

Cynthia Beach, 53, has lived with her husband, Doug, 54, at their 10 N. Susquehanna Ave. home for about 30 years, but they don’t plan on staying there much longer. Hit by flood waters five times before, the past weekend’s disaster was the final straw.
“We’ve been through it enough. We’re just tired. We’re not getting any younger,” Cynthia said. “The neighbors next door are leaving. They’re tired too.”

The Beaches and their children, Andrew, 22, and Joseph, 19, were able to get some belongings moved out before the midnight evacuation, but they still lost a lot.

“The government keeps promising this and promising that, and they’re never going to do anything,” Doug Beach said. “They don’t want to raise (a levee), so we’re just going to leave.”
“Or let them tear (the house) down and give us the money,” Cynthia Beach said.

A couple blocks north, Lillian Kresge, 85, sat in a lawn chair across the street from her home of 45 years watching her nephew, Aaron Jones and his son, Aaron Jr., wash her porch with a high-pressure sprayer.

As she looked at her mud-covered belongings on the sidewalk, her voice cracked as she fought back tears. “You think you’re all right until you sit down, and then you fall apart.”

Kresge has been hit by smaller floods before and has recovered. Can she do it again?
“I don’t want to. I love my house. I hate the thoughts of having to leave it. But at this point, I’m going to have to, I guess. We’ll see,” she said.

Kresge, too, thinks Shickshinny deserves a levee. She and other residents feel slighted, ignored, even in TV news coverage, Kresge said. “You never see anything much about Shickshinny. It’s like we don’t exist.”

Morris, the fire chief, said he and other officials began assessing the damage on Monday.
“Normally that happens a lot quicker because the fire hall and the borough building aren’t affected,” Morris said. But both took on 4 to 6 feet of water.

The borough set up an emergency command center a few lots up from the fire hall on West Union Street in the garage of Bob McDaniels. American Red Cross representatives made their first appearance in Shickshinny on Monday. “Everything we got up to this point has been private donations. Shickshinny area takes care of Shickshinny when it comes to something like this,” Morris said.

Holly Morris, fire company president, said there would be food and supplies at the command center and the Methodist church on South Main Street.

Mayor Moore, a nurse at Berwick Hospital, said she expected a tetanus clinic would be set up in the borough this week.

As far as relief in the form of a levee, Moore said she doubts Shickshinny will ever see one. “I honestly think they would buy out the town before they would put a dike down here,” she said.




Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/Citizens_blame_levee_for_damage_to_town_09-12-2011.html#ixzz1XtMK2VOO

Biden, Clinton, Car 54 Where Are You!!!

August, 2008 Now Vice President Joe Biden told us how his childhood left a lasting impression.

Joe Biden left blue-collar, bare-knuckles Scranton for the greener pastures of Delaware when he was only 10 years old. But Scranton, it turns out, left an indelible impression on him. Barack Obama's running mate has returned again and again to the city of his youth, where he attended grammar school at St. Paul's, learned politics at his Irish-Catholic grandfather's knee, and made friendships that have lasted 60 years. He's such a familiar presence here and in the Philadelphia media market -- which includes Delaware, his political base for more than 35 years -- that he's known as Pennsylvania's third senator.

That may be one reason Biden's on the Democratic ticket. In choosing a lunch-bucket Democrat, Obama hopes to capitalize on Biden's appeal to the socially conservative, working-class voters who populate Scranton and many other regions of Pennsylvania. Named for the late governor from Scranton, so-called "Casey Democrats" are a critical voting bloc -- and they largely spurned Obama in the primary, handing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a 10-point victory.

March, 2008 Hilary Clinton returns to her roots in Scranton.

Hillary Clinton begins her six-week siege of Pennsylvania today with an afternoon rally in Scranton, where her rough-hewn father, Hugh Rodham, was born to Welsh immigrants almost 97 years ago. Once a major mining community, the city now is best known as the setting television types picked for NBC's sitcom "The Office." Scranton, nestled in state's northeast corner, has embraced this reflected glory; as noted in a New York Times article last year, the publicity is a welcome change for a city "whose name never seemed to appear in print without the words 'hardscrabble former coal-mining town.' "

Paul Kanjorski thumps his chest over what he did for Wilkes Barre and the levee system. He failed to acknowledge the devastation and destruction the citizens are presently suffering at the fate of Tropical Storm Lee downstream because of that same system. Instead this tragedy was all about him.

