Meet the Political Lindy's

The Hamilton Journal-Herald has a fun story about a Butler County family that is heavily involved in politics. Check it out here.

Boehner Column: "Congress’ No-Energy Bill Could Cost Jobs, Will Raise Energy Prices"

Congress’ No-Energy Bill Could Cost Jobs, Will Raise Energy Prices

It should come as no surprise that Congress has, once again, made your life more difficult. The U.S. House recently passed an energy bill that does nothing to lower energy costs – you don’t get a break on your fuel costs; there’s no relief for your high home-heating bills.

The American people want their elected leaders in Washington to address the rising costs of living and the skyrocketing energy costs. But this bill instead will create an energy shortage and kill American jobs, creating a recipe for economic disaster. According to an independent study by CRA International, a business consulting group, the No-Energy Bill would “restrict the supply of energy available to the U.S. economy” and increase costs for a wide array of consumer goods and services. And energy policy analysts have noted that schemes in the bill will actually increase gas prices.

The big question that must be asked is: Who is looking out for consumers? Unfortunately, the answer from Congress is: Not us.

I voted against this bill, and I will continue to vote against bad legislation that will hurt working families. This bill contains zero reforms to help families deal with rising home-heating costs. It doesn’t take a single step toward more production of domestic energy sources. And, as the CRA study noted, it could result in the net loss of 4.9 million American jobs by 2030, a $1,700 decrease in the average American household’s annual purchasing power and a net loss of $1 trillion in U.S. economic output.

By now, you’re wondering what is contained within the more than 1,000 pages of the bill that was written secretly by just a few powerful Congressional representatives and bypassed U.S. House process by not being vetted through the Energy and Commerce Committee.

There is $2 billion in the bill to develop a rail line from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to lower Manhattan. The bill creates “forestry conservation tax credit bonds” that apparently will benefit just one company in the entire country due to the new program’s requirements that land must include at least 40,000 acres and have a “native fish habitat conservation plan approved by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.” The only such “forest” with fish is owned by a timber company in Montana.

As if that’s not bad enough, a “green pork” $3 billion slush fund in the bill could also put your tax dollars toward:

Hybrid snowmobiles in Aspen, Colorado;
A fake rainforest in Iowa;
Replacing police cars in Beverly Hills with Lexus Hybrids;
And copies of Al Gore’s global warming move to give to school children.

If we are serious about solving the energy crisis in America , we must deal with conservation, with alternative fuel sources and with increased domestic production of energy. We must be committed to developing long-term alternatives to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And we must provide incentives for consumers and companies to embrace alternative sources of energy.

Two years ago, the Republican-led Congress passed the Energy Policy Act – the first comprehensive national energy strategy in more than a decade – that called for oil exploration on a very small parcel of the 19 million acres in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge. The benefits of expanding our energy portfolio are not just in reducing prices but increasing opportunities here at home for new family-wage jobs and growing American industries. Ohio is among the largest coal-producing states in the country and we have devoted an enormous amount of resources for research and development. While retaining our position as a national leader on coal, we should seek to become a leader in other energy sectors as well.

Let’s get serious about energy independence. Let’s get serious about what we need to do as a nation to solve this problem for our children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, legislation that kills American jobs and threatens our economy is not the right direction for us to take. I look forward to developing a real energy strategy for our nation and for our working families.

Boehner Hosts First Telephone Townhall

Nearly 600 Constituents Participated; 20,000 Messages Left

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) last night hosted his first Telephone Townhall with nearly 600 constituents from Ohio ’s 8th District.

“My chief responsibility in Congress is representing my neighbors in Ohio ’s 8th District, and the best way for me to be effective in doing that is to talk directly with them about the issues they care about most,” Boehner said. “Advances in technology allow me to be here in Washington waiting to vote while speaking with a large number of constituents to gauge their priorities. We had a frank conversation about the important issues that impact the residents of the 8th District, and I appreciate the honest feedback they provided to me.”

Those participating in last night’s call were given the opportunity to question Boehner on any issues they wished to discuss. Questions ranged from concerns about expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, limiting earmarks and winning the Global War on Terror to questions about the Medicare Drug Prescription Benefit, simplifying the U.S. tax code and manufacturing jobs being outsourced overseas. At the end of the call, participants could choose to record a question and/or comment; Boehner will be responding to those 8th District residents who left recordings.

