Jack Kingston

In case you missed it, Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel wrote this piece for today’s paper:

Help Wanted
The Democratic Party seeks a wildly optimistic individual to oversee a national jobs-creation program.

Wanted: National Jobs Czar

Employer: The Democratic Party

Job Type: Crisis Management/Complex Mathematics/Mental Health Professional

Start Date: Now. Like, Right Now.

Description: The Democratic Party seeks a wildly optimistic individual to oversee a national jobs-creation program. Jobs can be real, or not, so long as the public thinks the party is “doing something.” The National Jobs Creator will have at his disposal Congress to pass new “jobs legislation” (aka The It-Is-Not-Another-Stimulus Act of 2009).

The NJC will oversee a dynamic team whose side responsibilities include selling this to the public and saving our behinds in next year’s election. This is a potential career status position.

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ABC News just posted a story revealing a Government Accountability Office report which shows continued discrepencies with the White House’s “created or saved” jobs claims.

The report shows that:

• 59,386 jobs were claimed to have been “created or saved” by projects on which no “stimulus” money was spent

• $965,000,000 was spent on 10,000 projects without creating a single job

As we reported yesterday, the White House’s $18 million website says they spent $6,217,770 in seven non-existent congressional districts to create only 1 job.

In case you missed it, the Detroit News featured a great article today.

NOTE:Democrats are revealing that putting the country back to work is a lesser priority than passing their social agenda.

If that weren’t true, they wouldn’t even consider any measure that would raise taxes on job creators.

Higher taxes, particularly on business, always result in fewer jobs. Both the health care and climate change bills will trigger huge tax hikes for every taxpayer.

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Late Saturday night, when Speaker Pelosi wooed just two more votes than she needed for her takeover of health care she did so by allowing an amendment which would prohibit abortion under the plan.  Now that she’s cleared the hurdle, it appears the “Sneaker” Pelosi and her liberal friends are ready to turn back on their agreement.

The Washington Post has the full story:

…But abortion-rights supporters are vowing to strip the amendment out, as the focus turns to the Senate and the conference committee that would resolve differences between the two bills.

Although House liberals voted for the bill with the amendment to keep the process moving forward, Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) said she has collected more than 40 signatures from House Democrats vowing to oppose any final bill that includes the amendment — enough to block passage…

It’s clear the fight isn’t over.  We’ll keep fighting to defend the right to life and to make sure your tax dollars are not used to pay for abortions.

According to a memo written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the Department of Health and Human Services may have violated two prohibitions on federal agencies engaging in lobbying or propaganda campaigns in the spending bill that funded the efforts as well as a criminal statute prohibiting such communications.

Details from the memo can be found on Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s website by clicking here and Roll Call’s got the full story.

Seems strange that HHS would engage in the practice when it prohibited Medicare Advantage providers from communicating with their customers.

This story also sounds mighty familiar to a recent story posted here about the National Endowment for the Arts urging funded artists to create art that advances the President’s political goals.

Yesterday, the Department of Labor reported that unemployment reached a staggering 10.2 percent for the month of October, the highest level in 26 years.  While Americans suffer, Democrats are spending their time trying to force Pelosi’s health care takeover through Congress.  The shocking 10.2 percent unemployment only tells part of the story of the struggles of average Americans that Democrats ignore.  A deeper look at the numbers reveals the true cost of the Democrats’ economic policies, especially for the nation’s most vulnerable people.

15,700,000:  Americans unemployed and looking for work—the highest number ever.  Since the trillion dollar Democrat “stimulus� was passed, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by nearly three million.

190,000:  Individuals whose jobs were eliminated in October.

1,737,000:  People unemployed in October because they have been laid off.

2,804,000:  Jobs lost since Democrats’ “stimulus� was passed in February.

9,284,000: People who are working only part-time because they cannot find full time employment.

2,373,000:  People who want work, but who are not currently looking because of the state of the economy. 

5,594,000:  People unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks—the highest level ever.

1,090,000:  Job seekers that are new entrants to the workforce and have yet to find a job.

26.9:  Average number of weeks job seekers are unemployed after losing their jobs—the highest number since the statistic was first recorded in 1948.

27.6%:  Unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19—the highest level since the statistic was first measured in 1948.

15.7%:  Unemployment rate among African Americans—the highest level since 1985.

13.1%:  Unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos.

17.5%:  Rate of underemployment, accounting for the unemployed and those who are unable to find adequate work.

15.5%:  Unemployment rate among job seekers without a high school degree.

65.1%:  Rate of the U.S. population in the workforce.

Courtesy House Republican Conference

As we noted earlier, Speaker Pelosi’s “public” unveiling ceremony on the steps of the Capitol wasn’t quite so public as one would think.

Republican Whip Eric Cantor aptly points out that conventional wisdom would  say that the “public” unveiling of the public option on the steps of public property would involve public access.  Not so in Washington.

• The bill is 1,990 pages long and contains the word “shallâ€� 3,425 times (read: this is the government telling you to do something).
• There’s a separate 13-page bill to repeal the sustainable growth rate caps on Medicare spending, better known as the “doc fix.â€�  This separate bill will cost more than $200 billion, and is not paid for – breaking Obama’s promise to Congress during his speech.  It also means the health “reformâ€� legislation is more than 2,000 pages long.
• Page 1515 – Federal government now regulating vending machines, to ensure everyone can see the nutrition labels on items in same before purchasing their food.
• The bill omits language in the discussion draft of H.R. 3200 saying that the bureaucracy established to create minimum benefit standards should “ensure that essential benefits coverage does not lead to rationing of health care.â€�  In other words, there’s no clear prohibition on the federal government rationing health care…
• The Indian Health Service reauthorization was added to the back of the health care bill.  This is an issue for pro-life groups because the Democrats have not been able to move this bill for the past three years, as there were the votes in the Energy and Commerce Committee to add an amendment preventing the Indian Health Service from funding abortions.  In other words, it’s another end-run around a vote to ensure federal funds won’t pay for abortion. 

