Friday, November 28, 2008

Kerry-Specter High Speed Rail Bill

Initiatives on High-Speed Rail taking place absent John Mica. While John Mica is making pro-forma visits to the Tampa Bay Area nudging local officials to get their mass transit plans ready for federal funding, major initiatives are already in the works......

The press release on the Kerry-Specter high-speed rail bill:
Kerry-Specter Bill Would Create Jobs, Stimulus, Infrastructure Investment
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor Ed Rendell Applaud National High-Speed Rail Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced a bill to create new jobs by updating the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 would transform America’s outdated and underfunded passenger rail system into a world class system.

“At a time when our economy desperately needs a jumpstart, we need an effective national investment that puts Americans back to work,” said Sen. Kerry. “A first-rate rail system would protect our environment, save families time and money, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and help get our economy moving again. The High-Speed Rail for America Act will help fix our crumbling infrastructure system, expand our economy, and match high-tech rail systems across the globe.”

“We must continue to focus our energies on building and maintaining a strong national passenger rail system in order to ease congestion of air and highway corridors connecting high-growth markets, as well as to meet energy and environmental goals,” said Sen. Specter. “The High-Speed Rail for America Act is an investment in our nation’s infrastructure and has the potential to provide tremendous economic opportunities throughout Pennsylvania and the nation.”
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Joe Lieberman (I-CT.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), cosponsored the legislation.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell both voiced their support for the high-speed rail initiative.

“Creating a national high-speed rail network is an ambitious goal, but one that gets more urgent by the day,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Investing in modern infrastructure is vital to the nation’s long-term economic and environmental health - and in the short-term, it would help put more Americans back to work. Many countries in Europe and Asia are investing in high-speed rail, and if our economy is going to remain competitive, we have to start catching up. Greater investment in our railways is a top goal of Building America's Future, the infrastructure coalition that Governors Rendell and Schwarzenegger and I created. I applaud Senator Kerry for tackling the issue head-on, and I strongly support his efforts to create the high-speed rail network our country needs.”

“This long-overdue national investment in high-speed rail would help to stimulate economic recovery while creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced,” said Gov. Rendell, one of the founding co-chairs of the Building America’s Future coalition. “Expanding our nation’s critical rail infrastructure will make our transportation network more efficient, reduce traffic pressure on our already busy interstate highways, and improve the environment.”

The High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 builds upon the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 which reauthorizes Amtrak and authorizes $1.5 billion over a five-year period to finance the construction and equipment for eleven high-speed rail corridors. It provides billions of dollars in both tax-exempt and tax credit bond and provides assistance for rail projects of various speeds. The bill creates the Office of High-Speed passenger rail to oversee the development of high-speed rail and provides a consistent source of funding.

Specifically, the High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 provides $8 billion over a six-year period for tax-exempt bonds which finance high-speed rail projects which reach a speed of at least 110 miles per hour It creates a new category of tax-credit bonds – qualified rail bonds.

There are two types of qualified rail bonds: super high-speed intercity rail facility bond and rail infrastructure bond. Super high-speed rail intercity facility bonds will encourage the development of true high-speed rail. The legislation provides $10 billion for these bonds over a ten-year period. This would help finance the California proposed corridor and make needed improvements to the Northeast corridor. The legislation provides $5.4 billion over a six-year period for rail infrastructure bonds.

The Federal Rail Administration has already designated ten rail corridors that these bonds could help fund, including connecting the cities of the Midwest through Chicago, connecting the cities of the Northwest, connecting the major cities within Texas and Florida, and connecting all the cities up and down the East Coast.
November 20, 2008 in High Speed Rail

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Un-Masking John Mica



Failure to Regulate and Lead

John Mica is a Hard-Core Conservative Anti-Regulation, Crony-Capitalism Career Politician. Click here for explanation of political philosophy.

