Karen Kwiatkowski: No whining, Mr. Goodlatte!
Good people across the country and in the Sixth Congressional District recently handed Bob Goodlatte a major defeat.
Goodlatte had drafted, introduced, and co-sponsored the now infamous SOPA “Internet blacklist” bill. This lousy legislation contained assaults on the First, Fourth and 14th amendments – and Bob, who read the Constitution as recently as last January on the floor of the House, should have known that.
Instead, members of Congress (mostly Democrats, and Bob), who had accepted millions from Hollywood, the pharmaceutical industry, and the auto parts industry, did what they were paid to do. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: No whining, Mr. Goodlatte!” »
Karen Kwiatkowski: Blackout? Internet blacklist? Blame Bob Goodlatte
SOPA is extremely bad legislation, and it was written and introduced by Bob Goodlatte, in his role as Chairman of the Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet Subcommittee, late last year. SOPA sponsor Lamar Smith, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has taken much of the criticism. But the bill is Bob’s baby.
Bob’s bad bill creates blacklisting, increases bureaucratic power over Internet providers and users, and is technologically misaligned with – and even destructive of – the architecture of the Internet. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: Blackout? Internet blacklist? Blame Bob Goodlatte” »
Karen Kwiatkowski: Agenda 21 is not conservative – will Rep. Goodlatte take note?
On Jan. 14, 2012, the Republican National Committee unanimously voted to expose and condemn the United Nations Agenda 21. This may be a shock to many GOP incumbents in Congress who receive campaign donations, pre-drafted legislation, and “expert” advice from Agenda 21-inspired advocates of centralized and global human management.
The RNC resolution explains Agenda 21 as “a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering and global political control, that was initiated at the [1992] United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED);….” The plan was signed by President George H.W. Bush, and has been supported actively by the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. Agenda 21 has never been endorsed by the U.S. Senate, and is not U.S. law. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: Agenda 21 is not conservative – will Rep. Goodlatte take note?” »
Andy Schmookler: People Power
One of my campaign slogans is “Let’s show how People Power can defeat the Money Power.” The issue of money in politics was the topic of the first piece I wrote that appeared in national media. This was back in the 1970s.
There is hardly a policy issue more central to defining what America will be.
Will we be true to the democratic vision, in which every citizen is entitled to an equal say in determining our destiny as a nation? Or will the inequalities of wealth our economy produces be allowed to corrode that democratic sense of justice, and effectively put our government up for auction? Continue reading “Andy Schmookler: People Power” »
Karen Kwiatkowski: What does Bob Goodlatte have against the Internet?
While we don’t believe 10-term congressman Goodlatte speaks Mandarin, he has a lot in common with the Communists in Beijing, at least when it comes to regulating and controlling the Internet.
Goodlatte is the author of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, a costly regulatory attack on the Internet. It is supposed to reduce copyright infringement – a problem already on the wane due to new software business models, encryption and other technological breakthroughs that America used to be known for.
In reality, SOPA will cause rapid and unnecessary government shutdowns of websites, and drive rights-holders and Internet service providers to do the same, all without due process. If Sixth District voters want a law that violates the First and Fourth Amendments, crushes free speech and small businesses, we should support Bob’s SOPA. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: What does Bob Goodlatte have against the Internet?” »
Karen Kwiatkowski: America First? Not for Mr. Goodlatte!
On Dec. 31st, the U.S. federal debt reached an all time record of $15,222,940,045,451.09. The U.S. debt is now at a Greece-busting 100.3 percent of GDP. $15.2 trillion is more than the annual value of the entire U.S. economy.
Sixth District Virginians can thank Bob Goodlatte for this situation, created by the idiotically titled Budget Control Act of 2011. He voted for it, even as the majority of Americans were adamantly opposed to more unnecessary borrowing. We can also thank Mr. Goodlatte for his lack of interest in serious spending cuts since then.
Bob’s vote to borrow $2.4 trillion more in July created a surprising new process for future debt ceiling increases. Here’s how it works.