Wilkes Barre gives thanks to God, Levees and Paul Kanjorski.

And Todd Eachus protege Edddie Day Pashinski had this to say.

But everyone should be thankful that it never failed, said state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, who represents the city. "I hope that people take a moment tonight and say a prayer and thank the Lord that that dike held," Mr. Pashinski said. "Those of you that experienced 1972 know what kind of devastation we experienced in Wilkes-Barre and throughout the entire valley. Ladies and gentlemen, we dodged a major bullet."

Oh yeah?  Ask the residents in West Pittston and Duryea if they feel like they "dodged the bullet".  How about West Nanticoke??  Downtown Shickshinny look below:

Flood ravages Shickshinny.
Doesn't look like the representative knows what dodging the bullet means.  The bullet wasn't dodged Mr. Pashinski; it was fired at other communities.

And pandering Tom Leighton had this to say about Paul Kanjorski.

Mayor Tom Leighton ordered an evacuation of homes in flood zones near the river and the unpredictable creeks that run through the city. About 20,000 people fled as Wilkes-Barre prepared for a worst-case scenario similar to the wrath of Agnes, which flooded the city from River Street to Wilkes-Barre Boulevard almost 40 years ago. Had the city sustained a similar flood, the waters would not only have devastated homes, but also would have closed businesses that employ the 15,000 people who comprise the state's fourth-largest downtown workforce, Mr. Leighton said. But that never happened, thanks in part to former U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski's work to raise the levee system in the Wyoming Valley, Mr. Leighton said. "Without his hard work in Washington over the years, this valley would have been ruined," Mr. Leighton said.

Let's get back to the beginning of this post.

Where is Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton in this crisis? I know where Lou Barletta and Tom Marino are. Nough Said.

Democrats Disconnected From Reality On Jobs

FEMA Disaster Aid The Real Story Electric Cars

As the flood waters start to recede in the Wyoming Valley the political pundits will start their typical barrage of misinformation against Congressman Lou Barletta about his position on disaster aid and budget cuts. Nancy Kman already took a shot when she interviewed Barletta yesterday. Here is the real story about federal disaster aid. So Gort, why don't you ask your fellow Democrats including Senator Robert Casey why THEY are the ones playing politics with federal disaster aid.

From the Wall Street Journal

Democrats Hold Disaster Relief Hostage Until Republicans Approve Electric Cars

Rahm Emanuel may have decamped to Chicago, but Democrats in Washington still won’t let a good crisis go to waste. Their current gambit is to use Hurricane Irene as a pretext to prevent spending cuts to one of Washington’s most notorious boondoggles.

This week the left-wing press has been attacking House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for holding disaster relief funding “hostage.” A more accurate way to put this is that Senate Democrats won’t approve new funding for disasters unless they get the funding they want for corporations that make electric cars.

Here’s the story: In June, House Republicans passed the 2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which included an amendment adding $1 billion to the Disaster Relief Fund of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In a sensible move for taxpayers, the amendment offsets this new disaster funding by cutting spending on the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. This may ring a bell with readers as the funding conduit for one of Washington’s adventures in crony capitalism.

In 2009, the Department of Energy announced that it would loan more than half a billion dollars through this program to a California-based company, Fisker Automotive, to make luxury electric cars. About a month after the loan package was conditionally approved, CEO Henrik Fisker and Joseph Biden appeared in the Vice President’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware to announce that Fisker would now be making some of its cars at the city’s old General Motors factory.

At the event, Mr. Biden described many “long talks” he’d had with Mr. Fisker. The Vice President’s office later said that Mr. Biden didn’t make any direct appeals to Energy before the loan was approved, but Delaware’s chief of economic development told the Journal that Mr. Biden was the state’s “secret weapon, except there is nothing secret about Joe Biden.”

All of this is background to say that the GOP has found the federal program that is arguably the most deserving of a cut to free up funds for disaster victims. But Senate Democrats refuse to pass the House bill and Mr. Cantor has earned their ire this week by continuing to press for cuts in corporate welfare.

