Water Resources Development Act Blocked for 7 Years

John Mica has the habit of patting himself on the back for getting a Water Resources Development Act passed for the first time in 7 years ( he has said the same for an Amtrak reauthorization bill). What he craftily omits to tell people is that it was the new Democratic Majorities elected to congress in 2006, that were instrumental in making passage possible:

Traditionally, Congress has passed a water bill each even-numbered year. The 2000 bill included the Everglades Restoration Act, a product of almost 20 years of state and federal action and negotiation. That legislation cemented a marriage between Florida and Washington over revitalization of the Everglades, with each partner assuming an equal share of decision-making and cost. The fruits of the union were to be 60 projects - to remove levees and increase water storage - that would restore natural water flow through the Everglades. Of the 535 senators and representatives, only one opposed the nuptials.

The 2000 bill authorized the first few Everglades projects, with the expectation that Congress would authorize additional projects in subsequent legislation. But partisan and regional politics intervened. The 2002 bill stalled over Missouri River dams. In 2006, there was a fight over the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As a result, the nation went seven years without a new Water Resources Development Act.

With each battle, the Everglades was caught in the crossfire. Congress failed to authorize projects critical to restoration, which prevented those initiatives from even being considered for federal financing. Meanwhile, Florida exceeded the state's obligation - paying over $2 billion while it waited. Since one partner doing all the work is no way to sustain a marriage, the state-federal union to restore the Everglades was headed for the rocks.

But in 2007, a new Congress passed a water bill containing delayed Everglades projects. When President Bush vetoed the bill, Congress overwhelmingly overrode his veto. Everglades restoration was back on track.

Let's be honest,.....John Mica never was much into the environment, or into sustaining Amtrak. In fact he is a known polluter defender, and Amtrak hater.

In his usual theatrical manner he made this off the wall statement about Amtrak:
“Giving Amtrak more money would be like giving at this point an alcoholic another drink and asking him to sober up.”

John Mica likes the idea of having Amtrak come begging for funding year after year, without providing a dedicated funding source like aviation, highways and transit have. Investing in our Nation’s passenger rail service simply hasn't been a priority for Mica. In 2006, Mica voted NO to increased funding for Amtrak, even though 71 other Republicans voted Yes.

John Mica fails to consider curing deadly diseases as "pro-life."

In the wake of Obama lifting the Bush stem cell research ban, it's appropriate to look at where John Mica stood on this issue. As the ultra-extremist right-winger that he is, he twice decided to snub the hopes of tens of thousands of people in his district, who are suffering from incurable and often deadly illnesses and injuries.

In 2007, John Mica voted NO on HR 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which passed the House with an overwhelming majority of 253 to 174, but not enough to thwart a Bush veto.

In 2005, John Mica voted NO on HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which passed the House by a vote of 238-194, showing more bi-partisan support than almost any other issue during the Bush administration.

His message to the sick and dying: Drop Dead!

John Mica Represents Winter Park and New York

Something is really seriously wrong with Florida,....gerry-mandered worse than Texas.

Thanks to carefully drawn lines, not a single congressional or legislative incumbent lost a re-election bid in 2004.

This maintained the forced lop-sided 7 Democratic to 18 Republican District split in Florida, a state which has more registered Democrats than Republicans!!!!

the controlling party did more than just gift-wrap Feeney a congressional district that year(2002).

It also stuffed so many Democrats into Brown's district that there were enough Republican voters left over to give GOP candidates the advantage in all of the others. Even though Democrats outnumbered Republicans overall in Central Florida, Republicans outnumbered Democrats in five of the six Central Florida districts.

A comment to Scott Maxwell's article says:

I grimace every time I see John Mica listed as "John Mica - R-Winter Park." The way the district lines are drwan, he actually represents maybe 400 out of Winter Park's 28,000 residents. It's disgusting, right along with his toupee, and his, "You don't want to get on the wrong side of John Mica" bullying for anyone with a different opinion than his. Everybody says the American political system is the world's best, but sometimes you really have to wonder.

Everyone wants to claim they represent Winter Park, and four Representatives actually can!

Winter Park, which is a little more than 3 square miles, is represented by 4 members of congress.(District 3,7,8 and 24).

In fact Mica's home used to be in District 8, Alan Grayson's district!

Here are some district trivia about John Mica, as another commenter remarks:

Remember when Bill McCollum was the Representative of District 8? It was a long standing joke because Mica (District 7) lives in Winter Park which at the time was not in his district yet when he was ever quoted in the news, it would say “Rep. Winter Park” and Bill McCollum who did represent Winter Park/Greater Metro Orlando would say “Rep. Longwood,” which was in Mica’s district.