The federal debt ceiling may now be raised if one of three things happens: (1) Congress votes but doesn’t adopt a resolution of disapproval, (2) Congress fails to override a veto of a resolution of disapproval, or (3) Congress doesn’t consider a resolution of disapproval within the 15-day window provided in the Budget Control Act. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: America First? Not for Mr. Goodlatte!” »
Andy Schmookler: American Values and the Christmas Season
Holidays offer us a chance to put our usual pursuits aside. But often, also, holidays provide a light to illuminate the meaning of our usual pursuits. So it is with this Christmas season and with our efforts to meet the challenge of the present crisis in America.
Over the generations, the holiday of Christmas has become deeply woven into American culture, expressing both the nature of our country and its ideals. Aside from the commercialization of the holiday, which of course reflects an important part of what America is about, there are also the deep moral values that gain expression in America during the Christmas season. Continue reading “Andy Schmookler: American Values and the Christmas Season” »
Karen Kwiatkowski: Goodlatte finds his inner conservative
Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte has not faced a primary challenger since he was first elected in 1992. Now that a conservative military veteran and farmer has entered the GOP primary race for the Sixth District seat, we are seeing a new and improved kind of Bob Goodlatte.
Goodlatte still defends his pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and E-Parasite legislation, which as written will bring Communist Chinese methods to America’s Internet and promote government-backed website blacklisting.
However, on a brighter note, Goodlatte behaved in a constitutional and responsible manner in two recent House votes. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: Goodlatte finds his inner conservative” »
Former congressional candidate announces run for mayor in Roanoke
After several years of focusing on his family, small-business owner and CFO of Kissito Healthcare, Sam Rasoul, has decided to run for mayor of Roanoke. Raised in the Roanoke Valley, Rasoul would like to contribute more to an area that has blessed him with so much.
“We are putting the campaign together now, and we will be making a formal announcement at the beginning of the year,” said Rasoul, who fell short in a campaign for the Sixth District congressional seat in 2008
Rasoul’s campaign will center on several priorities including job creation through economic development, limiting wasteful spending, and education. A small-business owner, Rasoul believes more can be done to make Roanoke a formidable regional player to attract more jobs. With cuts looming in Richmond and Washington, Rasoul believe his financial background will help him work with other members of city council, and other local entities to maximize our resources to stimulate the region. Continue reading “Former congressional candidate announces run for mayor in Roanoke” »
Balanced budget amendment fails in House vote
A measure proposed by Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte that would set into motion a process to amend the United States Constitution to require that Congress pass a balanced budget fell short today of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
“It is a simple concept – you can’t spend more than you take in,” Goodlatte said in a statement after the vote. “Business owners, individuals and families all across this country understand this concept and live by it in their own lives. They should expect nothing less from the federal government, and yet Congress continues to prove it cannot make the tough decisions on its own. We must rein in the skyrocketing deficit spending that is discouraging investment and threatening to bankrupt our nation.”
The final vote was 261 in favor of the amendment and 165 opposed.
The measure failed in large part due to Democrats voting against it in large numbers.
A similar measure introduced by Goodlatte in 1995 passed the House and fell one vote short of passage in the Senate.
“I remain committed to passing a balanced budget amendment,” Goodllate said. “I appreciate the strong support H.J. Res 2 received from dozens of Democrats, and I look forward to working with them in the future to build even more support for this much-needed institutional reform. It is the only way to ensure that Congress curtails its spending on an annual basis regardless of which party is in control.”
Andy Schmookler: Goodlatte’s balanced-budget amendment folly
Congressman Bob Goodlatte trumpets his Balanced Budget Amendment as his big idea. It’s a bad idea, offered in bad faith.
Rep. Goodlatte’s rules would mean inevitable cuts to Social Security and Medicare –programs seniors rely upon for security and dignity. The funds that have been built up over years in the Social Security Trust Fund, to provide for the retirement of baby boomers would become inaccessible to the program, according to organizations of retired workers and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Goodlatte’s amendment would effectively lock in levels of taxation that shifted the tax burden from the superrich and the corporations onto the backs of middle class families.
