INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT

                                                HR 1954

                                             Jack Voted No

 

    This Bill and the vote was an exercise in political posturing. It was Republican grandstanding, not governing, not leading, not working to help America, but presenting a Bill that had only one purpose, to promote the guise that those that voted for it had America’s best interest at heart. The irony is Jack you voted to raise the debt limit in: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and twice in 2008. Your NO vote now was meant to discredit a President and policies that rescued the American people from a depression.

We cannot and should not default or shake the market place with faux conversations about America’s financial house. We cannot balance the budget with cuts only; even our Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss has come to this conclusion, as did the Debt Commission, as did Tom Colburn and several other responsible republicans. You and the majority of your party have taken a pledge (written, designed and promoted by Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform) to never raise taxes, while this is a cool beans slogan, it is irresponsible. There are times when taxes (investments) should be raised, times of War seems like just such a time. We are currently fighting 3 wars, have troops stretched across the globe, men and woman continually putting themselves in harms way risking life and limb, for a Country that has not asked, and appears to be determined not to ask those at the top to contribute. To say ‘you are over there, make the sacrifice, not me.’ This is not leadership, this is not responsible, this is not what representing the people means. This is looking after a handful of special interest and high rollers to garner favor of those that contribute money to you, not for the betterment of the American people but for the betterment of themselves.

   

Your argument is, those taxes on the wealthiest 2% are job-killers, Jack those tax cuts for the top 2% have been in place for 12 years…WHERE ARE THE JOBS?, It is a bogus argument and a bogus premise, I will remind you that during the Clinton administration (prior to the tax cuts) job creation was at historic highs, 23 million jobs created. I will remind you that the Iconic Ronald Reagan, increased taxes 3 times because it was the right thing to do. If indeed you are serious about reducing the debt you will let the tax cuts for the top 2% expire, allow them to return to 1999 levels. A mere increase of 3%. It is time to stop posturing and start leading.

   

 

 

                       Below is the transcript of a speech Representative Kingston gave before Congress on March, 14, 2011. (It also illustrates why Jack is not a movie reviewer.)

   It's a Wonderful Life                                           

   Well Jack, I think the same thing. What would Congressional District 1 be like if you actually represented the people? Your review (albeit lacking in content, truth and pertinence) underlines your total lack of comprehension. Yes, the movie was about George wondering what Bedford Falls would be like without him; after that is where your review ceases to be factual.

  You seem to forget about the bank failing, the sleazy banker, the run on the bank, the depression. You seem to forget that George and Mary use their money to start Bailey Park, an affordable housing project, so people do not have to pay Potters high rents. You must have gone out for popcorn for about 90 minutes, because Jack I don’t know what movie you saw but it sure wasn’t "It’s A Wonderful Life". One of the flashbacks (alternative reality scenes) is when George imagines what Bedford Falls would be like without him, run down, sleazy-Debauchery-Poverty etc.. That is what happens to towns, communities and neighborhoods when there is a lack of investment. A lack of infrastructure investment, the failure to see Schools, Teachers, Firefighters, Policemen, Community organizations, as assets not burdens. You seem to have missed the part about fraudulent Bankers, Profit Mongers and turning the back on community.

 

 

                                                  (HR 6604 Jack goes NO.)

                                                     

                   In the words of Dylan, ‘You don’t need to be a weatherman to see which way the wind blows’, look no further then the meter on the gas pump. It is estimated that as much as 48% of the price of a barrel of oil is due to market speculation. As I write this gas is about $3.50 a gallon. Let’s put things in context, Libya, the current whipping boy being used as the rationale for excessive greed and price manipulation supplies the United States with slightly less then 2% of our oil. Saudi Arabia has said they will fill in the short fall, which would beg the question, why is gas so damn expensive; in a word greed.

                 

   There is talk that the President should start releasing the U.S. oil reserves to help combat the increasing price, and keep the fragile recovering economy on the right path. That is nothing short of government underwriting and subsidizing greed. There is talk of suspending the tax on gas, (Republican’s never miss a moment to blame everything on taxes) again this would be the government sending a message to Wall Street that their collective greed is permissible and we the people will underwrite that manipulation. Let it be known that those that voted against this Bill, also voted against Bills that would give tax credits for the purchase of energy efficient vehicles, give incentive for the research and development of alternative energy sources,and voted for more off-shore drilling, drilling in the Arctic reserve, tax credits for Humvees, and tax cuts for Big Oil.

                    These are the same advocates of the protectionist right that mantrazise ‘Drill here, Drill now’, so keen are they to sacrifice nonrenewable environment for non-responsible action. So keen are they to disregard fact and science in favor of sound byte sentiment and bumper-sticker mentality.