Scott Maxwell has it right when he says:

They've turned this state into a psychopath's jigsaw puzzle, with misshapen legislative and congressional districts that split communities in two and can be longer than 100 miles and yet as narrow as a few hundred yards.

It's all designed to stifle competition and stack the deck before you even get to the polls.

Want proof that our current districts are distorted and contorted? Well, consider the following about these U.S. House members:

•Republican John Mica lives more than 130 miles from many of the residents he represents. Much of the congressman's district is actually in Flagler and St. Johns counties. In fact, just about the only part of Orange County included in Mica's district is the swath of land around his Winter Park home.

Are we ready to change business as usual? Efforts are underway to work for Fair Districts instead of how it was done in the past:

"It happens in dark rooms at night with the computers," said Thom Rumberger, a Tallahassee attorney and Republican Party patriarch who was once part of the system he now wants to reform. "Both sides do it. That's why I'm trying to make this an issue of fairness rather than partisanship."

That's also why Rumberger is leading a bipartisan coalition that wants to give voters the chance to vote on fair-districting as a constitutional amendment next year.

The premise of the amendment: Florida's political districts must be compact, using geographic boundaries that can't be stretched far and wide for political purposes. And if legislators ignore residents' wishes and try to do themselves political favors, they could end up in court.

As Scott Maxwell says,...."This common-sense approach to democracy is way overdue."

Go to http://www.fairdistrictsflorida.org.

John Mica Votes Against Helping Families Save Their Homes

One in five home loans in Florida was past due or in default at the end of last year -- out-ranking other states.

More than half of the nation's foreclosures last year took place in just 35 counties, most of which were in Florida.

Projected foreclosures by Congressional district shows 14 Florida Congressional Districts in the top 20 for the nation, with John Mica's district projected to see almost 20,000 foreclosures.

Surely Mica would want to level the playing field by allowing judges in bankruptcy court to require banks to rework the mortgage for homeowners who are about to loose their primary home due to bankruptcy, just like is already permitted under law for secondary homes. Not so.

The legislation, would let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on a home loan. That essentially would require mortgage companies to let debt-strapped homeowners reduce their monthly payments rather than lose their main residences.

As usual, Mica does not side with the average people, just those who were able to afford a second home.

Mica voted against help for homeowners in Bankruptcy court. Check out who else voted against this bill meant to help American Families stay in their Homes:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2009-104

John Mica Hates Women and Children

Well, Mica started the legislative session of the 111th US Congress exceedingly poor. And he is not alone among Florida Congressmen, who are extremely out of touch with the needs of Floridians. Now more than ever, with 255,000 lay-offs state-wide over the last year, we need to protect our children.

Unfortunately John Mica voted No on extending S-Chip to 2013, as did Cliff Stearns, Ander Crenshaw, Bill Posey and Adam Putnam. H.R. 2 paves the way for up to 4 more million uninsured kids to obtain coverage. From an e-mail message sent by Florida CHAIN ( Community Health Action Information Network):

We greatly appreciate the support of Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, particularly Senator Martinez' vote in favor of extending coverage to legal immigrant children.
On the House side, 15 of Florida's 25 Representatives also voted in support, including 5 Republicans (Reps. Buchanan, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Diaz-Balart, Ros-Lehtinen and Young)!
Congratulations to all of the advocates who made calls to urge passage of this important legislation!

A few differences between the Hoouse version and the Senate version are being resolved. President Obama is then expected to quickly sign the bill, in contrast with the 2 vetoes issued by former President Bush.

Now you may ask how Mica did on a previous bill that supported women, HR 11, the Fair Pay Act, that recently passed the House, and was the very first bill signed into law by President Obama.
I'm sorry to report that John Mica didn't do any better there either, to assure that women get equal pay. And where is the outrage or even plain reporting by local media on this?

From a Press Release by NOW:

"This is an important first step in our efforts to undo years of backsliding on the right to be paid a fair and equitable wage," said National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy. "The Ledbetter bill will allow redress for workers with the energy and willpower to seek redress in the courts, but we have a long way to go before we have fair pay for women, and laws with real teeth."
While it is too late for her to receive the compensation she deserved from Goodyear and was denied by the Supreme Court, Lilly's determined quest for equal rights for women in the workplace led to today's Senate passage of the legislation introduced in her name.

