Jack Kingston

Jack hosted another alternative energy event today on Capitol Hill. This afternoon, Members of Congress and staff got to check out a delivery truck powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Fuel cells work by converting chemical energy into electricity without combustion. The Sprinter converts hydrogen’s reaction with oxygen into electricity. There are no exhaust emissions, only water vapor and heat are the byproducts.

Jack’s bipartisan legislation encourages this very type of alternative energy.

It all started when some Air Force Academy cadet complained that the chaplain was closing prayers “in the name of Jesus.” You would think this could have been handled locally at the academy but not in today’s politically correct world.  The censorship committee worked fast and turned this into a national Department of Defense priority.

This is nothing new. Apparently the name Jesus has been offending people for years.  In Washington, prayers have been watered down so much they’re scarcely more than inspirational moments directed to some vaugue ’spiritual being’ generally considered good but not necessarily welcomed in polite company.

But the DOD went too far in the scramble to cleanse the prayers and gag the chaplain.  They violated the Constitution which despite the challenges against it, has a little power in this town.  The First Amendment says it’s against the law for the government to establish a religion or restrict the free exercise of religion.  Respectively, these are referred to as the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Restricting the method in which a chaplain can pray, violates this.  A court decision “Katcoff v. Marsh” states that the DOD must provide a chaplain, but the chaplain serves as a representative of his denomination not as an agent of the government.  Therefore he is entitled to pray in the manner of his denomination.

There is language in the House version of the Defense Authorization bill that would take us to the pre-Air Force incident language and return to a 200 year old history in which saying “Jesus” wasn’t a problem.  Right now, the House and Senate are in conference on the defense bill and we will keep you updated on the latest as both sides work out a final report.

I also wanted to let you know that I was on FOX News yesterday discussing this topic.  You can check out my appearance HERE.

Rather than reading what Nancy Pelosi says about illegally leaked state secrets (has she called for a Special Counsel to investigate the leaks? I didn’t think so. Maybe Patrick Fitzgerald could take the case.), I thought you’d like to read the actual declassified report yourself.

It says what we all know. It says the global Islamic jihadist movement is at war with the West, wants to destroy us, destroy our way of life, and destroy other democracies that stand in their way like Israel. It says that by going on the offense we have greatly damaged Al Qaeda and their ability (but not their desire) to threaten us. It says this is going to be a long, hard war to defeat this enemy that seeks nothing except our defeat.

Isn’t this what President Bush has been saying all along?

The difference between Republicans in Congress and Democrats, is that we read this report and see both real progress in the War on Terror and a continuing threat that needs to be taken seriously. Democrats see another chance to “cut and run” and blame America first. But don’t take my word for it - read the report yourself.

Welcome to Open Thread Friday.  What’s on your mind?

A Case Study In Why We Should Insist Reforms Get Done Right And Not Just Right Now

If you thought Congressional “earmarks” were dead after last week’s vote - think again.  You may be interested to read this story from the Washington Post about “tariff earmarks” tucked into tax bills that don’t come through the Appropriations Committee.

Now if you think makers of certain kinds of dog collars, or shoes with a certain number of stripes, or make-up made by Estee Lauder or certain volleyballs deserve special tax breaks, then you can stop reading.

If you believe tucking 262 similar “earmarks” into this summer’s pension reform bill is real reform, then you can stop reading too.

But if you are still reading, here is what one lobbyist has to say about the process.  “It’s become sort of a lobbyists’ dream,” Jim Schollaert, a former State Department trade specialist who now represents domestic manufacturers.  ‘It’s a gravy train, and there’s little work to it.”  The bills in Congress generally give no hint of whom the suspensions have been designed to benefit, according to The Washington Post.

Now, I believe that some of these “tax earmarks” just like some spending “earmarks,” are probably meritorious.  But the issue before us is full transparency into how Congress doles out taxpayer money, who gets the benefit and why?  With the kind of full and equal transparency that I support, all “earmarks” will be subject to the same disinfecting transparency - the good ideas will survive and the questionable ones will not.

Last week’s vote failed that test for me.