                   

  The United States sits on approximately 14% of the known oil reserves, yet we consume close to 25% of the Oil produced. That is not the issue that is not the point. Oil is sold and traded on the open World Market, to those laissez-faire Republicans. I would ask this question, ‘Are you going to pass a law making it illegal to sell U.S. oil to the world?’ but - let’s let that one slide - if indeed the U.S. produced more oil and the Republicans stood back, and did not regulate who the oil was sold to, and it went on the open market, what’s to keep OPEC from turning back their tap, decreasing global production, driving up prices and doing absolutely nothing to resolve the problem that we use too damn much oil and worse than that  we encourage (through tax laws) wasteful consumption. It is said that the U.S. only gets about 35% energy conversion from a gallon of oil. Basically we buy a 50 gallon barrel and throw 37-1/2 gallons away.

                     We could drill the living crap out of the Gulf, the Arctic Reserve, off the Pacific Coast; we could ratchet up production build rigs as far as the eye can see, have a refinery on every corner, a Humvee in every garage, we could fill the sky with smoke, the water with oil, our lungs with smog, and our hearts with self-righteousness knowing by-golly, we did it our way, (rather their way, those being the oil producers), not giving a lick about tomorrow, but allowing those that control the market to control our lives. Is this the legacy we were meant to leave?

                     That said if we did decide to turn our back on reality and go Viva-Las-Loco and become the Saudi Arabia of America we would not see any new oil for years. Conservation, Renewable, and Research are words not found in the Republican vernacular. If any of those three terms (God forbid all) were practiced we would not only be on the path to self-sufficiency, we would start seeing the benefits immediately. It is estimated that if every vehicle in America got an extra 6 miles per gallon we would not need to import any oil. We could start driving a little less today. We could and should put the onus of extravagance where it rightly belongs: in the lap of the user not the pocket of the responsible. General Motors did not go bankrupt because of Union workers, they went to their bail-out-begging-knees because they produced and marketed vehicles designed to consume not conserve, to produce envy not efficiency, to customize greed and arrogance only to have a flat when reality approached.

                     When all the metaphors are spent, when all the oil is burned, when all the lives are lost to perpetuate a life-style that is not only business laissez-faire but reality laissez-faire, there will be nothing to show.

                                                

 

THE BILL

                        Roll # 608 Bill Passed

(283 - 133)

Representative Kingston voted NO

Read statements Representative Kingston made in this general time period.

Highlights:

- Limits off-shore trading by prohibiting foreign boards of trade from providing their members in the U.S. with direct access to an electronic trading and order matching system in order to settle against the price of one or more contracts dealing with energy or agricultural commodities listed for trading, and provides an exception if the foreign board of trade meets certain specifications including making all information public each day and having authority to prevent or reduce threats of price manipulation and "excessive" speculation (Sec. 4).

- Requires the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to set limits on the number of securities investments that may be held by any person in an effort to prevent "excessive" speculation, deter and prevent market manipulation, squeezes, and corners, ensure sufficient market liquidity for bona-fide hedgers, and ensure that the price discovery function of the underlying market is not disrupted (Sec. 8).

- Requires the CFTC to hire an additional 100 full-time employees with the intent of increasing public transparency of operations in the agriculture and energy markets and to improve enforcement of rules set out in this act (Sec. 10).

- Requires the CFTC to issue a rule defining and classifying index traders and swap dealers in order to set reporting requirements for those entities (Sec. 6).

- Requires routine reporting on at least a monthly basis of over-the-counter trading of agricultural or energy commodities that is interchangeable with trading in accordance with the rules of any board of trade or electronic trading facility, and allows the CFTC to impose position limits if it finds that this trading could cause a severe market disturbance (Sec. 14).

Link to Legislation:

 

 31525 This is America Too

 

                        Run down Norwich Street after work. Trade in suburban exercise, Island work-out, gated conditions, Lexus, Mercedes, and Audi fumes, the roll-over-surf-sound, and green backdrop of the America that funds your ride and calls your shots. Go for the evening run down Norwich, or Newcastle, Albany, or Stonewall Streets, break stride and view the America that you choose not to see, or choose not to know. Venture beyond the crystal glasses of Chardonnay and Chablis, to the tin cans of Colt and Pabst, not verandas lulled by rustling leaves and Atlantic scents, but stoops and steps, leading to dark rooms where the American dream has died.

