Farewell

This blog is being closed and further updates will be featured on Florida Congress Watch. Check us out over there.

Bill Young's "Money Pit" Springs a Leak

From FDP:

Congressman Bill Young should be more careful with what he puts his name on. The Bill Young Reservoir, named for the Congressman, now needs a $125 million patch job. The Bill Young Reservoir project, which was once advertised as a solution for the water issues in the area, was recently described by the local Fox station in Tampa Bay as being "more widely regarded as a money pit".

"The Bill Young Reservoir has become a 'money pit' already expected to cost taxpayers an additional $125 million to fix," said Eric Jotkoff, Florida Democratic Party spokesman. "The people of Florida's 10th Congressional District deserve a leader in Congress who will work against government waste not Congressman Bill Young who builds monuments to his own outsized ego."

Background

The Bill Young Reservoir requires a $125 million patch job and KPMG consulting has been hired to be paid as much as $908,500 to help find the "best fix at the best price". [MyFox Tampa Bay, 10/19/09]

The consulting proposal from KPMG according to Tampa Bay City Councilman Charlie Miranda includes a $125 an hour charge for an administrative assistant. [MyFox Tampa Bay, 10/19/09]

MyFox Tampa Bay reports that the project was once touted as a solution for the water problems in the area, but is now "more widely regarded as a money pit." [MyFox Tampa Bay, 10/19/09]

The C.W. Bill Young Reservoir was completed in 2005 and named for the Congressman, he attended a ribbon cutting ceremony in October of 2005. [Water Matters Magazine, NovDec 2005]

Young Is Corrupt

The Center for Public Integrity reports Bill Young has given more than $20 million in earmarks to campaign contributors...

Why Would U.S. Rep. Bill Young Just Say ‘NO’ to Creating Nearly 95,000 Clean Energy Jobs in Florida?

From Americans United for Change:

Americans United for Change sharply criticized U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young for clinging to the failed policies of the past and just saying ‘NO’ to creating millions of clean energy jobs - including nearly 95,000 jobs in Florida - reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and curbing pollution that causes global warming. With no help from Rep. Young, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act late Friday with bipartisan support.

Tom McMahon, Acting Executive Director, Americans United for Change: “Why would Congressman Bill Young just say ‘NO’ to creating tens of thousands of new clean energy jobs in Florida? Why would he just say ‘NO’ to boosting our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil? Why would he just say ‘NO’ to protecting our environment by curbing pollution that causes global warming? The $18,000 Congressman Young has taken from the big oil companies opposed to these initiatives seems like such a small price to ignore the global warming crisis and turn his back on Florida families that are every day losing their jobs and feeling the pain at the pump during the worst economic recession in generations.”

Capitol Offense: Where Is Congress on the Public Option

Today, I'm joining with Democracy for America, Health Care for America Now and Open Left in supporting the Stand With Dr. Dean Campaign. The idea is to put pressure on our members of Congress to find out where they stand on health care reform and whether or not they support Dr. Howard Dean's call for a reform that includes a public option. See Dean's statement here:



Chris Bowers has suggested that we use crowdsourcing techniques to find out where everyone in Congress stands, which also helps pressure them to take the right stand. So here's the plan:

1. Contact your member of Congress via e-mail and ask them the following questions:

1--Do you support a public healthcare option as part of healthcare reform?
2--If so, do you support a public healthcare option that is available on day one?
3--Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable to Congress?
4--Do you support a public healthcare option that can bargain for rates from providers and big drug companies?

Don't call, do this via e-mail because we want a written response. If they are vague in answering these questions, contact them again and ask for clarification. If they don't answer you, keep contacting them (and have your friends and family contact them) until they do give you the answers.

2. Forward the responses to me at quinnelk@hotmail.com. We're going to publish an official response from as many of our members as possible so we know where everyone is. And we'll keep a track of who isn't responding so we know who to put pressure on. Similarly, once we find out who is on board and who isn't, we know who to put further pressure on down the road.

3. If you have your own blog, post the responses there, too. The more public pressure we can put on Congress, the easier we make it for them to do the right thing.

Here is the public contact info for each of our Florida members of Congress:

Rep Gus Bilirakis R FL-9 http://bilirakis.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212&Itemid=44

Rep Allen Boyd D FL-2 http://www.house.gov/boyd/zip_authen.html

Rep Corrine Brown D FL-3 http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/IMA/issue.shtml

Rep Virginia Brown-Waite R FL-5 https://forms.house.gov/brown-waite/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm

Rep Vern Buchanan R FL-13 http://buchanan.house.gov/contact.shtml

Rep Kathy Castor D FL-11 https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Rep Ander Crenshaw R FL-4 https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Rep Lincoln Diaz-Balart R FL-21 http://diaz-balart.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact

Rep Mario Diaz-Balart R FL-25 http://www.house.gov/formmariodiaz-balart/ic_zip_auth.htm

Rep Alan Grayson D FL-8 https://forms.house.gov/grayson/contact-form.shtml

Rep Alcee Hastings D FL-23 http://www.alceehastings.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=

Rep Ron Klein D FL-22 klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov

Rep Suzanne Kosmas D FL-24 https://forms.house.gov/kosmas/contact-form.shtml

Rep Connie Mack R FL-14 http://mack.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactConnie.ContactForm

Sen Melquiades Martinez R FL http://martinez.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorMartinez

Rep Kendrick Meek D FL-17 http://kendrickmeek.house.gov/contact1.shtml

Rep John Mica R FL-7 http://www.house.gov/mica/messageform.shtml

Rep Jeff Miller R FL-1 http://jeffmiller.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Sen Bill Nelson D FL http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Rep Bill Posey R FL-15 http://posey.house.gov/Contact/

Rep Adam Putnam R FL-12 http://adamputnam.house.gov/contact.shtml

Rep Tom Rooney R FL-16 https://forms.house.gov/rooney/contact-form.shtml

Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R FL-18 http://www.house.gov/writerep

Rep Clifford Stearns R FL-6 http://www.house.gov/writerep

Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz D FL-20 schultz.debbie.web@flsenate.gov

Rep Robert Wexler D FL-19 http://wexler.house.gov/email.shtml

Rep C. W. Bill Young R FL-10 bill.young@mail.house.gov

We'll also post the results of these at the WatchBlogs dedicated to each Republican member and at the Florida Democratic News blog.

You can also sign the petition on health care here.

I'm Kenneth Quinnell and I approve this message.

Read more on Florida politics at the Florida Progressive Coalition blog (http://flaprogressives.org) and the Florida Progressive Coalition Wiki (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/).

Tell the Party of No - "Yes We Can"

Thank You from DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen