GOP Congressman: Cliff Deal Example of How ‘We Buy Votes with Debt’
(CNSNews.com) – The deal to avert the fiscal cliff which consists of special tax credits for green energy, Hollywood, distilleries and other industries, is a demonstration of Capitol Hill vote buying, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) said Wednesday.
The 154-page bill that passed the Senate and House on New Year’s Day to stop the tax hikes and spending cuts in the fiscal cliff contained 12 specific credits for green energy and 31 additional credits for various businesses, while increasing taxes on those earning more than $400,000.
“The bill turned out to be over 100 pages long. It actually has 96 different provisions in it,” Mulvaney said on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. “The ones that we found for example are the continued tax credits for example for wind energy. There are tax credits for Hollywood. There are tax credits for, I think, it’s rum manufacturers.
“It’s almost as if you could see this list of the senators walking up and down the aisle of the senators on New Year’s Eve and say ‘what do you need in this bill to get you to vote yes on it?’” Mulvaney continued. “That’s what it looks like. There are tax giveaways. Are they a lot of money? No. Are they indicative of how Washington has always compromised? Yes. We buy votes. We buy votes with debt.” SOURCE — CNS News
Let me start by saying; I don’t know Rep. Mick Mulvaney, I am not a resident of the State of South Carolina and I have no connection TO this gentleman in any way.
That said; I think Mr. Mulvaney may be one of those rare creatures in Washington, I am thinking that he is a *TRUTH TELLER*, and that, in and of itself, makes him a rarity.
I’m not accusing ANYONE of *vote buying*, not vote buying per se, but an exchange of influence can be a powerful thing.
Once, a few years ago, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson was asked, “Why is Congress saying one thing and doing nothing?”
Charlie Wilson answered. “Well, it’s tradition mostly.”
That, my friends, is EXACTLY what is wrong with the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Most members of BOTH Houses follow this diagram; you feather your own nest, attempt to do what’s best for, in this order if I understand things correctly, YOU, your family, your district or state, and America.
Damned nice of them to consider us isn’t it?
I went to *political school* today, I spent an hour on the phone with a gentleman that is a great friend and an elected official and I listened closely to what he said about the vote made by the House and what was possibly the reasoning behind the YES votes from certain members.
This friend is of the mind that the entire Congress and Senate need to be voted out, ALL of the incumbents, and replaced with NEW faces that may not be as knowledgeable as the *old hands* where individual bills and government management are concerned, but he also stated that “they can’t do any worse than what we have in there”, and he went on to say that the FIRST thing that MUST be done is the passage of a balanced budget amendment.
On that point we are in 100% agreement, we need a fresh start and we need a balanced budget for this nation. You can’t run your house in a deficit, your home, well, not for very long any way.
I also listened to his ideas regarding what it would actually take to replace an incumbent and the battle that would go into it, the discovery phase where someone tries to find all of the skeletons in your closet, the campaigning, the necessary money and all the other little goodies.
My friend told me, “With all that it takes I am surprised that anyone would actually want the job.”
As we continued our discussion I pointed out that one of his 1st statements was, “We need to vote them ALL out!”
If holding high political office is so difficult, if getting elected TO high political office is so difficult, how then will we ever “vote them all out” and start over with principled and solid Conservatives?
How about we start with term limits, like one term only. That way these bozos may decide to do the right thing rather than try to “bring home the bacon” and get re-elected.
I have NO problem with term limits but with the House having 2 year terms as opposed to the Senate having 6 year terms, I don’t know that one term is enough for a new Congressman to get in the swing of things, but 4 years would be ample I think, and no more than 6, unless we could cut the Senate to 4 year terms..
Not a bad idea at all… Term limits is a great idea and a balanced budget, that should be the 1st job done.. A balanced budget amendment and enforced…
2010 brought in a bunch of new faces but many of them got eaten up by the GOP. Bonehead recently fired 4 Republicans from their committee positions who wouldn’t kowtow to him whim. In Florida, the Republican legislature, redistricted Allen West into a district that was virtually impossible for any Conservative or Republican to win in.
The problem is those career politicians. These fools are ruining the country. They wouldn’t know how to budget a household much less the most powerful country in the world. People continually reelect them based on their color, ethnicity, or their ability to bring home the pork.
For term limits, I always figured 6 years for the House and 12 years for the Senate. If a representative runs for the Senate, they can only do one term if elected. Once leaving office, they cannot have any contacts with any Washington lobby group or work for any company that benefits from government contracts approved by congress. Once we get them out of Congress, we have to keep them away from Washington or otherwise they will spend their time in congress paving the road for their next career. Also, NO retirement after leaving congress.
I am definitely for term limits…have been for a very long time. What is it going to take to make that happen and how can a movement with some power behind it get started?
I don’t think it CAN be done…
I talked to Rep. Ralph Hall a while back, he has been there for YEARS, and he is all for term limits, even though it would cost him his job, but he told me that very few in office would go for it…
Ralph Hall
My Congressman at the moment: Sam Johnson
My Congressman in a day or 2: Pete Sessions, see the Controversies part…
It does appear as if Mulvaney is one guy who isn’t afraid to say it like it is and it is refreshing. This fiscal cliff deal turned out to be a nightmare with tax increases on almost all Americans and corporate tax credits. Two broken promises by Obama and yet nobody can call him out because most of them voted for it, and we know we can’t count on the MSM to do it either.
Starting over really sounds like a good idea…..
Not only do we need term limits, we also need a way to remove a lot of the staffers who research, write, and otherwise wield influence in Congress. They are one of the reasons we have legislation that is so complicated that no ordinary American can understand what it does.
LDJ you got it right! That’s what I was thinking as I read my way down the page. I have a cousin who is a D.C. insider (attorney/lobbyist) and it’s the “underlings” who do everything-the Rep./Sen. is merely a face to get re-elected. The underlings read the bills, (write most of the bill, before allowing their boss to add or subtract), make the deals and then tell their boss who/what to vote for…This is a little bit of an oversimplification-but not much! We’re broke and I don’t think we can fix it-too many greedy people already in the system…
And once again I repeat; I have the best, and smartest readers on the ‘net! You folks ROCK!
I like this one.
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office. Term limits apply.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
I like it, but Congress Critters won’t be too happy..