Archive for August, 2009

…Many to Clients of Daughters Lobbying Firm

by Michael “Mike” Yost
Republican Candidate, 3rd Congressional District of Florida

The latest numbers on “pork” spending, or earmarks, for Representative Corrine Brown have been released and the numbers further indicate her willingness to “bring home the bacon” on the backs of hard working taxpayers. Her latest round of $54 Million include money to many projects who had hired Virginia lobbying firm Alcalde & Fay, which employs her daughter, Shantrel Brown Fields.

Some of the projects that Alcalde & Fay managed to bring home the “pork” by Rep. Brown include:

1. $8 million to the Jacksonville Port Authority for dredging and other maintenance projects. The port authority paid $40,000 to Alcalde & Fay this year. Additionally, Rep. Brown has received campaign contributions from both Princess Cruises and Tours, a Carnival Company, and the Cruise Line International Association, primarily funded by Carnival employees as well. Carnival has been trying to build a cruise terminal in the Jacksonville Port.
2. $800,000 earmark to Lake County for an emergency operations center. Alcalde & Fay was paid another $40,000 by Lake County.
3. $500,000 for Edward Waters College, a former Alcalde & Fay client.

According to the Orlando-Sentinel (August 30th, 2009 edition):

Neither the firm nor Brown’s daughter returned calls. Fields is not listed as a lobbyist for the Jacksonville Port Authority or Lake County, but she did represent Edward Waters College in 2006, records show.

Rep. Brown’s only comment:

“I have not sought money for any project that was not requested by a state or local governmental entity, service provider or business in my district or the state of Florida. I am fully confident that each of the projects will provide critically needed services and create jobs.”

There is at least, questions of impropriety regarding these earmarks. As a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Brown didn’t see any “problem” with the earmarks in spite of the fact her daughter is employed by the very lobbying firm who managed to obtain these requests. Once again, Rep. Brown and her daughter appear to be using the power of the office as they did in 1998. In that issue,  Shantrel Brown Fields had received a $50,000 Lexus LS 400 automobile as a gift from an agent of a Gambian millionaire named Foutanga Sissoko, a friend of Rep. Brown.

According to Wikipedia:

“[Sissoko] had been imprisoned in Miami after pleading guilty to charges of bribing a customs officer. Brown had worked to secure his release, pressuring U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to deport Sissoko back to his homeland as an alternative to continued incarceration. The [Congressional Accountability] Project held this violated the House gift rule, but Brown denied she had acted improperly. The congressional subcommittee investigating Brown found insufficient evidence to issue a Statement of Alleged Violation, but said she had acted with poor judgment in connection with Sissoko.”

Once again, rather than go through the budgetary process and obtain funding with ALL members of committees and the full House voting on these appropriations, Rep. Brown uses the discretionary “earmark” and further indicates her unwillingness to reduce any of the Federal Deficit Spending that is causing our taxpayers outrage. Example after example of lawmakers using the earmark process, all under the guise of “creating jobs” no longer flies with many Americans when the Debt of this nation is already nearing the $12 Trillion dollar mark.

One of my first priorities when elected to Congress will be to reduce the level of spending and to make sure that the proper budgetary channels are used to bring money to our State. Rep. Brown’s earmarks totally bypass this process and further add to the $9 Trillion of deficits projected over the next 10 years.  These deficits will further add to the nearly $12 Trillion in Debt that is totally unsustainable for our future generations. Additionally, these debt/deficit levels will spur inflation that easily could reach the double digit level in the next 9-18 months.

Congress must eliminate these spending sprees and bring our country back to the foundational, common sense, budgetary management that will bring this nation the  industries and businesses back to our country where real jobs are provided. The goal of government during these economic hard times must be one of restraint and finding ways to reduce the size of government, not further expand it with earmarks on legislation for the purpose of “bringing home the bacon”, and not one of keeping one’s daughter employed by the lobbyists who are responsible for obtaining that “pork”.

“Corrine Delivers” alright- delivers more government largess on the backs of taxpayers we can ill afford.

Please consider making a contribution to my campaign and help me return Fiscal sanity and Responsible government BACK to WE THE PEOPLE of this nation. Help me defeat Rep. Corrine Brown.

With the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, there is little doubt that Democrats will proceed forward with an even greater desire to pass Healthcare Legislation immediately. As a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd District of Florida, I am concerned that there is now a new reason to press forward with H.R. 3200 or any of the proposals from the Senate. Sen. Kennedy’s death will be nothing but a mere distraction from the real, honest debate; reform that works for all American’s. There is little doubt that House and Senate Democrats will attempt to use his death as a means to use healthcare reform, with a public “option” as an honorarium to his legacy.