The Ledbetter (Fair Pay) Act, which was blocked in the Republican-led Senate last year, will essentially reverse the 2007 Supreme Court decision that required workers to file charges on a pay discrimination claim within six months after receiving their first discriminatory paycheck.

So lets see how our Florida Republican Congressmen did on this one: NONE voted Yes for H.R. 11, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which was the very first bill Obama signed into law on Jan. 29th.

Before putting his pen to the paper, Obama said:

"Lilly Ledbetter did not set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She
was just a good hard worker who did her job -- and she did it well -- for nearly
two decades before discovering that for years, she was paid less than her male
colleagues for doing the very same work. Over the course of her career, she lost
more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security
benefits -- losses that she still feels today.
"Now, Lilly could have accepted her lot and moved on. She could have decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and the harassment that would inevitably come with speaking up for what she deserved. But instead, she decided that there was a principle at stake, something worth fighting for. So she set out on a journey that would take more than 10 years, take her all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and lead to this day and this bill which will help others get the justice she was denied. ...
"I intend to send a clear message: That making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone. That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it's not just unfair and illegal --
it's bad for business -- to pay someone less because of their gender, or their age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability."

I guess discrimination is ok for John Mica, Cliff Stearns, Ander Crenshaw, Bill Posey and Adam Putnam, and other Florida Republican Congressmen as long as the women finds out about it six months after her first discriminatory check. Good thing Adam Putnam is not running for re-election.

Here is my hope that the voters dump these out-of-touch Republican Congressmen who are hurting our women and children and elect Faye Armitage, Tim Cunha, Steven Blythe, Doug Tudor, and Jay McGovern if they decide to run again.

John Mica Wastes Tax Payer Monies with Cronyism

This comes from the Tampa Tribune titled Commuter Rail Falters Again As Supplier Fails

When Florida Department of Transportation officials chose a Colorado company early last year to build 10 railcars for its new Orlando commuter system, they knew the company was in financial trouble.Nevertheless, the department moved forward with the $45 million contract, and is having to scramble now that Colorado Railcar went out of business at the end of the year. The state had to rewrite the railcar proposal to get new companies to bid.The last-minute change is one more stumble in the state's controversial efforts to bring commuter rail to Orlando. Last May, state lawmakers rejected an agreement with CSX Transportation, the company planning to sell tracks to the state for the $1.2 billion, 61-mile system. The agreement would have freed CSX from responsibility if one of its (freight)trains caused a commuter accident while using the tracks.

Hmmm, now they want old-fashioned locomotive-hauled trains instead of CA Marin county's choice for light rail cars below? So much for John Mica's rhetoric of getting Florida into the 21st Century! Bulgaria and other so-called lesser advanced countries are light years ahead of us, but then again they don't have to worry about pleasing CSX.

The state originally advertised the railcar bid invitation in February. It was so narrowly written that Colorado Railcar was the only company that qualified. In a Tampa Tribune story about the purchase, state officials said the company produced precisely the kind of railcar it wanted for the Orlando system. It's a fuel-efficient vehicle that combines the engine and seating in one unit but is also sturdy enough to withstand a collision with a freight train. The revised bid is for the more traditional locomotive-hauled train.

Meanwhile Marin county in CA found a better solution, which is far more energy efficient and environmentally clean:

The closure ( of Colorado Railcar) may have little effect on SMART, which can choose to run lighter, European-built, diesel-powered rail cars instead. If the rail agency chooses to stay with the heavier cars, however, Siemens Transportation of Germany is planning to develop and build such cars at its Sacramento plant, filling the void left by Colorado Railcar."It is part of our growth strategy and product development plan," said Frank Guzzo, business development director in Sacramento. "we clearly see a niche market."Voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase in November, and SMART is now looking to start Cloverdale-to-Larkspur service in 2014.

SMART is planning to request proposals for its rail cars within the next two months and award a purchase contract next year.The transit district has budgeted $88 million for 14 self-propelled, diesel-powered rail cars. The cars will take two to three years to build.SMART initially had specified the Colorado Railcar vehicles, which are classed as heavy rail, diesel-powered vehicles, in its 2006 environmental impact report.However, in a 2008 supplemental report, SMART indicated that it could also use lightweight European-style rail cars by running freight train service in off hours."The major difference between the two is how they operate in conjunction with freight on the same corridor," Coursey said. "To use the light cars, you need to have time separation, they cannot be operating at the same time as freight."