3,500 Aviation Fatalities since John Mica's post on Aviation

Rep. Mica was named Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation in 2001 and served through 2006. As the current minority leader of the House Transportation Committee, Mica serves on all six Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittees including the Aviation Subcommittee, and is thus resposnible for the proper functioning of the FAA.

The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, and international issues. This jurisdiction includes all aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) except for research activities, which are within the jurisdiction of the Science Committee.
Prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks, the number of air travelers in the United States had reached record levels and had begun to strain the existing infrastructure capacity. For several years after the attacks, the demand for air travel decreased and the impending capacity crunch was delayed while officials in the
Federal government, at the airlines and at airports dealt with many new security
issues.
Demand has returned to pre-9/11 levels, however, and the Subcommittee
will continue to contend with existing capacity and security concerns, as well
as an aging air traffic control system.
The Aviation Subcommittee is also traditionally the lead subcommittee with jurisdiction over the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents and other transportation accidents.
The essential air service program, which ensures commercial air service to
smaller communities, the war risk insurance program, which provides insurance
coverage for commercial flights to high-risk parts of the world, and passenger
and cargo commercial space transportation also fall within the purview of the
Aviation Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee continues to exercise oversight jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and continues to have jurisdiction over the impacts of transportation security on the aviation industry and aviation safety.
Issues and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Aviation Subcommittee include:
Federal Aviation Administration
Air traffic control modernization
Airport capacity
Airport Improvement Program grants
Aviation antitrust issues
Aviation labor, as governed by
the Railway Labor Act
Aviation safety
Aviation security, including the Transportation Security Administration
Commercial aviation
Essential air service for small communities
General aviation
International aviation
National Transportation Safety Board
War risk insurance
Commercial space transportation and tourism
Air carrier operations
Use of the navigable airspace


For a more complete description of the Subcommittee's jurisdiction, click here to link to the official Jurisdiction and Activities document for the Subcommittee on Aviation, as approved by the full Committee at the beginning of the 110th Congress.




While Mica sat on the Aviation Subcommittee and being a former Chair of the Aviation Suncommittee, where was his responsible oversight of the FAA?
FAA ignored Southwest Airlines violations

Regulators overseeing Southwest Airlines repeatedly allowed the airline to
escape punishment for safety violations because of a close relationship between
the airline and federal officials, according to a federal watchdog
investigation.

The inspector general's report found that Southwest violated more
federally required safety regulations than previously known. It also discovered
that FAA managers in North Texas didn't act on questions – raised as early as
September 2005 – about whether decisions to let Southwest off the hook violated
the FAA's own guidance about how its amnesty programs should be used.



And more recently:

FAA faulted for laxness on repair outsourcing


Nine U.S. airlines outsourced more than 70 percent of their major aircraft maintenance last year, and federal aviation officials' oversight of repair
facilities is lagging, according to a government report.
One-fourth of the outsourced maintenance is being handled by contractors overseas.
The Transportation Department's inspector general said the outsourcing, which has
more than doubled in four years, was of concern because the Federal Aviation
Administration has failed to closely track how much maintenance is farmed out
and where it is performed.



Now that's some kind of oversight!?! Just like our government had its eye on oversight of the financial industry. I just don't understand why voters continue to re-elect this bozo.

Like on so many of his votes he scores a failing grade in the Aviation Subcommittee.

How important is this?


Airline Industry. U.S. commercial aviation helps contribute to $1.2
trillion in output and approximately 11.4 million U.S. jobs. Between 2001 and
2005, the aviation industry posted $35 billion in cumulative net losses,
including a $5.7 billion net loss in 2005. Contributing to these losses are the
economic slowdown, a decline in business travel, the aftermath of the September
11th terrorist attacks, the SARS epidemic, increased competition within the
industry and, record fuel prices.

Several airlines declared bankruptcy and some
continue to restructure through that process. Recently, U.S. Airways withdrew
their bid to take over Delta Airlines, which is still in bankruptcy. Such a
merger could have had an adverse impact on fares, competition, and service to
small communities, and also might have sparked other mergers between large
network carriers.