Perhaps unwilling to defend the indefensible, some have taken to claiming that the Republican bill cuts cherished liberal entitlements. In an email seeking donations for an anti-Cantor advertising campaign, the group Democracy for America exalted, “We’re hitting Eric Cantor hard—exposing his call to hold Hurricane Irene disaster relief hostage to more cuts in vital programs, like Medicare and Social Security—with in-district ads all next week.”

In the Senate, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin seems unwilling to accept even the idea that the government might set priorities and choose to fund disaster aid instead of other claims on the federal fisc. “If [Mr. Cantor] believes that we can nip and tuck at the rest of the federal budget and somehow take care of disasters, he’s totally out of touch with reality,” said Mr. Durbin.

One reason the House bill has less funding for Democratic priorities is because, even before the hurricane, Republicans had decided that the President’s budget didn’t have enough money for the Disaster Relief Fund. So they funded it at $850 million above the President’s request. Then as they realized that the damage in places like Joplin, Missouri would put additional strain on the fund, the GOP added the amendment that provided still more disaster assistance and cut funding for Mr. Biden’s beloved electric cars.

The White House hasn’t asked for more funding, though White House budget director Jacob Lew wrote to lawmakers Thursday suggesting it could be well north of $5 billion. But so far Mr. Cantor is being blamed for opposing disaster relief because he has been trying to spend more than the President, and to place that above other spending priorities.

By the way, this political theater is having no impact on victims in need of help. The MSNBC gang may like to pretend that Mr. Cantor is stealing blankets from homeless flood victims, but the Washington debate is largely about funding for construction projects that may be years in the future.

Yes, FEMA has warned that its disaster fund is running low, a warning it issues almost annually. And the agency has said it won’t approve new municipal construction projects until it gets more funding. But rebuilding, for example, a bridge in Vermont likely couldn’t happen for months or years anyway as the locals debate designs, approve plans and conduct environmental reviews. The agency’s emergency assistance—water and generators, or money for new windows or clothing—continues without interruption.

To have any hope of controlling spending, Congress has to make choices. That means having the fortitude to give up more corporate welfare to finance more urgent disaster relief.

Congressman Barletta On The Debt Ceiling Issue

Senator John Yudichak Leads The Effort On Marcellus Shale Impact

Back in March of this year Senator John Yudichak(D-Luzerne) proposed legislation that would implement a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania. He was joined in his bipartisan effort with Senator Ted Erickson (R) and Senator John Blake(D) at the news conference according to PA Environment Daily.

“My goal is to initiate a fair and responsible severance tax in Pennsylvania. This proposal will generate significant revenue for local governments, our clean water infrastructure, and the Growing Greener program,” Sen. Yudichak said. “At the same time, such a moderate tax would allow the industry to continue expanding and creating jobs, as well as generate the economic development activity that Pennsylvania so desperately needs.”

Under Sen. Yudichak’s plan (Senate Bill 905), the severance tax would be gradually implemented based on the gas production of each well:
• A severance tax of 2 percent of the gross value of the natural gas severed at the wellhead; this tax rate would be in place for the first three years of well production;
• When the well has been in production for more than three years, the tax rate would increase to 5 percent;
• The tax rate would readjust back to 2 percent if a well’s rate of production fell below 150 MCF of natural gas per day and above 60 MCF per day;
• Wells that produce less than 60 MCF of natural gas per day are exempt from the tax.

If implemented, the severance tax would go into effect on July 1, 2011.
According to Yudichak, revenue from the severance tax would be distributed to three program areas:
• 33 percent of the revenue generated to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for water supply, wastewater treatment, stormwater and flood control projects;
• 33 percent to the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener); and
• 34 percent to local governments in those areas of Pennsylvania that are experiencing the direct effects of natural gas drilling.

Senator Yudichak has been closely monitoring this legislation as it moves along in the Senate process.

Let me be the first one to put this observation out there in public. I met Senator Yudichak during the last election cycle. He is a straight shooter, very intelligent, and well versed on government and issues affecting the public.

His bipartisan approach out of the gate as Senator is worthy of mention. He has worked well with Representative Tarah Toohil and Congressman Lou Barletta, both Republicans. Keep an eye on Yudichak for a stab at the governor's seat one day. If he continues on this path he will be a formidable candidate.

It is also worthy to note the great job Rep. Tarah Toohil and Congressman Lou Barletta are performing in "crossing the aisle" to reach out to everyone they represent. It is a new era in politics for this area, quite refreshing actually.