Anti Union Hoekstra votes no on FAA Reauthorization Act

As I was reading the summary I was trying to figure out why Hoekstra voted against this bill, besides him voting against most funding bills. So I dug a little deeper...

The House-passed legislation includes binding arbitration language for contract disputes, providing for a fair collective bargaining process between the FAA and its unions. "The House was vigilant in its efforts to improve the negotiating process," said Brantley(The Professional Airways Systems Specialists,(AFL-CIO), President Tom Brantley). "By passing a bill that creates a fair collective bargaining process, House lawmakers have sent a clear message to the FAA that it cannot unilaterally impose working conditions on its employees."

and dug some more..

NATCA President Patrick Forrey said he views the bill's amendment as an important step toward putting fairness back into the collective bargaining process." "The FAA unilaterally imposed work and pay rules on controllers last Labor Day weekend, exacerbating a critical staffing shortage that even the Department of Transportation and Office Inspector General validated in a recent report," he said. "Morale has suffered; the mass exodus has left controllers working for longer periods of time, causing fatigue and loss of focus, which the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) has said is a major safety concern."

But the brunt of the bill is that it would provide for modernization of air traffic control systems and maintain airports without imposing user fees. Instead they will make a small increase in jet fuel tax (5 cents).

"The leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and aviation subcommittee refused to be bullied by the airlines or accept the FAA's claims of poverty," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "They took a reasoned, rational look at what needed to be done and how to pay for it, and delivered a solution that promotes the interests of all segments of aviation.

So....maybe, just maybe Pete voted no because the bill supports fair collective bargaining and unions. But that's just my guess.

Pete votes against higher education assistance

HR 2669 College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 includes the following assistance for higher education and loan reductions:

Increasing the Purchasing Power of Pell Grants: Authorizes and appropriates additional funding for the program for FY2008-FY2017 to increase the amount of the maximum Pell grant for which a student is eligible by $200 for each of the award years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, $300 for award year 2010-2011, and $500 for each subsequent award year. Increases the authorized maximum Pell grant to $7,600 for academic year 2008-2009 and by $1,000 increments each academic year thereafter until it stands at $11,600 for academic year 2012-2013. Increases students' Pell grant eligibility by increasing the income protection allowance.

Making Student Loans More Affordable:Phases-in cuts in the interest rate charged undergraduate student borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs, thereby reducing such rate from 6.8% in July 2006 to 3.4% in July 2012.

Rewarding Service in Repayment:Provides student loan forgiveness to borrowers under the FFEL or DL programs who serve full-time in areas of national need as: (1) early childhood educators in low-income communities; (2) nurses; (3) critical foreign language specialists who teach in elementary or secondary schools or use such knowledge as federal employees; (4) librarians; (5) highly qualified teachers who teach bilingual education or who teach in schools that enroll a high proportion of disadvantaged students; (6) child welfare workers; (7) speech language pathologists in elementary or secondary schools; (8) National Service participants; (9) school counselors in elementary and secondary schools that enroll a high proportion of disadvantaged students; and (10) public sector employees. Provides up to $1,000 of student loan forgiveness for each year of service, but limits forgiveness to $5,000 in the aggregate.

These are only part of this bill, which will help the people of our country gain the tools to get the jobs so many badly need. With the costs of tuition rising and student loans going through the roof this bill is a big breath of fresh air.

And Hoekstra voted no.

Hoekstra votes against Native American housing assistance

HR 2786:To reauthorize the programs for housing assistance for Native Americans, passed the House on Thursday (9/6/07) 333-75 with major bipartisan support. But our Congressman voted against the bill.

Permits the provision of housing or housing assistance provided through affordable housing activities assisted with grant amounts for: (1) essential (under current law, essential non-Indian) families on Indian reservations and other Indian areas; and (2) local law enforcement officers on Indian reservations or other Indian areas.

Establishes self-determined housing activities for the tribal communities program under which a qualifying tribe may use a portion of its grant amounts for housing activities involving the construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of housing to benefit the low-income community served by the tribe.

Pete has a history of voting against Native American issues and interests in his time in office including infrastructure and business interests. If you read this and feel compelled to do so, write or call Hoekstra, and ask him why he treats Native Americans like a subclass of society, and not part of the fabric of our country.

