Tag: Fred Upton (page 4)

ALG President Bill Wilson today sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee today questioning Michigan CD6 Fred Upton's use of taxpayer paid franked mail to tout his political rating by the NRA to his constituents.  The letter suggests Upton could well afford to campaign on his own dime without the use of taxpayer dollars:

"To be clear, if Mr. Upton had chosen to write about specific legislation mentioning key organizations who supported or opposed it as part of his rationale to his constituents as to why he voted a certain way, that would be inside the lines. However, putting out what can only be called a "campaign" piece using taxpayer funds is repugnant.

I am confident that between the political campaign war chest that a powerful committee chairman can easily amass, and his own personal wealth, Mr. Upton could afford to pay for his own political direct mail without need of taxpayer assistance. Given this confidence, this mailing is all the more offensive, as it reveals Mr. Upton's sense of entitlement to the perks and benefits of office that are so repugnant to Americans across the political spectrum."

Once bitten by the entitlement bug, its hard to shake I suppose.  Stamps for Christmas cards, or pictures of hunting folk carrying guns to posture for support.  All paid for with the sweat from taxpayer brows.  Upton for his part, has defended his actions already, claiming the money he DIDN'T spend shows he is a fiscal hawk."

"Again this year, I will be returning money to the treasury that I could spend," Upton said."

via The Lonely Conservative

President Obama's anti-coal policies are about to hit millions of Americans in the wallet. Get ready for the great, big Obama-bump in your electric bill.

Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Coal-fired power plants are now generating just 36 percent of U.S. electricity, versus 44.6 percent just one year ago.

It's the result of an unprecedented regulatory assault on coal that will leave us all much poorer.

Last week PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid for 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,  Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia) held its 2015 capacity auction. These are the first real, market prices that take Obama's most recent anti-coal regulations into account, and they prove that he is keeping his 2008 campaign promise to make electricity prices "necessarily skyrocket."

The market-clearing price for new 2015 capacity - almost all natural gas - was $136 per megawatt. That's eight times higher than the price for 2012, which was just $16 per megawatt. In the mid-Atlantic area covering New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and DC the new price is $167 per megawatt. For the northern Ohio territory served by FirstEnergy, the price is a shocking $357 per megawatt.

Rest here

"I have said at nearly every climate change hearing that for me I don't dispute the science.  Right or wrong, the debate over the modeling and science appears to be over."

Guess who said that?  While those comments appear similar to the sentiments expressed by the likes of Al Gore, it was actually Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton who said it during a 2009 hearing before an E&C subcommittee hearing.

And people wonder why there isn't excitement in the elections any longer.

The Madison project points out what everyone should know, that Upton would be as comfortable on the left side of the aisle as he is presumably, by voting with the Republican Caucus.  Aside from the several extreme environmental in-your-face regulatory votes where he did in fact jump ship and vote left of center.  Like THIS VOTE. Or even a famous vote banning the incandescent bulb, and costing US Jobs in the process.

Yay! Pelosi! Woot!  Aren't you proud???!

Retire Fred.  Your heretical pandering to the big government left ideals is pathetic.

Yessirree, it was Richard "I Never Met A Big Government Program That I Didn't Like" Nixon who mandated National Flood Insurance in 1973, further entangling folks to bureaucracy created floodplain schemes if you'd like a mortgage.

So, who were the Michigan Republicans that kicked the fleecing can down the road?  Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, McCotter, Rogers, Upton, and Walberg voting in lockstep with nanny government entitlement Democrats Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, and Peters.

And they still get their nose all out of joint with wondering why they end up in places like here?  Go figure.

Someone says its time to dump Upton:

"In 1986, Upton primaried a sitting Republican by running to that man's left.  He has been running to the left field foul line ever since.  Now it's time to return the favor."

As written by Daniel Horowitz from the Madison Project, "The most important amendment that has been proposed so far is Mike Pompeo's amendment #37 to abolish the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The EDA is a failed Great Society program that serves as a stimulus/pork slush fund for special interest communities under the guise of assistance to economically distressed areas of the country. It's nothing more than a fund for corporate welfare and a way of picking winners and losers in the market. It has been as successful in creating jobs as Obama's stimulus." This amendment would have saved $3 billion in wasteful "stimulus" spending over ten years.

Unfortunately, the amendment failed.

All Democrats and 104 Republicans voted against the amendment. Included in that number was Congressman Fred Upton, who has lately been telling his constituents back home that he is opposed to stimulus spending and bloated budgets. "Voting against this amendment is hypocrisy on his part. I can only assume he thought nobody would find out," stated Hoogendyk.

"The Pompeo amendment is just one example of how Congress and Fred Upton can make meaningful cuts, one at a time, to reduce the size of the federal budget which is in serious need of reduction," he continued. Upton voted wrong on several other amendments that would have saved a total of over $8 billion in the coming year.

"It's in the amendment process that government can be reduced," said Hoogendyk. "Now is the time for courage and action."

Southwest Michigan Politics: Congressman Fred Upton says he's not a career politician; Jack Hoogendyk gets endorsements

UPTON ON THE RADIO: Upton was on The Rocker Morning Show on WRKR-FM 107.7 today, and amid jesting with the hosts, talked about what's coming up in Washington D.C. for him and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which he chairs.

At the end of the interview, co-host Mike McKelly told Upton, "I don't consider you a career politician." Upton responded, "I'm not."

Upton, 58, served his first year in Congress in 1987 and has been in office for 25 years. Before that, he worked on the staff for U.S. Rep. David Stockman from 1976 to 1980 and was in the Office of Management and Budget from 1981 to 1985.

According to Wikipedia, the only work Upton has done that is even close to the private sector is writing for his college newspaper.