A total of 40,136 households in the 8th District were called last night with an invitation to participate in the call. A message from Boehner directing constituents to either the West Chester or Troy district offices or Boehner’s website was left at 20,265 households. The call lasted 50 minutes, and the average length of time constituents spent on the call was 10 minutes.

“I’m very pleased with our first Telephone Townhall, and I look forward to the next one,” Boehner said.

Boehner Column: "Capitol Flag Controversy Reaffirms We Are One Nation Under God"

The American people have grown weary of endless attempts by politicians and bureaucrats to bar the word God and other references to faith from our public institutions.

The latest evidence that Americans have had enough came this month, when it was revealed that employees of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AoC) have been removing references to God from the official certificates that accompany United States flags that are flown over the Capitol and sent by Members of Congress to their constituents. The revelation sparked a massive public outcry.

Since 1937 when the flag program began, people have been able to request to have an American flag flown over the Capitol in honor of loved ones, special events, honored colleagues, fallen soldiers, community achievements and other special people or occasions. The flag is typically paired with a certificate to commemorate the occasion or person for whom the flag was flown. Often, the messages mention God or reference faith in some way. This proud and time-honored tradition has stood for generations.

Like millions of other Americans, I was troubled to learn that the new management in the U.S. House of Representatives had quietly decided to change the practice. I am grateful for the actions of Dayton-area Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH) who spoke out after learning that the word “God” was omitted from a certificate requested by a young Eagle Scout in his district seeking to honor his grandfather.

Shortly after learning of this situation from Rep. Turner, the senior Republican on the House Administration Committee, which oversees day-to-day functions of the U.S. House, voiced similar concerns to the Architect’s office. I followed suit by sending a letter to the Speaker of the House, who oversees the Architect’s office, asking her to immediately restore the traditional flag procedures that allow for religious expression on the certificates.

I wrote, "As Speaker, you have the authority to instruct the Acting Architect to disregard the written policy and restore the longstanding practices that have been the tradition of the House for generations… As Speaker, you have the authority – and the opportunity – to do the right thing… This policy does not reflect the will of the American people.”

The morning after I sent my letter, I was pleased to hear from the Speaker that she had decided to instruct the Architect’s office to reinstate those time-honored traditions allowing for religious expression on the flag certificates.

To remove any questions regarding flag procedures, Rep. Turner has announced that he will offer legislation to permanently allow references to God and expressions of faith on flag certificates. I support the legislation and believe it is an appropriate way to solidify the Speaker's decision.

It's unfortunate that this controversy had to take place, and indeed, the battle to restore the traditional practice in full may not be over yet. I have made clear that I will accept nothing less than the full restoration of this tradition. Nonetheless, the massive public outcry over the policy banning the word God from flag certificates has provided reassuring evidence that most Americans still believe passionately that we are One Nation Under God -- and the procedures of the United States Congress should continue to reflect it.

Boehner Column: "Higher Taxes, Zero Accountability Won’t Cure Washington’s Spending Addiction"

President Ronald Reagan famously said, “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.”

Regrettably, Washington’s spending habits have only gotten worse since President Reagan uttered those words and while the Republican-led Congress lowered taxes for working families, married couples (and married couples with children) and small businesses, the new majority in the U.S. House is doing its best to erase our economic success by raising taxes.

Last month, 110,000 jobs were created, and the Department of Labor revised its August jobs report to note the creation of 89,000 jobs. This marks 49 consecutive months of job creation in the U.S. , which is the longest uninterrupted period of job growth on record for our nation. Still, too many American families continue to struggle with the rising cost of living in the United States , especially as the price of energy, home mortgages, and consumer goods continue to increase and eat away at the family budget every month.

The anxieties American families face are deepened every time another tax increase is proposed – in part because we don’t have full accountability and transparency in how Congress spends your tax dollars. Studies show Americans believe about 40 cents of every tax dollar sent to Washington is wasted. They also show an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that lawmakers who request federal funding for projects in their districts (known as an “earmark”) should publicly put their name to that project and be willing to defend it. I believe that if a politician isn’t willing to put his or her name publicly behind a project, the American people shouldn’t have to pay for it.