                     Run past the Tattoo Parlors, Cash-for-Title, Pawn and Promise, Laundromats, Lottery Land, (an American dream at a million-to-one),  plastic chairs with broken slats, abandoned cars on cinder-blocks, stray dogs, broken men, battered women, hungry children, tears, fears, and forgotten. This is an America that hangs on long after the hope is gone. This is the America that doesn’t have a pocket-book, doesn’t have a voice,this is the America that is easily ignored and hardly heard. This is America too.

                     Far removed from marble-lined halls, mahogany chairs, velvet drapes, the sound of a gavel and yea-naying of legislation that echoes through the chambers of a group to-elite and well-heeled to hear the desperation of a voice that no longer knows who to call out for. This is an America that says goodnight on an empty stomach an America that has no color, no affiliation, no lobbyist or legislator, no direct line or indirect chance, this is an America that cries and prays to a God that is not represented in the Halls of Congress for the redacted Bible of the far right, the eradicated Sermon on the Mount that talks of charity, and cause, of aid and assistance has long been removed. Too heavy is the burden to shoulder, too solemn are the thoughts to bear, too true are the words to speak. This is an America that you chose not to know.

                       Bi-weekly for the next 20 months I will write about this America; Congressman Kingston. I will share stories and thoughts; I will portray the America that feels the effects of your actions, not in their pockets books, but in their very being.

Current federal poverty guidelines are delineated by family size. The poverty guideline threshold for a family of three in 2009 is $18,310. To learn more about Poverty Guidelines go to: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/index.shtml . The methodology used to determine these guidelines has not been changed since they were developed in the 1950’s. These guidelines were never meant to be the official measure of poverty but became just that in the late 1960’s. In the 50’s families spent about a 1/3 of their income on food, there were typically no childcare costs and families spent far less on housing. Some economists believe that if we changed the methodology to reflect current expenditures - many more people would be considered poor.

                                                                                             

  

                   This series of articles was started April Fools Day 2010; to reveal Congressman Kingston's voting history and how it affects District 1 Georgia. Congressional District 1 is an area that covers 59 thousand plus square miles, 25 counties and approximately 630 thousand people, an area as diverse in landscape as it is in its electorate, from the Golden Isles to the Okefenokee Swamp, from the coastal shore to forest, an area never lacking in beauty or hospitality, an area as unique as it is typical, an American portrait.

I look forward to this project, and thank you for inviting me to be a part of your reading experience.

Sincerely,

Charles Hill

 

                   VOTED NO

         ...How can we expect transparency from Wall Street, when the minutes from the meeting between the leadership of the Republican Party and the very people we are trying to reform have a private sit-down?...

     Bill passed (385-39) Roll number 341       

     Bill failed (200-220) Roll number 80

 (This is now moot; the recently passed Health Care bill addressed this issue. But again Jack said no to that as well.)

...If you are unable, or perhaps unwilling to treat the President we elected with respect, and represent those that elected you with dignity, perhaps it is time to say no to another term, and seek employ elsewhere...

                                        

...Say no to Iraq. Say no to Saudi Arabia. Say no to Iran. Say no to those that want to hurt us and yes to those that want to help us... you continue to help those that want to harm, and hurt those that want to help...it is clearly your action, and that’s unfortunate, unproductive, and unsustainable...

...Has the safety of your constituents taken a back seat to your ideological position? Has the American Public become just another pawn in the political game?..

  Bill passed (307-114) Roll number 784  

 HR4865 Social Security Benefits Tax Relief Bill H. Amdt. 1041 

...a vote of no, is a vote for a tax increase, a tax increase on seniors, on those that live on a fixed income, on those least likely to afford it. A tax on Grandma.Remember when this vote was taken the Republicans controlled both houses as well as the White House, a trifecta of ignorance, insensitivity, and ineptness. Bravo boy’s you cut the taxes for the megabuckers those making over a million, those who indeed can most afford it, and taxed those who could not...

you forget that it is not about abortion, it is about choice. That by using the disingenuous nomenclature that those that are pro-choice are pro-abortion is as misleading as a compass in a house of magnets....

...The thrust of this bill, is to make the market more transparent, to allow people to see what is going on, to put some sense of accountability into the marketplace, no one is calling for an end to Capitalism, or free-market, they are calling for openness, and regulation....

Voted NO 

...I have to wonder where you stand, because to listen to you now, you're all against Wall Street and excessive pay, especially with tax-payer money, but here was a bill that helped the companies keep working people employed and limited the compensation that the executives received and you voted No...

  Bill passed (237-170). Roll number 690.

...We want soldiers, we want warriors, we want Patriotic Americans, and we want people to risk their lives to protect the freedoms of America, but not their rights if they are gay...