We couldn't trust him when he promised to retire in 2004 ( as he reminded those in attendance at a Casselberry townhall meeting in 2002), and then lied about it only days before the 2008 election: "I have never signed any pledge to support term limits for members of Congress."


In 1994 Mica signed the Contract with America, which promised to restore the bounds of trust between the people and their elected representatives and included in its 10 point plan for America: Term limits on Congress

By supporting the Contract with America, he pledged to support term limits for members of Congress, and in fact he voted YES on H.J. 73:

The Citizen Legislature Act
An amendment to the Constitution that would have imposed 12-year term limits on members of the US Congress (i.e. six terms for Representatives, two terms for Senators). H.J.Res.73[7] rejected by the U.S. House 227-204 (a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority, not a simple majority), 3/29/95;

RC #277.
If you look at the roll call vote, Mica voted Yes to the 12-year term limit. Mica has exceeded that “pledge” by 4 years…....


And now also considering the fact that John Mica head butted an ABC camera man, why the heck is he representing Distict 7?

Bottom-line: John Mica is an absolute embarrassment, and irresponsible with our safety and tax-payer monies!


But that's not all, despite his reasonable facade in his own district, he is known to be THE most partisan Bush apologist in Washington DC, with his theatrical performance on C-Span, blaming the financial meltdown with sub-prime mortgage crisis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,........and John Mica even indirectly puts blame on our President Elect Barack Obama, before he was even elected!!!


Almost 150,000 people voted for Faye Armitage, John Mica's opponent in 2008,........so I guess they don't need to be reminded of what a Hard-Core conservative he is:
See Image above.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Private Investors Place Nation's Transit Agencies at Risk

The Danger of Public Private Partnerships

The National Council for Public Private Partnerships has been holding
presentations across the country to educate officials on how to tap private
sector capital to fund public transportation projects, and shift the
construction costs and operational risks to the private sector.Private funding
for public projects isn't new and the number of projects using private funds
seems to be growing.

In late September, John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and two other partners
announced they had won a $2.5 billion, 99-year lease to operate and develop
Chicago Midway Airport. If completed, the airport would be the first privatized
major airport in the U.S. In April, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
announced he would pursue private partnerships to fund transit projects.

Mica, who for years has been prmoting the Public Private Partnerships, is suddenly doing an about face. One wonders if this is just a symbolic stunt on his part?

He co-wrote a letter with Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. to Mary Peters, the Transportation Secretary, to warn agains lack opf transparency with these Public Private Partnerships.

The letter in part says this:

....the current financial crisis on Wall Street is leading to more and more
so-called public-private partnerships that lack "adequate transparency" to
protect the public's interest."We are particularly concerned about efforts by
private investors to exploit the financial crisis to place a number of the
nation's transit agencies at risk of default and financial collapse," the letter
said.


Is John Mica Snubbing Amtrak AGAIN?

This is from the National Association of Railroad Passengers website,.......seems like no one wants to point out the obvious:

Amtrak COO and Acting President William Crosbie asserted, “We know how to
do high speed rail.” He said Amtrak is the country’s first HSR
operator
, with crews and teams with first-hand experience and
institutional knowledge of the hurdles and the bottlenecks to HSR.

Yet

Section 502 (of H.R. 2095, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement
Act (Amtrak reauthorization and rail safety bill) is the provision that
mandates the U.S. DOT to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) from
private companies
or consortia to establish high-speed rail (HSR)
service on any of the 11 federally-designated HSR corridors within 60 days
of bill enactment.

http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/main/hotline_580/

Why the heck don't we have Amtrak submit a proposal?

Oh yeah, that's right, our gederal government loves to pay "beaucoup" extra for private company profits. That's been their plan for Universal Healthcare too.

