Jack Kingston

As many of you know, over the weekend there was an anti-war protest here in DC.  While the protest was peaceful, there was an incident that has caught people’s attention around Capitol Hill. 

According to The Hill newspaper, a small group of protesters were allowed to spray paint steps in front of the Capitol’s West Front Lower Terrace.  It is, of course, against the law to deface the United States Capitol.  These protesters broke that law yet weren’t arrested.

That begs the question - Why?  According to the Capitol Police FOP “the officers . . . are upset that some of this weekend’s demonstrators were able to deface part of the Capitol complex . . .  the officers . . . . were ordered to withdraw by their officials and let the demonstrators have the area where the graffiti was later discovered.” 

It’s clear that the rank-and-file officers aren’t too happy with the decision of the higher ups.  And we don’t blame them.  It’s not up to the Capitol Police to decide what laws to enforce and what laws not to enforce.  It begs the question, where does it stop? Will future groups also be allowed to spray paint the Capitol?  What if a group wants to burn something in effigy?  Is that allowed?

It’s a slippery slope, my friends.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised that under her leadership the House would be the most open, honest and ethical Congress in history.

But then came word that the Democrats’ 100 hour agenda would not go through the committee process nor would Republicans be able to offer amendments. 

Next it came to light that American Samoa would not be subject to the minimum wage increase that Congress passed.  It turns out that Starksit Tuna has their headquarters in Speaker Pelosi’s district and Starkist has two plants in, you guessed it, American Samoa and they are against any minimum wage increase there.

Finally, USA Today reported yesterday that Speaker Pelosi and two other Democrats failed to report their roles in family charities.  Congressional Members are required to file a yearly report on their finances, including any positions they hold.  It seems Pelosi forgot to report that she was an officer of a charity, not once or twice, but 15 times. 

I guess we’re still waiting for that open, ethical and honest Congress that was promised.  We’ll keep you posted.

Today Jack along with his fellow co-sponsors introduced the DRIVE ACT - Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy Act.  And while the name doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as the previously introduced HR 4409 - Fuel Choices for American Security Act - the two are essentially the same bill with some minor tweaks.

But whether it’s called the DRIVE ACT or Fuel Choices for American Security Act, the aim is the same:  to strengthen our economic and national security by reducing our dependence on imported oil.  And with the President focusing on energy independence in last night’s State of the Union, we’re feeling pretty good about our prospects.

For the first time, President Bush delivered his State of the Union to a Democrat-controlled Congress.  He touched on a variety of topics from health care reform to immigration to fuel independence (which made the Kingston office very happy).

You can check out Jack’s thoughts on the speech HERE.

We’ve had strong responses to Jack’s vote on the resolution honoring the championship win by the University of Florida Gators and I’m sure everyone would like to know what prompted his vote.  It was plain and simple Bulldog pride.  As Jack told the Red and Black:

 “I was raised in Sanford Stadium - my heart is in the rolling hills of Athens.”

You can also check out Jack’s comments to ESPN. 

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Last night, the House took up a resolution to honor the University of Florida for their victory in the BCS National Championship game.  Although we do feel that the Florida Gators did a great service by proving once again that the SEC is THE elite conference in college football, as Georgia Bulldogs, we could support no such resolution.  We encouraged Jack to vote against this resolution as we felt the constituents of the First District would want him to do so.  

Jack was the lone Member of Congress to oppose the resolution, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.  Despite getting much grief for his vote from his House colleagues, he was able to deliver the fundamental message we wanted him to convey —

GO DAWGS!

In response to President Bush’s prime-time address last night, Jack had this to say:

“Last night’s address was substantive.  I’m glad the President has addressed the nation on the issue which is foremost on the minds of our divided citizens.  While progress had been made we would all like to see more progress and have updated measurements of forward motion.  It is significant that out of 18 provinces, 14 are relatively stable with limited violence. And since 80% of the violence is within a 30 mile radius of Baghdad, clearly therein lays the key to success.  So to focus more troop strength in that region is logical.”

“While I’m not ready to lend full support to the President’s plan, I am convinced we all need to learn more.  I look forward to additional information and hearings in the weeks to come.  I’m particularly mindful that additional troops and acceleration will directly affect the Second and Third Brigades of the 3rd ID.  These troops have done well but we need to make sure that this won’t lead to longer deployments and less training.”

“And for those who don’t like the President’s plan, the election is over and now is the time to stop the rhetoric and explain your policy.”

Last fall on 60 minutes, Speaker Nancy Pelosi flat out declared that the “war on terror is the war in Afghanistan.”  Jack wrote an op-ed on the topic you can check out in case you missed it.

Now there is news this morning that on Sunday, the U.S. Air Force attacked suspected Al-Qaeda members in . . . . southern Somalia.  And they may have hit a senior terrorist figure. 

Tell us again, Speaker Pelosi, where the war on terror is?

We spent a lot of time in 2006 on Jack’s Blog discussing how great the economy has been doing thanks to - that’s right Pelosi & Company - tax cuts.   So we thought we’d start the new year picking up where we left off.  And yes, we’re a little excited. 

167,00 new jobs were created in December and the numbers for October and November were revised UP. Since August 2003, more than 7.2 million jobs have been created, more jobs than the European Union and Japan combined.  The economy has now added jobs for 40 straight months.

Despite what the Democrats think, these great jobs numbers are due to one thing: pro-growth economic policies.  And now that they are in charge, let’s hope they keep that in mind.

With the Dems taking over Congress this week, we’re sure you’ve got lots to say, so welcome to the first Friday Open Thread of 2007.

And to get it started, check out Jack on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes last night.

The Democrats haven’t even officially taken over and already the promises they made are already being broken.  

First, throughout the election, the Democrats promised they would implement all the 9/11 recommendations, but afterwards Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi announced that “you can’t do them all.” 

Second, after the elections, Democrats promised that under their leadership there would be an open and honest government and Republican opposition would have a voice and be able to offer alternative proposals.  Now:

 “But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.”

Dems promised that the House would operate in a democratic fashion.  But the so-called “100 Hours” Plan will not be going through ANY committees. As the Washington Post points out:

“When Republicans took over in 1995, they at least went through the motions of putting their “Contract With America” proposals through the normal committee process. Democrats under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have decided not to bother with that, nor to let Republicans offer amendments on the floor, nor even to put a GOP alternative up for a vote. . . . Questions such as whether the minimum wage increase should be combined with tax breaks for small businesses and whether the federal government should be the only party negotiating Medicare prescription prices ought to be put up for discussion and a vote. If that causes a fracture in the Democratic caucus, so be it.”

Not exactly the “open, full and fair debate” promised by Speaker-elect Pelosi, is it?

Promises made, promises broken.  Welcome to Nancy’s House.

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