It seems that Speaker Pelosi doesn’t like the “public” option that much.  From The Washington Times:

House Democrats blocked the public from attending the unveiling ceremony of their health-care bill Thursday morning, allowing only pre-approved visitors whose names appeared on lists to enter the event at the West side of the Capitol.

Republican Whip Eric Cantor’s office even got footage of someone being turned away with a Capitol Police officer informing him that he hadn’t been, “authorized by the Speaker’s office.”  To watch the video, click here.

In the first sentence of his first executive order, President Obama stated that “my Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government.�  In November 2006, Speaker Pelosi pledged to lead the “most honest� and “most open� Congress in history.

Despite these promises, Democrats have time and again rammed through costly bills with devastating consequences for America’s families that no member of Congress has read.  For example, the 1,073-page, trillion-dollar stimulus bill was posted online at 10 p.m. the night before it came up for a vote.  A 300-page amendment was tacked on to the 1,200-page national energy tax bill at 3 a.m. the morning it came up for a vote.

It’s just common sense: the American people should be given time to read major bills before they come to a vote.  Previous Congresses, including Republican ones, have failed to live up to this standard.  Now is the time for Congress to change, and House Republicans are committed to leading this unprecedented effort to bring sunlight and transparency to the entire legislative process:

• READ THE BILL. Put all bills online for at least 72 hours before they come to a vote. (H. Res. 554, Reps. John Culberson, R-TX & Brian Baird, D-WA; Discharge Petition by Rep. Greg Walden, R-OR)
• BAN “PHANTOM AMENDMENTS.â€�  Require committees to post bill text online within 24 hours of adoption. (H. Res. 835, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-KS)
• SHOW THE VOTES.  Post Members’ committee votes online within 48 hours. (Rep. Dave Reichert, R-WA)
• OPEN HEALTH CARE NEGOTIATIONS TO THE PUBLIC . Prevent secret deals behind closed doors and ensure a full and open debate.  (H. Res. 847, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-FL)
• BRING SUNLIGHT TO THE RULES COMMITTEE. Allow cameras in the secretive Rules Committee, which decides which bills come to a vote.  (Rep. Charlie Dent, R-PA)

Speaker Pelosi should allow these proposals to be brought to the House floor for an up-or-down vote. Only House Democrats stand between the American people and these common-sense reforms to protect their hard-earned tax dollars.
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 While hosting health care town halls in Adel and Valdosta, Jack got the chance yesterday to see Ashleigh Kenny again.  In case you haven’t read about her yet, liberal blogs launched vicious attacks against Ashleigh after posing in this picture with Jack.

We gave the 21 year old student at Valdosta State University the chance to respond in this post which was picked up by Erick Erickson at RedState.  Jack also weighed in with this note.

Since then, Ashleigh’s gained a lot of attention, appearing on Fox and Friends (twice), speaking at the 9-12 March on Washington, and launching a website, matternow.org

Pictured above, Ashleigh and Jack pose with the T-Shirt seen ’round the world in front of a billboard which was donated to Ashleigh by one of her many fans.

Democrats are attacking conservatives who’ve expressed concerns about the President’s speech today to the nation’s school children.  While they’re crying foul now, Democrats not only publicly decried the speech but demanded the Government Accountability Office conduct an investigation and later called top Administration officials to a lengthy hearing on the issue.  Some other examples:

• The Washington Post reported that day that, “The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props.â€�
• Then-Majority Leader Dick Gephardt said, “The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertisements for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students and the president should be doing more about education than saying, ‘lights, camera, action.’â€�
• Then-Education Committee Chairman William Ford called in then-Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander to a hearing saying, “As the Chairman of the Committee charged with authorization and implementation of education programs, I am very much interested in the justification, rationale for giving the White House scarce education funds to produce a media event.â€�
• Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.) said that if Bush feels obliged to use government funds to hire outside consultants “to make him look good,â€� then he should fire some of the public relations experts on the White House payroll. “Then the president might be more sympathetic to unemployment benefits,â€� Frost said, referring to Bush’s threat to veto legislation to extend benefits.
• Despite the GAO’s investigation determining the speech to be legal, Democratic allies swooped in with the National Education Association saying it, “cannot endorse a president who spends $26,000 of taxpayers’ money on a staged media event.â€�
  

Ashleigh Kenny on Fox and Friends discussing a controversy which started when she presented Jack with a t-shirt that sparked fury among liberal bloggers. Rather than debate the merits of her argument, many chose to attack her personally.

In response to this article in Saturday’s USA Today, Jack penned this letter: 

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Timid or arrogant Democrats who conveniently use the wrath of a few protestors to cancel town meetings should be reminded that these words came from one of their own: Harry Truman.

As a veteran legislator, I’ve hosted countless town meetings including 11 recently on health care.  I was expecting 50-60 people but was astounded that 300-500 showed up and some had to be turned away because of seating capacity and the local fire marshal.

I’m a conservative Republican.  Why are they worried about my vote?  It’s clear people don’t want to take any chances on this one.  Democrats should take note.

Here’s what I’ve found:

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