Something smells at the U.N. - and it’s not sulfur. 

“Yesterday the devil came here and it smells of sulfur today!” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says about President Bush . . . while crossing himself no less.  The only thing more frightening than the ranting of this communist mad man was the knowing laughter and thunderous and sustained applause he received from the DNC . . .  I mean the U.N. General Assembly.

But I can almost hear the cheers from Cindy Sheehan, Howard Dean and Ned Lamont . 

Now, this oil rich lunatic (the 4th largest oil exporter to the United States) wants a seat on the U.N. Security Council.  Let’s see what the world will do now.

Will the world back this nut for a seat on the Security Council?

Will the world media cry out for an apology from Mr. Chavez for his remarks like they have for the Pope’s third person historical quotation?

Does the world - or even the 48% of America who voted against President Bush - really want to replace U.S. leadership, democracy, capitalism, rule of law and honest quest for lasting peace with the failed ideologies, terror and chaos represented by the likes of Chavez and Ahmenidijad?

Will America do anything to reduce its dependence on the oil that fuels these crackpots?

ANSWER KEY:  Yes, No, Maybe and Unfortunately No.

If you happen to be near a TV, you might want to tune in to President Chavez’s speech at the UN. Chavez, best buddy of Castro and one Cindy Sheehan, is giving quite the performance.  

We’ll have more comment later.�

Here are a few numbers the Mainstream Media may not want you to hear: 

• Corporate Tax Receipts hit a record high in the third quarter - $71.8 billion
• Gross federal tax receipts hit an all time high of $85.8 billion - a nearly 20% increase over the same quarter last year

Missing MSM headline:  “Bush Tax Cuts Working As Revenues Hit All Time High”

President Bush’s overall job approval rating is on the rise.

• The latest USA Today/Gallup poll shows Bush approval ratings steadily climbing from 31% back in May to a year long high of 44% today.  The survey shows steady improvement for 5 monthly surveys in a row.  Similar gains are seen in every major poll.
• NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds 42% approve of the President today, up from 37% in June.
• FOX/Opinion Dynamics stands at 40% approval today up from 35% in May.
• The AP finds overall approval up to 39%today from 33% back in May. 

We heard these numbers ad nauseum everyday on the way down, but today we have another missing MSM headline:  “Bush Approval On The Rise”

Today’s USA Today/Gallup poll also showed likely voters evenly divided between Democrat and Republican candidates for Congress, 48%-48%.  Missing MSM headline - “Republicans Drase Dem Advantage In Mid-Term Elections”?

Two more numbers you may not have seen:

• CBS poll finds that 51% of Americans agree that President Bush’s policies have made us safer, with only 29% saying they made us less safe.

Missing MSM headline: “2:1Americans Believe Bush Has Made Us Safer”

And last, we have Nancy Pelosi’s worst nightmare - the most recent Pew Poll finds that by 57% to 40%, Americans are concerned that if Democrats take control of Congress they would weaken the country’s efforts to combat terrorism. 

Missing MSM headline:  “Americans Fear Democrats Would Weaken Country”

For me, the lessons in these numbers are clear.  Lower taxes spur economic growth and increase tax revenues.  Pro-energy policies for the development of American energy helps keep gas prices in check.  The American people respect principle and conviction and they expect their government to keep them safe by aggressively fighting the forces of terror and Islamic radicalism while protecting the homeland.

Or maybe you didn’t hear?

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It wasn’t quite the WWF, but this morning Congressman Kingston joined fellow Georgian Congressman Tom Price in a discussion with Erick Erickson from Red State. 

You can listen HERE.

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I have always been a strong supporter of transparency and budget reform and budget cutting.  When I chaired the Legislative Branch Appropriations subcommittee, I was the only “Cardinal” to bring in a bill with real budget reductions, and below even that year’s budget allocation, 2 years in a row.

I strongly supported the lobbying and earmark reform proposal when it first passed the House this spring.  At that time I fought to ensure that any final product would treat all committees, all legislation, and both the House and the Senate with the same transparency and protections against embarrassing, unnecessary and wasteful spending and sweet-heart deals.  While a good step forward, yesterday’s vote to change House rules does not go far enough.