District Offices

Holland
184 South River Avenue
Holland, MI 49423
(616) 395-0030
Fax: (616) 395-0271

Muskegon
900 3rd Street, Suite 203
Muskegon, MI 49440
(231) 722-8386
Fax: (231) 722-0176

Cadillac
210 1/2 North Mitchell Street
Cadillac, MI 49601
(231) 775-0050
Fax: (231) 775-0298

Washington, D.C. Office

Washington, D.C.
2234 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4401
Fax: (202) 226-0779

Hat tip to our friends at Walberg Watch who scooped me on this one.

Pete leaks classified information in NY Post Op-Ed

Here's the Op-Ed wherein he continues to spin why Americans should lay down and let their constitutional rights be trampled and attack anyone who disagrees with him, with some fear mongering, and just a dash of "radical jihadists" for flavor. In it Pete says:

The 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill cut human-intelligence programs but directed U.S. intelligence agencies to study global climate change.

Here's the kicker. The budget cuts are in the classified portion of the bill.

Dr. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy,(wiki), says on Raw Story:

"It looks like Rep. Hoekstra is playing games with classification rules by making his claim publicly,I suggest that he go investigate himself.If you live by secrecy, you die by secrecy," he said. "Rep. Hoekstra has been an ardent defender of the secrecy barriers surrounding the intelligence budget and a harsh critic of leaks. Ironically, he now finds himself unable to coherently defend what he claims is a mistaken budget choice.""

Hmm...leaks for political gain...where have I seen that lately?
Pete your past and present prove...you're a varitable sieve for classified information.

Hoekstra versus New York Times Part 2

There's a lot more to this letter to pick apart.

The only real basis for “fear” here is the scare tactics being perpetuated by the Times

But in the next paragraph there is this veiled idea by Hoekstra

First, the legislation was intended to address significant and substantial intelligence gaps that have arisen at a time of enhanced threat of terrorist attack on the United States. The need for the bill was urgent and obvious.

I'm sorry, no one told me to change my Crayola Terror-Meter up to red. I could swear this would be considered "fear mongering". Wait, no, that must be a media source that doesn't agree with you, right?

It is unfortunate that you choose to compound those difficulties with further politicization, fear-mongering, and the suggestion that we simply dismiss the increased threats to American citizens at home and abroad.

Right.

Politicizing- Here's Pete's chance to speak his piece on the SCHIP bill.
Hmm...all he talks about is FISA.
Or the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Bill.
FISA.
Responsible Redeployment From Iraq Act?
FISA... with a heapin' helpin' of radical jihadists thrown in just for good measure.

Hoekstra can spin it any way he wants. We dismiss the increased threats. We don't believe that "radical jihadists" really hate us and want to attack us. I can go on, and on, and on. Just because Hoekstra, Bush or any other neo-con hack keeps pissing in your ears the same worn out catch phrases doesn't mean they are right. It just means they really want something.

Like your civil liberties. For starters...

Hoekstra says telecomms' wiretapping involvement is "Patriotic"?

Here's the link to the story.

So... We were all bummed that the Dems caved and passed this legislation. We thought "Hey, at least it's only 6 months." Well, if Shrub and Hoekstra have their way it will only get worse. Here's what the preznit wants:

"When Congress returns in September the Intelligence committees and leaders in both parties will need to complete work on the comprehensive reforms requested by Director McConnell, including the important issue of providing meaningful liability protection to those who are alleged to have assisted our Nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001,"

WOW that's vague! So what he's saying is that we know what they did is unconstitutional, so we're not admitting they did anything illegal, but we want to go reverse in the way back machine and make it legal before we say they did it. Riiiiight.

But our intrepid Congresscritter has something to say in an interview with Paul Gigot for Wall Street Journal's: Journal Editorial Report on Saturday night:

"These are companies who were doing the patriotic thing....They were helping the U.S. government, the American people, get the information that we believe we needed to keep us safe. They voluntarily participated, and now that the program is exposed, they've been open to all kinds of lawsuits."

(read as:voluntarily broke the law)

Patriotic! 9/11! Terror! Terror!

Parrot Pete says following passage of the bill:

"he would use momentum from Congressional Republicans’ efforts to fix FISA to push for comprehensive reform of the law to...obtain retroactive liability for parties who may have aided the government."

Thanks Pete, I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway...

What the ACLU thinks about the FISA program.