Meanwhile, Amtrak finally secured steady funding, something that was sorely missing, and part of the plan to replace Amtrak with a host of unregulated private companies.
"Starving the beast" if you will, as a concerted Repulican effort to make Amtrak irrelevant vs Private rail road companies.

Well, here is what a Democratic controlled Congress finally was able to accomplish:

Public rail gains traction

For years, Amtrak has struggled along without dedicated funding. And for
years, Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey has campaigned for permanent funding,
without which Amtrak has been unable to make reliable plans for upgrading
infrastructure, providing new rail cars and building new rail lines.
This legislation lays a framework for funding over the next
five years. The last time Amtrak got multi-year funding was in 1997.

and:

With this funding, Congress is acknowledging the cost effectiveness, energy
efficiency and convenience of rail travel. Steadily increasing ridership numbers
in recent years support those advantages. Amtrak recently reported a record of
28.7 million riders for fiscal year 2008. A little-noticed provision of the
legislation provides grants to states for connecting local rail lines to Amtrak
-- a valuable contribution to the national goal of increasing the use of public
transportation. All this is also a step toward greater transportation balance in
a country where we spend $40 billion on roads, $14 billion on airports and, up
to now, $1 billion on rail. In the past, every request for funds had to begin
with a debate over whether funding Amtrak was a good idea. Now, with the
creation of a benchmark, that question has been answered.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

John Mica et al's Phony Support for the Military

Here is another prime example of the ribbon-cutting fakery that surrounds the purported military support by Republicans like John Mica:

Members of Military Families Speak Out are condemning comments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs suggesting that the dramatic increase in the suicide rate among young veterans is not connected to the war in Iraq .

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- November 12, 2008

CONTACT: Sean Donahue, Communications Director -- 617-983-0710 (w), 978-809-8054 (c), press@mfso.org

MILITARY FAMILIES TO VA:

STOP DENYING THAT MILITARY SUICIDES ARE CASUALTIES OF WAR!

The suicide rate among male veterans under the age of 29 is now twice that of the general population.

In an interview aired Monday November 10th on PBS's NewsHour, Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake said that Veterans' suicides are the result of:

"the same kinds of issues that have to do with suicide in the general population. It is issues of failed relationships, senses of hopelessness, transitions in life, that are at the root cause . . . we're not making a direct correlation with combat."

Specialist Scott Eiswert committed suicide in May after being told by a friend that his unit of the Tennessee National Guard would be returning to Iraq . His widow, Tracy Eiswert, a member of Military Families Speak Out, expressed outrage at Secretary Peake's comments:

"I am not a statistic. We are a military family. We are real people with real experiences as a result of my husband's PTSD and his suicide. He wasn't that way before he went to Iraq, he came back changed."

After returning from a tour of duty in Iraq , Spc. Eiswert had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by civilian doctors, but the Veterans Administration denied that his condition was the result of his experiences in Iraq . The Veterans Administration reversed that ruling in August. Tracy Eiswert says:

"It took him having to put a gun in his mouth for the military to admit that the
changes in my husband were a result of the war. If they had admitted that earlier he might still be alive."

Kevin and Joyce Lucey are members of Military Families Speak Out and the parents of Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine Corps Reservist who suffered severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his service in Iraq in 2003. Shortly after being turned away from a Veterans Administration hospital, Corporal Lucey killed himself on June 22, 2004 . Kevin Lucey said:

"Secretary Peake's words are the kind of self serving comments that this nation does not need to hear from the Veterans Administration and its leadership. This is why many regard this VA administration to be steeped in disgrace and dishonor when it comes to our loved ones. They feel that they need to explain away, rationalize, justify or minimize - instead of committing their resources, time and efforts to create the best healthcare system on God's earth."

Joyce Lucey also had strong words for Secretary Peake:

"This is dishonorable, disgraceful and shameful behavior from someone who is charged with giving the best of care to our warriors.
With this type of message and thinking, Is it any wonder that many of our troops and veterans don't seek help from those who are so callous and uncaring?"

