Posts Tagged ‘economy’

With the release of today’s jobs report, another 263,000 jobs were lost by Americans nationwide. The report does not mention the numbers who have given up on finding a job nor the number of workers who have opted for early retirement due to the bleak jobs outlook for the future.

Instead we get the same tired Democratic rhetoric about how fantastically wonderful this near trillion dollar “stimulus” spending and debt has worked. Michael “Mike” Yost, Conservative candidate for the 3rd Congressional District of Florida commented:

“The American workers aren’t interested in cheap words, they want JOBS! The inability of this Administration and the Democrat controlled Congress to understand that Depression era fiscal policy didn’t work then and won’t work now is astounding. The Great Depression didn’t end until a world war forced the U.S. factories to gear up for military production and to start hiring people. When people had money to spend from the JOBS created, the Depression ended.”

Yost went on to further add:

“With a weakening dollar, government debt approaching $12 Trillion, and more debt being piled on the American taxpayer, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the problem is too much government. The next step in this entire economic mess is inflation and that will further weaken our ability to recover. Results of this Administration’s and Congressional policy are dismal and until they realize the necessity to cut the size and scope of government, our businesses and industries are going to continue the collapse they are experiencing.”

The current Representative, Corrine Brown, seems to think that the problem is in Tallahassee and that the “stimulus” funds haven’t been released. It is painfully obvious that Ms. Brown has no clue what happened to the funds and where they are being spent. Even more painfully obvious is that no amount of government spending and the resulting debt is going to make the economic situation any better for our small businesses and industries. They are being looked upon as nothing more than a source of revenue for government and their destruction is inevitable as profits continue to decline. No one can hire when your outgo is greater than your income and these are simple facts any 1st semester high school economics student could understand.

Support Mike Yost as he brings bold initiatives forward to bring about real tax reform and real government spending reductions that will revive our economy and bring American jobs back to anyone who wants one. Our people are desiring the Liberty to be self-sufficient and responsible for their own families and adding more government spending and the need for more in taxes is not going to solve our issues.

Support Mike in his efforts to bring the REAL change to Washington with accountability to “We the People” of the United States. It’s time to end the waste, corruption, and spending that has caused this crisis and bring real leadership to the 3rd Congressional District of Florida.

…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.

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.