The most popular lightweight cars available are made by Siemens in Germany.There are 12 of them in use by the North Coast Transit District in San Diego on its 22-mile Sprinter service from Oceanside to Escondido.District spokesman Tom Kelleher said the freight service runs at night on the Southern California tracks to meet the federal rules against running lightweight cars and freight together. The lightweight cars are
not as crash resistant as heavy-rail cars.

While Mica's Pet Project is dragging on, bending over backwards for CSX's freight needs is clearly not in our best interest.Here is what the President of the Passenger Rail Asociation said when Colorado Railcar had been selected by Florida DOT:

Since Colorado Railcar announced production of its new vehicle in 2002, only
three transit agencies - in Florida, Oregon and Alaska - have purchased any.They're expensive, said Paul Dyson, president of the Passenger Rail Association of California and Nevada. They cost about twice as much as the locomotive-passenger car combination. And although they use less fuel than thelocomotive train, they use more fuel than other DMUs. That's because ColoradoRailcar had to beef up its vehicles to meet the federal crash standards."If Iwere a Florida taxpayer, I'd be asking the state if they've looked at every alternative," Dyson said.

And Siemens' Frank Guzzo typified the selection process as a done deal favoring Colorado Rail:

One of the potential bidders was a Korean company, Rotem, that designs crash-worthy DMUs and has a U.S. plant. It was planning to build cars for theRaleigh, N.C., commuter system until federal funding for that project fellthrough. Its cars, however, have only one level, and Florida officials said theyneed bilevel cars for the Orlando system.
Another company, Siemens, was also interested and proposed scheduling freight and commuter trains at different times so the state could use the company's lighter DMU. But the state said no, said Siemens' Frank Guzzo."There could have been other ways to approach the project. We had offered an alternative," Guzzo said. But the state "was fixatedon this one approach."

Lobbying Connections:

By 2002, Mica was pushing a new plan to use existing CSX freight tracks - and
Colorado Railcar vehicles.The railcars weren't in service, but Mica had met
Rader and was intrigued by his efforts to build a new kind of railcar. He can't
recall where he met Rader.
A September 2002 news release on Mica's Web site announced that he "had secured $8 million for ... a national demonstration of a new commuter rail technology." It said he planned to show off an example of that technology, a Colorado Railcar DMU, in Orlando the next month. ( ***Does everyone see the lie in Mica's announcement)
The amount was down to $4 million by the time the transportation bill with the earmark passed in early 2003.
In August 2003, after Congress approved the railcar earmark, the law firm Greenberg, Traurig registered to lobby for Colorado Railcar.
One of the Colorado Railcar lobbyists was Duane Gibson, former chief aid toU.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who was chairman of the House TransportationCommittee from 2001 to 2007. Gibson continued to represent the company after heleft the law
firm.
"I spoke to Duane about Colorado Railcar," Mica said. "I can't remember if they were looking for someone to represent them or what." He also can't remember precisely when it was, but he said he is sure Gibson was not at Greenberg, Traurig at the time.Tom Rader founded Colorado Railcar and was removed as its president thisyear. Since 2003, Rader and his company have reported spending nearly $300,000on lobbyists and federal campaign contributions. Rader gave Mica's politicalcampaigns a total of $3,000 for 2004 and 2005.Mica angrily denied that lobbying or campaign contributions had anything todo with his position. "My relationship with the company has been nothing butabove the board," he said.

The company spent its own money developing a new kindof fuel-efficient railcar and deserves government help, Mica said.

Pretty fishy if you ask me! I wish we had some investigative reporters dig up some more on this. Could turn out to be a really big national scandal.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/20/200015/na-railcar-deal-missing-key-component-the-tracks/c_2/#comments
And here is a final revealing comment made in the comment section of the TBO to the above story:

Why is FDOT and Congressman Mica's CSX mainline trackage in Orlando is worth $420 million for 61 miles while the EJ&E Railroad in Chicago isselling 200 miles
of their mainline for only $300 million to the CanadianNational RR. Could this
be more of those educational "improvements" in fuzzymath that Jeb was able to
accomplish with his educational system "reforms"?
And please explain why Illinois' and Indiana' Senators and Representatives havecalled in the "key Federal railroad regulatory agency" to review their ChicagoCN-EJ&E rail transaction but the Surface Transportation Board is conspicuously absent in Florida to deal with the Orlando CSX-EVWN transaction?Sounds like the Tampa Tribune is doing some outstanding investigative reportingon your choo choo friends! Keep up the great work. The rest of Florida's media outlets may be missing the next Watergate in progress, all he"King's" men may fall.

