My kind of Congressman

From Patterico comes word of how Justin Amash uses Facebook to communicate with constituents.  And the rest of us as well.

Reposted in full (because it's worth it):

Maybe you already knew about this, but I learned about it for the first time over the holidays, and want to share it with you here. Rep. Justin Amash, a Tea Party fellow from Michigan, explains all his votes on Facebook. Every single one.

Here is an excerpt from Amash’s entry on the Ryan/Murray budget deal:

Instead of real compromise to reform the biggest budget items contributing to our $17 trillion debt—Social Security, military spending, and Medicare—the bill increases federal spending for special interests by tens of billions of dollars and pays for it by raising taxes on millions of Americans. It unwinds the bipartisan agreement from 2011 that capped spending at lower levels, blowing a $45 billion hole in the cap for 2014 and a nearly $20 billion hole for 2015. To help pay for it, you can expect to spend more on airline tickets, and younger military retirees can expect to see smaller cost of living adjustments, among other things.

Here’s another way to think about this budget deal: Imagine that you and your wife have a couple teenage kids and a big spending problem. You love buying stuff for your car, and she loves buying shoes. But you’re headed for bankruptcy, and the kids hope you’ll save up some money to help pay for college. You and your wife promise the kids you’ll compromise with each other. The two of you strike a deal: You won’t cut back on car stuff, and she won’t cut back on shoes (but you both promise that one day you will cut back). You shake hands and tell the kids the good news. Responsible parents, huh? That’s the compromise that happens every time in Washington, and that’s what we got with this budget deal.
It passed 332-94.

OK, that’s a solid explanation of a vote that everybody is familiar with. But what I think is even more interesting are Amash’s explanations of his votes on bills you never heard of. For example:

I voted no on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H R 1204, Aviation Security Stakeholder Participation Act of 2013. The bill permanently codifies in statute an already existing federal advisory committee known as the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC). ASAC, which has been in existence off and on since 1989, has a charter instructing it to “examine areas of civil aviation security and develop recommendations for the improvement of civil aviation security methods, equipment, and procedures.” ASAC has been meeting semiannually since it was last re-established in mid-2011.

ASAC as it currently exists was established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which formalized a process for establishing, operating, overseeing, and terminating advisory committees. Under FACA, advisory committees are intended to be established only when they are deemed essential and are to be terminated when they are no longer carrying out the purpose for which they were established. I see little benefit in permanently establishing this advisory committee in statute when it’s already performing its intended purpose. I support limited government; therefore, I favor allowing these types of federal advisory committees to dissolve when they begin to outlive their usefulness. The bill passed 411-3.

This kind of transparency not only helps fight the power of money in politics, by ensuring that votes have actual reasoning behind them, but it also gives voters a real insight into the day to day business of Congress. What are these bills they are constantly drafting and voting on? If you keep up with Amash’s Facebook page, you’ll know. Not only that, it looks to me like every post has a comment from Amash listing the roll call for the voting on the bill he just explained. For example, here is the vote on the Ryan/Murray budget deal. Want to see how your Congressman voted on a particular bill? Amash makes it easy.

I am going to do my level best to keep up with Amash’s Facebook page. He has explained well over 2000 votes. He says he makes it to every vote and explains every one. And he says he writes every entry. That is a laudable (if time consuming) thing to do. If you’re interested, keep up with Amash at this link: https://www.facebook.com/repjustinamash.

P.S. If you’re a Facebook person, you can always follow Patterico here. I hope to be more active on the Facebook thing if time permits.

That's the kind of open disclosure that we need from 534 more members of Congress.  And this serves his constituents more than just soundbites and "I voted for X".  Of course, he's making the assumption that his constituents are capable of understanding complex issues.  Good that he represents the Grand Rapids area rather than Detroit.

Where are the rest of the Justin Amashes out their in America?  Surely we can find them.  And support them.

Santa - Left or Right?

Many people, and you can count the OC among them, have compared the vast liberal giveaways to Christmas.  We've said that the American people don't want to vote against Santa Claus, in the form of ever increasing federal handouts.  Well, Adam Shaw has his spin on the question of whether Santa is on the right or the left.  Reposted in its entirety:

I’ve been making a list and checking it twice, and although I can’t tell you who’s been naughty or nice, I can say that Santa Claus has all the hallmarks of being a conservative.
Could it be true? Could everyone’s favorite Christmas figure be a right-winger? Well, let’s see the evidence:

1. Did you ever hear Santa wishing someone a “Happy Holidays?” No, for the man in red, it’s always “Merry Christmas” – no matter who it offends.

2. He lives in the North Pole – a tax haven with a zero percent tax rate – hardly a sign of someone who believes in government and wants to pay his “fair share.”

3. Santa’s whole mission is one of private charity. There are no records of the Santa Claus movement being given even $1 in public assistance. Santa epitomizes charity over welfare.

4. He is the sole employer in the area of huge amounts of unskilled elves. Does anyone really believe they are getting minimum wage? They certainly aren’t getting $15 an hour as the unions demand.

5. Speaking of unions, if one calculates the amount of work required at Christmas, there must be some solid all-nighters being pulled by the Santa team. There’s certainly no room for union-allocated breaks and hour limits. Santa’s factory would not meet the approval of the left.

6.Santa is almost single handedly responsible for the surge of consumerism that pounds our culture every year – a trend that benefits big corporations enormously, and something that our liberal friends despise.

7. On the subject of regulation, does the sleigh meet EPA regulations? Its unspecified power source is hardly an approved fuel – yet Santa seems not to care whether it damages the environment or not. Is Santa a global warming ‘denier?’ It sure sounds like it!

8. Santa also operates what would be an enormous factory right near the ice caps. Definitely no climate change concerns here then.

9. Also, flying reindeers must surely be a protected species. Is it ethical to be using them for intense labor lugging around tons of presents across the globe? PETA would surely have a fit, but Santa appears not to have any ethical concerns for Rudolph and his friends.

10. As for the children to whom he delivers gifts, these are no handouts. Kids must earn their gifts via good behavior, promoting a conservative work ethic, and Santa has no problem with snatching gifts away from naughty kids. Punishment is not a naughty word for Claus.

11. The naughty or nice list also shows an objective moral compass. Santa apparently rejects liberal relativism or explaining away bad behavior with pop psychology and ‘culture’ issues.

12. His love of cookies and large stomach shows a blatant disregard for Michelle Obama’s healthy eating program, as it encourages children to believe that eating vast quantities of cookies is perfectly acceptable. If he were a liberal, he’d be asking for broccoli and cranberry juice.

13. Finally, he works with Coca-Cola – one of the biggest corporations on the planet - something that no self-respecting liberal would even dream of doing.

The evidence is clear – Santa is a conservative. But our liberal friends should not worry, just like a good conservative, Santa excludes no-one! Merry Christmas!

 

Is Santa on the Right?

From Patterico comes this gem:

Santa has a job, and he does it in a remarkably efficient manner. He performs a valuable service, delivering presents all across the world in a single night, while facing logistical nightmares that would terrify the average liberal. Here are some other indications that Santa is definitely a conservative.

• He makes a list and checks it twice. Lefties wouldn’t bother re-checking the list, if they could bother to make it at all. Obama would delegate the list-making to Valerie Jarrett and go play a round of golf.

• He cares if you’ve been bad or good. If you’ve been good, you get your presents. If you’ve been bad, you get a lump of coal. He believes in personal responsibility and consequences for bad behavior. What part about any of this sounds leftish to you?

• He has a large workforce, albeit of elves, and knows what it means to make a payroll. You think elves work for free? And I’m told they’re not always that easy to work with. Managing problems like this tends to make one conservative.

• He has chosen to locate his business in a remote and extremely cold location. I hear he made this decision because the North Pole is one of the few places on Earth not under the jurisdiction of a government, meaning Santa is free from laws, taxation, and regulation. This is an indication of rugged individualism. [UPDATE: A reader informs me that Canada recently laid claim to the North Pole, eh?]

I do have to acknowledge two counterarguments. He does take credit for others’ good deeds, which is kind of lefty behavior. And he seems to be quite a fan of the surveillance state — he sees you when you’re sleeping? He knows if you’re awake? Really? — which is a disturbing characteristic that crosses ideological lines, as Bush and Obama both went overboard in that area.

Listen, I’m not saying the guy’s perfect. But look: Reagan signed an amnesty bill. On balance, Santa is pretty danged conservative.

Gotta agree.....though The One is trying to take his place, at least in the giving of gifts department.  Or should we say giving to his favored supporters by taking from the rest of us.

Original post can be found HERE.

Vote early, vote often

First off, let me say that I have been remiss.  I read The Lonely Conservative every day and appreciate both her diligence in finding great stories to post and her own commentary to amplify the posting.  Anyhow, there is an online poll for the top "Political Moms" and though I have been voting, I have not shared news about the poll here on The Old Curmudgeon.  Let me have her tell you directly:

Here’s your daily reminder about the Top 25 Political Moms contest. You may think it’s silly, but it’s important that conservative moms dominate this contest. Here’s why: The top bloggers from the left aren’t your mom’s Democrats. They’re radical progressives. The one in the lead describes herself as “Leftist. Very, very leftist” and has made it her mission to see Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker defeated. I’m sure she has no problem with the vicious way her side has treated Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefish. The website running the contest says they have millions of followers. Do you really want that “very, very leftist” winning and sending the message to millions of moms that her views are mainstream? Don’t you want to do something, no matter how small, to show that there is no conservative war on women?

I’m in second place. I really don’t care if I win, all I care about is that one of the conservative moms wins. We’ve managed to knock another commie mommie out of the top 5. (That one brags about putting her son in pink girls clothing.) If you think we need to take back the culture from the far left, why not take just a few moments to vote for the conservative moms in this contest? You can vote once every twenty four hours, and you can vote for as many of us as you want. We need every single vote we can get, because every time we make headway, the front runner’s vote tally rises accordingly.

So...go to THIS LINK to vote.  Early.  Often.  And don't forget to tell your friends.

LC's entire post can be found HERE.

CPAC

Daniel Hannan delivered a very timely and important speech at CPAC this week.  Though it is long, it's worth the time if you care about America.  Which this Englishman obviously does.



It is getting close to the time when it will be too late.  Remember that in November - and before.

What we are

From the Plumb Bob Blog:

The fact is that conservatives are not “stupid, racist, greedy and unfair.” We’re thoughtful, compassionate, ordinate in our desires, and stand for truth and liberty. It is Progressives who have lost their minds, who represent the worst of seething hatred, avarice, envy, lust, arrogance, self-righteousness, and dishonesty, while pretending to stand for the opposite. The contrast between the Tea Party and #Occupy demonstrates this amply. We’re looking for public champions to say so credibly.

Yes, where are those public champions that we need??