Here are some things you should know.  First, this rule was not “THE” vote on earmark reform, but rather a temporary 3 month patch that applies only to this Congress so that we will need to come back and do another bill.  Second, the rule doesn’t include the Senate.  True earmark reform must encompass both Houses of Congress.

Finally, this rule does not measure all committees by the same yardstick.  For example, had the earmark reform rules passed yesterday been in place, none of the earmark reforms (disclosure, Members names, points of order) would have applied to the pension reform bill which passed before the recess.  That bill contained over 275 earmarks that were ‘air-dropped” into the pension bill, including:

• $50 million for the Going-to-the-Sun road in Montana
• $18 million in tax breaks for the City of Hoonah, Alaska for an electricity project
• $38 million in duty relief for Sony
• $32 million in duty relief for Bayer
• $55 million in duty relief and refund payments for certain wool manufacturers
• $1.6 million in duty relief for Estee Lauder makeup
• $3.5 million in duty relief for Payless Shoes

It is precisely these kinds of special interest earmarks that when not subject to transparency, disclosure or challenge on the floor, give us a black-eye.  Some may be good ideas and some may be bad, but without transparency, disclosure and debate we will never know until one hits the front pages and then it is too late.

Last year’s higway bill contained $7 billion more in earmarks than all of the annual spending bills combined.  Congress has also passed a trade measure which included a $9 million tax break for archery products, a $35 million benefit for fishing tackle boxes, $169 million boon for Puerto Rico Rum producers and a $4 million break for sonar fishng devices.  None of these are subject to the same rules we will now apply to appropriations bill only.  And yet we have yet to see any rules that will apply to the worst offender - the Senate.

I will continue to fight against wasteful spending, for transparency and for real across-the-board reforms.  My vote yesterday was a signal to everyone that we are not finished yet.  For my conservative colleagues who fought hard for yesterday’s vote, I congratulate them on an important victory, but I join them in reminding everyone that we are not finished yet.  There is more reform needed to fully restore public confidence and fulfill the promise of the conservative revolution, I intend to stay in that fight.

Well it has been a while since your humble Districtblogger has posted so I have to make this one good.

You ain’t gonna believe what I saw yesterday. A man in rural Appling County making his own diesel fuel at a cost of just 70-cents per gallon! and it’s made from old used vegetable oil!

Tim (he doesn’t want the whole world calling him so I will withold his last name for now) got the idea off of the internet!  He found something called Diesel Secret Energy which explained how to do it. Since then he has made a few modifications to suit his needs, but it works like a charm! 

He gets old, used vegetable oil from local restaurants (yes, the stuff they cook your french fries in!). He filters it to make sure there are no crunchy bits in it (seriously!) and then pours 10 gallons into a large container hooked to a pump. He then mixes two additives, two-gallons of diesel and 1/2 gallon of unleaded.  He then runs the mixture through two filters (the kind used in a home water purifier) and lets it mix for a few minutes.  Then he puts it in the tank of his pickup truck or his wife’s diesel VW. Read the rest of this entry »

We realize the blog has been slow over the last two days, but we’re back and with a bang featuring a doozy of a comment from the Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. 

At a press conference over the weekend, Ms. Pelosi made the astounding comment that capturing Osama Bin Laden doesn’t “make us any safer.”

Well, silly me thought that every terrorist we captured made us safer, apparently Ms. Pelosi thinks otherwise.Š

This week, as we approach the 5th year anniversary of 9/11, President Bush gave three tremendous speeches discussing the global War on Terror and the progress we have made. 

They are well worth the read.

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Just like at thousands of high schools and colleges across America, the Friday “pep rally” is alive and well at Tehran University. 

While there are no cheerleaders, marching bands or big-headed mascots in sight, it is pretty clear whose team they are rooting for.

If you still believe that Iran’s student movement is a force for moderation, or that Hezbollah is not the “French Foreign Legion” of Iran’s mullahs, than I have a mosque I want to sell you.