   HR 6 ENERGY ACT 2007

                         Voted NO

...This takes us back to the beginning, that this is how the thought process of the Republican mind works,

...To think that the public (voter) needs not know which side the political (representative) toast is buttered on is a smoke and mirrors act that has Bernie Madoff shaking his head. To be bold enough to tell the American people that we have no business knowing who calls the shots is nothing less than taxation without representation....

 

 

   Bill passed (253-171) Roll number 719

 

   HR 5749 Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008

 

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #5

...Why would our Congressman vote yes for an amendment that allows for the write off of $25,000.00 on a Hummer, but NO on a voucher of $3,500.00 for a Ford Focus...

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #6

... you are a man of the people, the question begs; which people; those that are unemployed, and cut off from unemployment or those who take government funded bonuses....

 Bill passed (328-93) Roll number 143

 

 ...It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would vote against this bill; unless of course there was money coming in from the NRA, I guess you can put a price on life.

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #8

...How does an individual, let alone a representative of the people (regardless of gender) justify voting NO on a bill that would make it a crime to pay people different based on their gender...

 Bill passed (256-163) Roll number 8

 

 YOU DON’T KNOW JACK #9

...Working underground is a dangerous occupation and the worker’s are aware of that each and every day, each and every moment, as are their families....

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #10

 ...Are you a strict Constitutionalists, (as Tea-people swear they are) and believe it is the Military’s job to protect the citizens, or do you think we should leave that to private enterprise...Or,. if Obama says yes you say NO, it’s easy that...... 

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #11

...So, do you vote against this bill because you want to satisfy a base that holds the commission of crime and hate in high regard, is that the group you’re trying to appease?..

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #12

...no consequences to the safety of our food? Is this position the one that best serves the people? Other than the owners and operators of these facilities, who in the world would benefit from voting against this bill? ..

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #13

...Reduces the marriage tax, increases tax credit for families with 3 or more children. (Really? NO on pro-family.) Increases the HOPE Scholarship tax credit, (NO. On pro-education, pro-Georgia.)...

 

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #14

...We can not get people to act fairly, but we can make it illegal for them to act monstrously. It is indeed the very definition of Civilization...

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #15

... You voted against it. You voted against a program that helps insure children. Please Mr. Kingston it is bad enough that you would vote against this, it’s far worse that you lie about it....

   Bill passed (289-139) Roll number 16

 

...Basically we want the institutions to abide by the same standards we the people have to. It seems you support laws that govern people, just not business, that personal responsibility is non-applicable to business or big donors. Huh!...

 

...Here is the irony, you believe that those at the very top...... will spread the benefits down the economic ladder. ...Mr. Kingston the unemployed are not criminals, they are not lazy, they are not looking for a hand-out, they just want to get by and find a job....

 Bill passed (289-112)  Roll number 211

 *This bill is so recent that not all the language has been posted

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #18

...The obvious question here is why? Is this about spending, is this about oversight;... Is it more important to come home and say I voted against a bill that increased spending,than to say I kept you safe?...

 YOU DON’T KNOWJACK #19

                       Voted NO

....Ironic isn’t it that an individual such as yourself, touts the party line of individual responsibility does not want to be subjected to the same scrutiny that you ask of others. If (especially now) with so much distrust of elected officials you would think that an elected official would jump at the chance to show the American people that everything is above board....

            

...Programs like these help communities, neighborhoods, schools and people at the most fundamental level. We cannot measure the effectiveness of a program like this by the election calendar, things such as education, and growth based initiatives are investments, which must be measured by a generation...

...There were provisions in this bill, which provided unemployment benefits; that appropriated money for the construction of Military Hospitals, (Health and Jobs...no and no). My guess is that you voted no, because you were told to, or because there is a tax increase of 0.47% on individuals earning more then $500,000.00 or couples earning more then 1,000,000.00 a year. I suppose in Sarahspeak, it’s ‘Thanks but no thanks’ to the vets...

 

...We must forever be vigilant in the guardianship of our planet. These are things that can only be done by the government... Can only be accomplished by the Nation, not the State. True there are fifty States, but there is but one America; and as there are many Countries, there is but one earth, and these are the times that call for not just National awareness, and National action, but Global awareness and Global action, and we The United States, need to flex our superpower strength and lead the way...

Bill passed (257-166) Roll number 649   

Charlie Hill started with the Carter campaign 1976. Worked for Gore, Clinton, Kerry and Obama campaigns.  Have always taken in interest in politics and the evolution of the body politic.

 

" When people think, Democrats get elected" Bill Clinton

                         

                       "It's never too late to have a happy childhood" Tom Robbins

                          

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

-Barack Obama