But its business as usual in Congress where these earmarks are disclosed in some bills – not all – and even then, the disclosure is so murky you can’t pull up a comprehensive list of earmarks and the lawmakers requesting them. Recently, when a powerful Member of Congress was asked why this was so difficult, he responded that it was too bad people would have to work to connect the projects with their sponsors. This is exactly the kind of attitude we need to do-away with in Washington .

Another attitude we need to do-away with is, again in the words of former President Reagan, “If it moves, tax it.”

In the late 1990s, the Republican Congress enacted a ban on Internet taxes that has allowed the American people to capitalize on its growth. Since then, the Internet has driven economic growth and prosperity in ways we never could have imagined. But this tax moratorium will expire in just a few weeks and so far, there’s been no action by the majority in either the U.S. House or Senate to renew the ban or even eliminate e-taxes permanently. That’s sad proof of Mr. Reagan’s words.

Here is a list of just some of the tax increases that have been proposed since January in the U.S. House, as documented recently by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Reinstating the “marriage penalty” income tax that forced middle-class married couples filing jointly to pay more taxes than if they filed separately;

Cutting the per-child tax credit from $1,000 to $500;

Reinstating the Death Tax, which is scheduled to meet its own demise in 2009 but will resurrect two years later unless Congress makes this tax’s death permanent;

Raising federal cigarette taxes by 156 percent, to $1 per pack;

Raising cigar taxes from a 20.7 percent tax on wholesale prices with a 5-cent cap to a 53 percent rate with a $3 cap;

Increasing the federal gasoline tax anywhere from 5 cents to 50 cents per gallon;

Eliminating the interest deduction for home equity loans;

Creating a $50 per ton tax on carbon to be assessed on coal, petroleum products and natural gas to create a fund to combat global warming;

The most recent proposal is a war surtax that will be levied on every working American, purportedly to pay for the war. What this really is, though, is a backdoor proposal to cut off funding for our troops bravely serving in Iraq by forcing an unpopular tax increase onto hard-working American families. If this attempt to pull the plug on troop funding succeeds, there will be a stampede by free-spending lawmakers looking to grab those dollars for pork-barrel projects – and unless we enact full accountability and transparency for earmarks, you won’t know how your tax dollars are being spent.

Right now, I am leading an effort to require public disclosure for all earmarks and to make sure we can openly debate any earmark on the House Floor. I don’t personally use earmarks because I don’t view the federal Treasury as an open checkbook for Washington lawmakers, and I will continue fighting to make sure that you know how we’re spending your hard-earned dollars.

Family Drug Court Receives Grant

It is a program designed to bring drug-addicted parents back together with their children after treatment. And it got a major boost in funding after having to scrape from wherever it could. Butler County's Family Drug Court received a 2.5 million dollar federal grant which will be split out ($500,000/year) over five years.

The Enquirer has more...

Since June 2006, existing staff from various agencies have carved out time to serve on a “treatment team” that coordinates drug treatment, counseling, parenting classes and weekly court visits – much more intensive work than on other cases. “The goal is to reunify the children with their parents who are sober and clean,” said Ron Craft, the court’s judge.

About a dozen parents of 23 total children are enrolled. Because of the new funding, the program might be able to double the number of people served, Craft said.

“This is major,” Butler County Commissioner Chuck Furmon said Thursday. “Two-and-a-half million dollars is really going to make this program go.”

It is a good progam doing good things.

Nenni Announces for 53rd District

From the Oxford Press:

MIDDLETOWN — Former two-term Middletown City Commissioner and local businessman Paul Nenni announced Thursday that he'll be seeking the Republican nomination for the 53rd Ohio House seat.

Nenni, a certified public accountant, will be seeking the seat currently held by four-term state Rep. Shawn Webster of Hanover Twp., who will be barred from seeking re-election due to term limits.

Nenni said he has spent the time focusing on his family and business since leaving the city commission in 1999.

Now that his two daughters are older, Nenni said he has "a lot of free time now."

"I have a desire to do it plus the availability to be in Columbus, three, four or five days a week," he said.

Nenni believes his 34 years of business experience, his accounting background and his patriotism from his Marine Corps service makes him a good, honest and caring politician for the county he lives in.

I had been hearing that there was going to be a candidate announcement out of the 53rd, and I am pretty sure that this is it...

He gets my support with this comment:

"We need new blood in Columbus," Nenni said. "We need people who can hit the ground running and to get the job done."

Couldn't have said it better myself...