Republicans need to resolve to not be left out of this debate and return to their roots of Conservative principles-smaller government, less spending, and lower taxes. Otherwise, the people of our country will see a Government option that will cost countless millions of Americans loss of their present coverage, potentially loss of their jobs, and have nothing left as a choice but the government program- and most likely at taxpayer’s expense for their coverage. Our seniors will find that their Medicare will be cut even further and the real prospect of rationing is likely.

Cost estimates for this legislation by the OBM has been anywhere from $1 trillion upwards of $1.6 trillion over a 10 year period. Currently we are experiencing a $1.9 trillion annual deficit and the national debt at nearly $12 trillion and rising. Adding this additional expenditure to our budget will further drive the debt upward and leave the “government option” with no choice but to cut benefits and raise taxes to pay for this plan. Neither is acceptable to most of the American people and fails to meet the President’s goal of “reducing costs”.

There is no question that the average American agrees there needs to be some “health care reform” in order to make the costs of our system more affordable. These need to focus on 3 basic areas to accomplish that goal:

1. Tort Reform. This one aspect alone has the potential to reduce costs by 20%.
2. Health Savings Accounts- available to all and not dependent on an Employer sponsored program to participate along with the tax savings benefits.
3. Eliminate the “state line” aspect of Health Insurance purchases. Anyone can shop in any state for the best plan that is affordable. This brings competition into play much better.

There are other areas of real reform as well, but these 3 aspects alone will reduce healthcare costs by no less than 25-30%. I can totally agree with the President that we must determine to reduce the costs or the system becomes unsustainable. However, as a Conservative, expansion of more government into our lives and our pocketbooks is not the answer when the alternatives above will accomplish the same goal without another $1 trillion dollars of spending. Republicans need to press forward with these 3 objectives and use every legislative means necessary to frame the debate away from a public option that will fail to meet the Presidents goals. To allow Democrats to “leave a legacy” to Sen. Kennedy with a very bad bill is not going to resolve the healthcare costs, but only be self-serving in avoiding real debate.

I believe most Americans are scared- of the massive debt being piled on our children, the policies of Washington that will further make even more people dependent on government, and a tax structure that punishes our wallets and our business and industry. Unless “WE THE PEOPLE” stand for making government work for ALL people and return to our Constitutional Foundation, we may wake up in a couple of years to no country at all. I asked myself “who will stand up for US?”, and I didn’t see any prospects who understood what it was like to live, work, and survive in this economic situation.

I am running for Congress to bring Common Sense and real solutions that will work as they do in our everyday lives. We MUST bring government spending under control and not continue to expand the role of government, much less take on another $1- 1.6 TRILLION of new spending for healthcare “reform” that is not reform, but another government program on the backs of working people.

The strength of our nation lies NOT in our government, but in the resourcefulness of its people. Americans are just that- the most resourceful on earth. Let’s get government out of our way and WE THE PEOPLE can solve our own problems. It is time for us to take a stand and “Let’s Take it Back…” in 2010. Let’s bring Conservative principles BACK to the Republican Party and with a new leadership that will work for ALL Americans.

Not since 1941 have manufacturing jobs been at this low a level. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are currently 11.8 million manufacturing jobs in this country. This is down from the peak of 1979 at nearly 19.6 million jobs in the manufacturing sector. Our manufacturing sectors are still shedding jobs and cutting production, or even worse, moviing entire operations overseas.

Now, based again on the BLS, manufacturing jobs represent LESS than 9% of the total workforce. That too is down from a peak of 38.75% in 1943. If you follow the nations emergence from the Great Depression, you discover that manufacturing jobs INCREASED and our GDP grew exponentially. It WAS NOT the massive debt being placed on our nation during that time that caused recovery, it was private industry gearing up and making the necessary goods needed to win a war- tanks, planes, trucks, clothing, arms and ammunition, and other needed supplies to win WW II. Until the manufacturing sectors went back to work, our nation was NOT going to emerge from the Great Depression.

If you wonder if there is going to be long term economic growth in this nation, you should consider that an economy driven by consumer spending will not result in real economic growth. Basically, there are only 3 ways to insure a solid rise in economic output of any nation-

1. You mine it from the earth
2. You grow it in the earth
3. You manufacture a final product

We as a nation MUST have a regulatory and tax environment that encourages all 3 sectors to grow. Under current tax policies and regulations, more and more of our businesses and industries will move overseas and take several more millions of jobs as they move. Other nations welcome and encourage this movement and will continue to do so until the United States becomes “business and industry friendly”.

As your next Congressman from Florida, I will work endlessly to reduce the taxes on our businesses and reduce the burden of regulations that will cause even more doors to close. Our nation can grow only when we have more and more of those factories moving back to America to bring top paying and quality jobs to our country.