Specialist Joe Hafley, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out who has had to fight to get treatment for his own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , agreed.
Hafley served in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves from 2004-2005, and his brother, a Major with the U.S. Army Reserves is scheduled to deploy to Iraq early next year.

When Hafley returned from Iraq , the Veterans Administration diagnosed him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and severe depression -- but ruled that none of those conditions were the result of his service in Iraq . He
said:

"My treatment at the VA was belittling and frustrating. To have them diagnose me with PTSD and not attribute it to my service in Iraq is a slap in the face. To have them tell me the problems could be the result of failed relationships rather than the result of my experiences in combat makes me feel that as a veteran I have no place at the VA.

"The thing that is most baffling to me is this 800 pound gorilla in the room not being addressed. Why are we feeling hopeless? Why do we have failed relationships?
The common denominator is we all served in Iraq.
Maybe my feeling of hopelessness is that I served my country with honor and I am still trying to figure out for what reason? For what just cause?

"Secretary Peake, it doesn't matter how many additional mental health workers you hire if you as the person at the top still feel we are just losers that failed to adjust or that we entered our military service unfit. No amount
of false support will help us."

The government's "You're On Your Own" or YOYO mentality even extends to those who've sacrificed their lives for our country!

John Mica has repeatedly refused to support the issues that are most important to the Disabled American Veterans. By scoring a 0% with the Disabled American Veterans in 2003, 2004, and 2004 while we were in the midst of two wars overseas, he shows his complete disregard for the needs of our disabled soldiers.

The problem is greed, and it usually comes in the form of delay, deny and deceit.

When will the voters understand that with the wrong people in office, greed will trump need every time?

Do voters really consider helping our veterans as just another "hand-out", while corporate welfare is ok with them?

Saturday, November 8, 2008

John Mica Won't Protect Central Florida Bridges from Collapsing

I decided to check John Mica out on other votes that affect Transportation in Central Florida.

Low and behold I found John Mica doesn't want our bridges inspected!

Vote 530: H R 3999: National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act

Seems that lack of transportation safety isn't something that bothers Mica.

He even went against the Republican recommended vote on this one, showing him to be even more extremist than his own party:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000689/votes/against-party/

Friday, November 7, 2008

Public Transportation in Central Florida

You'd think that someone who's sat on the Transportation Committee forever, would have been able to do a better job on transportation.

John Mica's only claim to fame is a commuter rail project that barely got off the ground, while previous attempts failed miserably. It seems he missed the boat on a light rail project in 1999, with federal funding going elsewhere when it had been slated for Orlando, Central Florida.

The commuter-rail system will use small diesel trains on the railroad tracks of the CSX corridor between DeLand and Poinciana, a distance of 61 miles, providing commuters an alternative to an overburdened Interstate 4.
The plan was developed by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, after the Orange County Commission rejected his plan to build a light-rail system connecting Downtown Orlando and the
Orlando International Airport in 1999.

I don't think most people remember the failed attempts, but I was reminded here where candidate Faye Armitage debated John Mica on this issue and other important issues affecting the people in District 7: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ylBIS5x6Q

ASCE ( American Society of Civil Engineers) estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed over a five-year period to bring the nation's infrastructure to a good condition.With each passing day, aging and overburdened infrastructure threatens the economy and quality of life in every state, city and town in the nation.

Where has John Mica been on this for the past 16 years in US Congress?

Unfortunately Faye Armitage was unable to defeat John Mica this time around.

"Out with the OLD, in with the NEW" didn't happen much anywhere in Florida in their congressional races.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

VOTING RECORDS MATTER!

If you haven't looked into the Congressional race for Florida's 7th District, you might want to check out this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ylBIS5x6Q&feature=channel

Mica is most famous for the pork he hands out, while his voting record completely gets ignored.

With his brother being the Director of the Florida Petroleum Council, Mica has consistently supported Big Oil:

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu9xKZX2jsw

Are we ready for Change?