John Mica who Brags about Stimulus, Flip Flops again

First John Mica votes against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( the stimulus funding), and then brags about it as has been reported by numerous media outlets.

Now he's having some second thoughts again on transportation and infrastructure project funding provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saying:

We must ask, is this so-called stimulus funding being used to help Americans who badly need jobs, or is this funding being used to benefit private companies, fund long-term studies rather than ready-to-go projects, and pay for projects that do nothing to employ people?

What is it Mica,......only if it's for your Sunrail pet project it's ok?

How about your own earmark to "study Beach erosion," how many jobs did that create?

Ah, there are different standards for the money you bring in, or the stimulus money spent on your pet projects. BTW, what was that ridership for Sunrail again? 3,500 you say? Sounds like this project wasn't done to take traffic off I-4, instead it likely has a business development motive rather a commuter need.

Good thing this bad deal fell through. It would have set a bad example to start Central Florida rail transit with.
The something is better than nothing argument is unconcionable when we are talking about a $1.2 billion project.

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.

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.