My congressman is a tea bagger & voted "No" on the debt ceiling bill. His reasons drove me to write this diary to document his "fiscal conservative" hypocrisy.
I have the misfortune of being “represented” in Congress by the tea bagger Mo Brooks (AL-05; Huntsville & the TN Valley). During his campaign he spoke to The Huntsville Times
“I believe America is a nation at risk from unsustainable budget deficits of $1.35 trillion”, said Brooks on Monday, a few minutes later adding: “In my judgment, Barack Obama is a socialist.”
He’s also supports a balanced budget amendment.
He said he would push for a balanced budget constitutional amendment, to be phased in over 5 to 10 years, that would force the Congress not to spend future generation's money.
So the debt ceiling bill should be a good thing, with its spending cuts. Wrong.
The Huntsville Times confirmed, as I expected, that he will vote “No” on the debt ceiling bill.
One of his reasons is what would happen to the defense budget if the bipartisan committee created by the deal fails to reach another agreement on spending cuts by the end of the year.
“You're looking at a 20 percent cut in FY '13 in our (national) security, and I cannot agree to do that”, Brooks said after a meeting of House Republicans.
What? A fiscally conservative, pro balanced budget amendment congressman is ruling 1/3 of the budget off limits? Why?
Because he’s a typical tea bagger. He’s against government spending aka socialism, except when it applies to him.
From childhood he’s been a beneficiary of government spending aka socialism. Bio
- Father: retired from the Redstone Arsenal Meteorology Center (DoD)
- Mother: Public school teacher
- Wife: Public school teacher
- Prosecutor, Tuscaloosa, AL DA’s office
- Law clerk, Circuit Court judge
- Representative, AL House
- Madison County DA
- Congressman
But, but, but…That’s the past. He’s seen the light because of the Tea Party. He's only accepting government spending aka socialism because it’s for the greater good.
No. Brooks wouldn’t have been elected in the first place, and won’t be re-elected, unless he supports government defense spending aka socialism.
AL-05 is the northern-most district in AL, basically all the land north of the Tennessee River. It is dominated by Huntsville, AL.
Huntsville, Al is part of the greater Tennessee Valley Region & Madison County, AL […] Huntsville is home to [the U.S. Army’s] Redstone Arsenal & NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The Huntsville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a population of 417,593 persons; while the area’s regional population consists of over 862,000 residents. […] An enduring economic success story is that of the City of Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal. The City of Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal have lived, worked, and grown together for more than 60 years.
The greater Tennessee Valley’s regional economy is significantly dependent upon the presence of Redstone Arsenal and other high tech companies that support defense, aerospace, and scientific research.
- 29.4% of jobs are dependent on defense spending
- 26.8% of total personal income is generated by the defense sector
- Defense spending directly or indirectly is responsible for generating 40 cents of each dollar of personal income in Madison County
- Adding NASA activities, more than 50% of the jobs in Madison County are dependent upon federal defense and space activities
- Local defense sector employees contribute $165.5M in taxes paid to Huntsville, Madison County, and the State of Alabama
So he makes
statements like this:
Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) announced today that the passage of the FY2011 budget is good news for the Tennessee Valley and America.
“In absolute dollars, this budget is the largest spending cut in American history. Equally important, it properly prioritizes national defense and NASA,” said Brooks. “The defense budget increases 5 billion dollars, enabling our military to better equip and protect our warfighters who face wars on three fronts. It eliminates the untenable situation whereby our men and women are fighting for America but not getting paid. This budget reopens doors to jobs in North Alabama by allowing numerous defense and NASA contracts to move forward.”
Congressman Brooks continued, “With significant cuts taking place in almost every program, NASA fared relatively well, suffering cuts of less than one percent. Great news for the Tennessee Valley is that the bill requires a new 130 ton heavy lift vehicle, guaranteeing that Marshall Space Flight Center will continue to be pivotal in human spaceflight.”
Too bad that his job isn’t dependent upon government spending aka socialism in the other 434 congressional districts.
“It’s important to keep our eye on the goal, which is minimizing the risk of a federal government bankruptcy caused by our 1.6 trillion dollar deficit. This bill is just one battle in a long fight against out-of-control spending. We resume the fight tomorrow when we vote on an FY 2012 budget that will slash spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Huntsville facts and figures from more information