TWIT #5 - This Week In Thaddeus

In this week's edition of TWIT, once again we find our dear Congressman siding with President Bush and the insurance companies over working class children. On Wednesday, the House fell 15 votes short of overriding the President's veto of HR 3963 - the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The US Census 2006 American Community Survey estimates that 5.7% of households with children in the 11th District are living below the poverty line. That's over 5,000 families. There are nearly three times as many families in the 11th District earning less than $35,000 as there are making over $200,000. There are just as many families who have needed food stamp assistance in the last 12 months as there are making over $200,000. Thaddeus McCotter places the interests of those rich few above the interests of parents struggling to make ends meet, and continues to allow 16% of Americans to go without health insurance.

Facts from the National Coalition on Health Care:

• Nearly 15% of workers have no employer-sponsored health care plan.
• Nearly 40% of the uninsured live in households earning over $50,000.
• Employees' share of health costs have risen 143% during the Bush administration.
• The percentage of people with employment-based coverage has dropped to less than 60%.

The old Republican talking point that having a good job gets you health insurance is a lie. People making good money still cannot afford to insure their families. Something has to be done, and Thaddeus McCotter refuses to act. He thinks it's funny, as you can see in the video posted at the top of this site.

McCotter DID find time, however, to vote to name two Post Offices, a Federal building in Washington, and to congratulate LSU for winning the NCAA football championship.

Fred, we hardly knew ye

The McCotter Monitor extends its deepest sympathies to Rep. McCotter, in light of the decision by Fred Thompson to put an end to his presidential campaign. Back in June, Mr. McCotter threw the mighty weight of his personal endorsement behind the campaign of the former Senator. Said McCotter:

“I think he provides the best opportunity in the Republican Party to put forward the stature and policies [needed] to end the perception of societal chaos in the United States,” said McCotter. “Fred Thompson is a mainstream conservative to put America on the right track.”

One wonders which of these great policies McCotter agrees with most:

• We're not afraid of globalization. It works to our benefit. Free trade and market economies have done more for freedom and prosperity than a central planner could ever dream and we're the world's best example of that. - Fred Thompson, June 2007
• Voted to permit permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam and China - 2000 & 2001
• Voted NO on background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
• Voted NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations. (May 1999)
• Voted YES on loosening license & background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
• Voted YES on killing an increase in the minimum wage. (Nov 1999)
• Voted NO on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001)
• I would do essentially what the president's doing in Iraq. (Jun 2007)

Once seen polling as high as 2nd place at 23%, Thompson was languishing around 10% in national polls. Thompson finished 3rd in Iowa and South Carolina, but a dismal 5th place showing here in Michigan - 6th in Oakland County, actually - makes one wonder if Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Thompson really know what's best for the people of Michigan.

This (and last) Week In Thaddeus, #3 & 4

Turns out it's tough to start writing a weekly update on a Congressman during a winter recess...nevertheless, Congress reconvened last week, and here are some of the things Rep. McCotter voted on:

January 16th - voted NO no H Res 918, which was in consideration of HR 2768 - The Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2007 (MINER Act) - a bill which would establish improved mandatory standards for miner safety. From the independent Congressional Budget Office:

The Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2007, H.R. 2768 would require operators of mineral and non-mineral mines to increase worker safety measures and improve emergency preparedness. It would require the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to issue new regulations on a variety of mine safety issues, including underground refuges, mine ventilation, and communication systems. H.R. 2768 also would temporarily suspend limits on the number of mine inspectors employed by MSHA, and would call for an increase in mine inspection activities. In addition, the bill would require the agency to maintain and publish detailed maps of active and abandoned mines in the United States. The bill would also adjust the minimum and maximum civil penalties that MSHA may levy on mine operators. Enacting H.R. 2768 would not affect direct spending.

In the last 12 years, nearly 900 Americans have died in mining accidents, according to the US Department of Labor. Republicans apparently think that's fine. After amendments were made, and Republicans attempted to send this bill back to committees, the bill was passed, 214-199, and the Michigan delegation voted along party lines.

Later that day, Congress voted to appropriate $641 BILLION in Defense spending. Rep. John Conyers was the only Michigander to vote NO. But hey, at least there was a provision in the bill to require the DoD to use renewable energy!

January 17th - Rep. McCotter made a rare trip across the aisle (Thad McCotter has voted with a majority of his Republican colleagues 90.1% of the time during the current Congress.) to help pass HR 3524, which renews HOPE VI programs for public housing. McCotter did so, however, only after voting with his Republican comrades for an amendment that would have continued Bush administration policy to issue demolition-only grants, rather than the eventually-passed one-to-one replacement funding. But let's give credit where credit may be due, and celebrate the passage of some decent legislation. Too bad for Thad that it took a Democratic majority to get this bill through, as opposed to previous versions that died in committee. The Bush administration has been trying to kill the program for 5 years running.

T.W.I.T. #2 (This Week In Thaddeus)

Seeing as how the US House of Representatives has been on recess since December 19th, this week's edition of T.W.I.T. is going to be pretty short:

• On January 4th, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee on which Rep. McCotter sits, issued this statement regarding disappointing unemployment and job data for December:

  “Today’s employment numbers unfortunately confirm that the weakness in the economy is getting worse. These numbers are deeply troubling in themselves because it means more men and women are unemployed in a system with an inadequate social safety net. Additionally, these numbers are a cause of great concern for the economy as a whole and what started out as a financial problem is now spreading to other sectors of the economy. Today’s job numbers should be a wake up call that a public policy response is needed to help the economy recover more quickly and to help average Americans deal with any downturn.”

  Reuters reports that unemployment nationally is at a two-year high of over 5%, but nowhere could I find anything recent from Rep. McCotter on the subject...

  Your search - mccotter unemployment - did not match any documents.
  Your search - mccotter jobs - did not match any articles between Jan 1, 2008 and today.
  Suggestions:Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
  Try different keywords.
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  Try fewer keywords.

• One thing this blog CAN agree with Thaddeus McCotter on is the danger of Communist China. This week it was reported that a US Government panel has asked to extend its review of a proposed acquisition of the networking company 3Com. The proposal by Bain Capital - founded by Mitt Romney - includes a partnership which would give a Chinese firm a 16% stake in the company.
  

  ...U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter, a Michigan Republican, has called on CFIUS to reject the deal. Huawei's take in 3Com, which markets intrusion detection systems, would "gravely compromise" U.S. national security, he said in a House floor speech in October.

  The U.S. Department of Defense uses 3Com intrusion detection products, and Chinese hackers have targeted the agency, McCotter said. "Given this and other instances of communist China's persistent cyber warfare against us, approving this sale would be an abject abdication of CIFUS' duty to protect America's vital defense technologies from enemy acquisition," he said.

• This blog does NOT, however, feel that the appropriate method of action to solve our nation's problems as they relate to China is to introduce this kind of legislation:

  WASHINGTON D.C. - Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (MI), Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, today denounced Communist China’s ban on Bibles during the 2008 Olympics. He introduced a Congressional Resolution condemning the Communist government attack on Christianity and all religions.

  It is this sort of pandering, time-wasting uselessness that causes the American public to lose faith in its government. We get it, Thad, you're a Christian. When it's convenient, that is. The next time a bill comes up to expand health care coverage to American children, remember these words:

  On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"

  And let's not forget what you said when Catholics United -

  a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. We accomplish this mission through online advocacy and educational activities.

  - confronted you with the SCHIP issue:

  Catholics United...is not a Catholic Church sanctioned organization; it is a Leftist political front group. No one should be fooled when this devil cites Scripture for his own purpose.

  Read his own words here in the National Review.
  

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