His amendment would lead to cuts in programs that benefit average Americans, and lead to increases in taxes at state and local levels.
But isn’t that worth it, if that’s required for Fiscal Responsibility?
No. Not every strategy of financial discipline is smart. President Herbert Hoover’s form of fiscal discipline made the Great Depression worse. Goodlatte’s amendment would take us down the same sorry path.
Modern economics tells us that the smart way for the federal government to be fiscally responsible is to lean against the business cycle — against the ups and downs of boom and bust. That means running a surplus during boom years, and running deficits during bust years, as illustrated by a story from the Bible.
In the Bible’s book of Genesis, Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret two puzzling dreams. In one, seven fat cattle are consumed by seven lean cattle; in the other, full grains are devoured by withered grains.
Joseph interprets the dreams as warning that Egypt will have seven years of bountiful crops, followed by seven years of drought and failed crops. Pharaoh should prepare, Joseph says, by taking a portion of the harvests during the fat years to fill the granaries. Then, during the years when famine is a danger, granaries can be emptied to feed the people.
That’s also wise fiscal policy. During the fat years of robust economic growth, government should tax more and spend less, filling the Treasury and keeping the economy from over-heating. But during lean years – like those we are in now— government should spend more than it takes in so the economy will not starve.
Contrary to what Rep. Goodlatte and other Republicans say, the government should behave the opposite of everyone else. It should save while everyone else lives high. And when bad times lead everyone else to hunker down, sitting on their money, the government should spend. That breaks the vicious cycle of people losing jobs because no one is buying much of anything, which leads to people buying still less.
The problem is not that America is running deficits NOW. The REAL problem is that in the years of economic growth before the financial crisis, when we should have been running surpluses, the Republicans almost DOUBLED the national debt.
The Bush administration inherited budget surpluses from the Democrats, and then, with Vice President Cheney saying “Deficits don’t matter,” these Republicans waged two wars OFF THE BOOKS and instituted an expensive prescription drug benefit without funding it.
Rep. Goodlatte gave his full support to all that. And he supported massive tax cuts for the rich when we should have been filling the granaries to provide for harder times in the future.
Rep. Goodlatte’s pet amendment is not just bad economics but bad faith as well.
If he really cared about closing the deficit, would he insist that revenues, which are at historic lows, play NO ROLE in closing the deficit? Would he be so adamant that those at the very top, whose share of the national wealth has tripled in recent years and whose tax burden has been decreasing, should pay not a cent in additional taxes? Would he have voted for the Ryan budget this year that would shift the cost of health care onto senior citizens in order to fund yet another tax cut for multi-millionaires and billionaires?
Under a false banner of “fiscal responsibility,” Rep. Goodlatte and his fellow Republicans seek to dismantle those aspects of government that serve average Americans.
We don’t need the CRIPPLED government that Rep. Goodlatte’s amendment would give us. We need government that works again FOR THE PEOPLE so that we can achieve together what we cannot accomplish as separate individuals– like preventing the cycle of boom and bust from devastating American lives.
That’s the kind of “more perfect union” our founders had in mind.
Andy Schmookler is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination to run for the Sixth District congressional seat. More on his campaign online at www.AndySchmooklerForCongress.com.
Karen Kwiatkowski: Does Bob Goodlatte regret voting to fund Obamacare?
Posted by afp on February 8, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Dahlkemper is Roman Catholic, and she says she didn’t realize that Obamacare would force “all private insurers, including Catholic charities and hospitals, to provide free coverage of contraception, sterilization procedures, and the “week-after” pill.”
Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte, seeking his 11th term, voted several times to fund Obamacare, most recently last spring. Perhaps, like Democratic Congresswoman Dahlkemper, he didn’t read the bill he was voting to fund. Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski: Does Bob Goodlatte regret voting to fund Obamacare?” »
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