congress

There are a lot of issues facing our nation right now, but none are more important than creating jobs and reenergizing our economy. No one knows that better than me. I’ve seen this recession first hand as Mayor of Asheville and I know the toll it’s taken on thousands of middle-class families right here in Western North Carolina.

But I know that we can overcome anything as a nation if we work together – and while Washington may have forgotten that, we never will. That’s why I’m excited to announce a brand-new project as part of our campaign that will help us come together as a local community to create good jobs.

Today, we’ve launched helpuscreatejobs.com – a new website where community leaders, small-business owners, and middle-class families can share ideas to create jobs. Submit your idea here!

In case you haven’t heard yet: I’m in. I’m officially running for United States Congress!

I decided to run because I believe now is the time for bold new leaders to take over and clean up the mess in Washington. The philosophy that I’ve governed with as Mayor of Asheville is the same I will take with me to Congress: grow, when it’s time to grow; cut, when it’s time cut; and lead when it’s time to lead.

North Carolina is ready to see change in Washington, but we won’t be able to do that if we keep sending Republicans like Patrick McHenry back to Congress. If we don’t act, we’ll never see different results.

Take a moment to watch our introduction video and learn more about our campaign for Congress!

As the next Congressional fight over payroll tax extensions and unemployment benefits and pipelines gets set up in the next few weeks for either its final chapter or to be kicked down the road a bit farther, one or the other, you’re going to hear a lot from our Republican friends about how much they value work and workers; most especially, they’ll tell you, they value American jobs for American workers.

After all, they’ll say, creating American jobs is the most important thing of all.

But if we were to look back over just the last few months, some would tell us, we could quickly find examples of how Republicans promote ideas that don’t seem to value work or workers at all, much less American jobs.

Well as it turns out, “some” seem to be right; to illustrate one of those examples we’ll look back a month or two or three to a time some Republicans might wish was long, long, ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Am hoping Steve or James can embed the following video for me in my post, but for those of you who want an informative video with your daily coffee... Progress NC has managed to crack the code of the DC double-speak. Our staff experts in "dialects of the 1%" have provided sub-titles to explain why the House GOP wants to raise payroll taxes on working families come Jan. 1st. What on Earth is Renee Ellmers talking about? Conferee? Doc Fix? We're not even sure she knows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2N6_rAZ3xU

When your taxes go up on January 1st -- thank Renee Ellmers and three other members of the GOP Congressional delegation. They stopped the payroll tax cut extension just in time for the holidays. Here are the names and contact info for the Reps who stonewalled the extension in case you'd like to let them know how you feel:

Renee Ellmers, 2nd district: Phone (202) 225-4531 or email her at http://ellmers.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3&sectiontree=3

Virginia Foxx, 5th district: Phone (202) 225-2071 or email her at http://foxx.house.gov/contact/

Sue Wilkins Myrick, 9th district: Phone (202) 225-1976 or email her at http://myrick.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=69

Patrick T. McHenry, 10th district: Phone (202) 225-2576 or email him at http://mchenry.house.gov/Contact/zipauth.htm

I have spent a number of years complaining about the interactions between Democrats and Republicans, but after the recent events involving the Keystone XL and civil liberties cave-ins, I’ve decided it’s time to stop complaining and embrace the madness.

But I also feel like there’s an ugly edge to all this…that hasn’t really been fully exploited.

I mean, Republicans have tried to force through a lot of disgusting ideas this Congress as they’ve held various bills hostage, but it seems like, if they really tried, they could do so much more.

But I’m not here to complain, I’m here to help; that’s why today we’ll be trotting out a few ideas of our own that Republicans can attach to bills throughout 2012, with the assistance of certain errant Democrats.

It’ll be fun, it’ll be festive, but most of all…it’ll be an exercise in Civic Responsibility, and in these difficult times, that’s something we could sorely use.

I got a weird little story about my friend Blitz Krieger to bring to you today.

He’s had a crazy car problem, he has, and over the past few months he thought he had found a solution – in fact, he thought he had found the solution of his dreams – but in the end, he’s discovered that the things you dream about often don’t go according to plan.

The way it’s worked out for him so far, it’s been a lot of anticipation followed by a sudden wave of frustration, but I feel like he’s a lot better off having his particular problem with his car…because if he’d had cancer instead, he’d surely be dead by now.

After doing a bit of mountain hiking a few days back, I had a chance to get involved in a great afternoon conversation with the Alliance for American Manufacturing’s Mike Wessel, who also serves as a Commissioner with the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission; the conversation was about how we’re doing when it comes to our relationship with China.

As it turns out, the two events went well together, because what I’m hearing from these guys is that we have a great big ol’ mountain to climb if we hope to get back to a level playing field in our interactions with this most important country.

There’s news to report across a variety of issues; that’s why today we’ll be talking about trade, human rights, cybersecurity, poverty and development, and the methods by which you can apply “soft power” to achieve hard results.

The entirely unanticipated result: all of this will reveal the naïveté of Ron Paul when it comes to foreign policy; we’ll discuss that at the end.

You know what the problem is with America?
The poor don’t get just how great they have it.

I’ve hear this a lot lately; the basic thrust of the discussion is that all those cars, TVs, DVD players, refrigerators, and stoves that have found their way into the homes of the economic underclass are proof there’s really no such thing as “poor” in America.

If they were truly poor, the argument goes, well…think recycled corn.

And if the poor want things to get better, let ‘em pull themselves up by their own bootstraps – and if they can’t, then let ‘em rot, because that’s the best thing for the economy.

But I don’t buy all that, and by the time we’re done today, I hope to have given you a whole new perspective on how jobs get created in this country.

Oh those Republicans and their talking points. This morning I heard a GOP strategist on cable news claim that Republicans could not be blamed for the economic situation because the Democrats "control the White House and the Senate."

First, this is stupid. You see a bill must pass both the Senate AND the House before the president can sign it into law. Who controls the House? The Republicans, who have this far done little more in the form of passing bills than naming post offices or affirming already existing law.

Second, this is bullshit. Yes, the Democrats have a Senate majority in the traditional sense of the word, fifty-one percent or more. But the Senate has its own tradition, one that allows 40 Senators to force 60 votes to pass legislation. And this current crop of Republicans is using that tactic on any legislation more meaningful than, say, naming a post office or affirming already existing law.