And oh by the way, I want to be able to ride trains inFlorida just like
they do in California, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, NewYork, Virginia and a
host of other states, but we won't get them here untilsomeone cleans up this CSX
mess. Thanks Trib for bringing out the mop.

Will Martinez be Asked to step Down for a Hand-picked Replacement?

That's what Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel thinks is a real possibility:

Martinez says he's leaving on his own terms. And now he will have two years to decide what to do next -- assuming the Republican Party doesn't ask him to step down early, so that Charlie Crist can name a replacement.

Martinez says he has no plans to play that game. And I believe he's earnest. But I also believe he will face pressure to change his mind -- from party leaders, maybe even Bush, who would rather handpick a candidate than let voters in on the action.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-maxwell0308dec03,0,2499749.column?page=2

Mica, Stearns or Putnam most likely would be precluded from being "hand-picked" since they need to continue their roles as "place-holders" for the Republican Party.

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.

John Mica's Voting Record Revealed

I wonder if the voters in District 7 know about this:

• An F score with The Middle Class!!
• A 0% with the Disabled American Veterans in 2003, 2004 and 2005
• A 5% with the League of Conservation Voters

Watch Faye Armitage debate John Mica on Orlando's Local PBS station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ylBIS5x6Q&NR=1

He takes a lot of credit for things, but never gets called on his voting record. Let him take responsibility.

It is time for Change: Vote Faye Armitage!

John Mica's Voting Record Exposed

And it doesn't look good.

Imagine an F score with The Middle Class!!

Sounds too weird to be true, right?

Well, that's what Faye Armitage said during a debate with him on Orlando's Local PBS station.

Check for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ylBIS5x6Q&NR=1

John Mica, a National Embarrassment

Electing to U.S. Congress Faye Armitage of Fruit Cove -- an economist, mother of five, grandmother of three, she raised a disabled son (her son-in-law is in Iraq).
Eight-term incumbent John Mica is way too big for his britches, a national embarrassment. Mica's voted against raising the minimum wage and granting (unpaid) family and medical leave. Mica never apologized for taking money from the likes of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff or head-butting an ABC News cameraman upon leaving Tom DeLay's lobbyist party.
Mica's spends special-interest campaign contributions on travel/hotels/casinos/restaurants/bars/private clubs. See www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com. Ungracious Mica's guilty of goading "liberals," President Clinton ("a little booger") and social welfare recipients ("don't feed the alligators"). But as Record Senior Writer Peter Guinta reported, Mica's given earmarks to campaign contributors (that's corporate welfare). Mica wrote that he flew to Tibet to sell airplanes to China for Boeing (whose PAC contributed thousands to Mica's campaigns).
Economist Armitage will represent all of us and we can be proud to say that we finally have a Congressman who works to help people like us. No ninth term for Mica.

http://staugustine.com/stories/102608/opinions_1026_058.shtml

John Mica Turns $15,000 into $1 Million (or two)

No it wasn't hard work, ...........it was taking advantage of a government give-away.

The giveaway
The man who said those words was former
Federal Communications Commission chairman Mark S. Fowler, who was in charge of
the giveaway. The date was March 30, 1985. Fowler was addressing a Senate
subcommittee on communications, trying to get Congress to help him turn off the
spigot of public money.
It was a frustrating time for Fowler; nothing was
done, and the result was a five-year opportunity for a few thousand sharpies in
and out of government. Fowler’s welfare program was John Mica’s ticket
to easy millions.

It was called the cellular telephone service
lottery.
On announced occasions, beginning in 1984, in a windowless
room on the eighth floor of the FCC building, three big air-blown tanks full of
pingpong balls were activated as groups of 30 to 50 anxious players looked on.
Like Meyer Lansky or a Wisconsin tribe, the federal government was in the
gambling business. But players of FCC Cellular Bingo, unlike the naive pigeons
of Vegas, placed their bets for free or nearly free. And payoffs ranged from a
few million dollars to hundreds of millions.

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/util/printready.asp?id=957

STOP Medicare Cuts of 10% in Dr. Payments

Veterans and Vet orgs lobbied long & hard to get this passed..the President vetoed it. But the House & Senate were able to override his veto, no thanks to John Mica.

the US Senate overrode the President's Veto of HR 6331 which would
replace the 10.6% cut in Medicare/Tricare cuts in physician reimbursements with a
modest increase of 1.1%.

Raise Hell with John Mica! Or better yet: VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE!!!

From: Veterans Helping Veterans Support Group Forum