Dent Retirement a Sign of Trump Wave in ‘18?
Politics, State & National September 12, 2017
Amidst all the talk among Democrats and the Media that the Trump election and presidency is a one off that will soon be remedied by a Democrat wave — there is actually evidence to suggest that just the opposite will ring true in 2018. For example, look at upstart Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Justin Simmons, who is running to be the GOP nominee in the 15th District. Simmons, 31, currently represents PA State House District 131 and was planning to mount a Conservative challenge to seven term incumbent Rep. Charlie Dent in the Spring 2018 Primary. That was until Dent abruptly announced his retirement, opening the door for 35 year old Ryan Mackenzie to enter the now open race, a race that could prove to be a battle between conflicting wings of the Republican Party.
Simmons recently called in to FYNTV’s Good Morning from the Office for an exclusive interview regarding his initial decision to run, the surprise of Dent’s retirement, and the differences between himself and Mackenzie.
Simmons made it clear from the beginning that his motivation to run was the dissatisfaction among Conservatives in the 15th District with Dent, as evidenced by the recent rally in protest of the seven term Congressman. According to Simmons, “just his voting record alone is bad enough… then going on MSNBC, CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times… being the go to Republican to rip Donald Trump and Conservatives,” had angered voters in the district won by both Donald Trump and Charlie Dent. However, Dent had spoken out aggressively against Trump during the campaign, refusing to endorse him and frequently criticizing him after his inauguration.
“I was never fully on board with Charlie, I always knew he was pro-choice and supported taxpayer funded abortion… but he was fiscally Conservative at first,” said Simmons, adding “as time went on he just got more Liberal.”
The news of Dent’s sudden announcement to retire was a surprise to the Simmons team, although he insists they were “ecstatic” and this it was a “victory” because it creates a chance to elect a Conservative representative. However, it has created a brand new dynamic with the entry of Mackenzie, setting up a race described by The Morning Call as a “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s race” between what they described as two longtime rivals. Although Simmons dismissed the “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s” comparison he did elaborate on what he sees as the differences between him and the only other declared candidate.
Ryan and I have worked together on a lot of good issues. The difference between Ryan and I, is Ryan is establishment and I am not. I got my foray into politics by taking on a Liberal Republican, I took on the party and I took on the establishment. Ryan Mackenzie, he came into politics, his Dad was the former chair of the party, he was very connected. When he first ran for State House in the 134th District… there was a special election and the party hierarchy greased the skids for Ryan, they cleared the field in the special election for him, he hasn’t had an opponent since.
Simmons also described Mackenzie as Charlie Dent’s hand picked successor, which means he will be the beneficiary of the PA GOP fundraising network. However, Simmons described it as a negative because it means Mackenzie would be beholden to the moderate Republican structure of the state party and not the Trump Coalition that delivered PA to a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in a generation.
This race will be one of many that pits establishment Republicans against the new, Trump Republicans. In his recent interview with 60 Minutes, former White House strategist Steve Bannon made clear his intentions to target establishment Republicans in the 2018 Primary races. This has already manifested itself in races like the special election for Senate in Alabama, where incumbent Sen. Luther Strange was leading in polling until Bannon endorsed his opponent, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore.
What’s more, the race in Pennsylvania will pit two millennial candidates, Mackenzie is 35 and Simmons is 31.
You can see Simmons’ entire interview here:
Lessons From History
Opinion August 21, 2017
An interesting little piece of comparative history is required here. In 1933, almost one month after Herr Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, the German Parliament, the Reichstag, burned to the ground. A young Dutch Communist named Marinus van der Lubbe, was allegedly caught at the fire scene, interrogated, and admitted he set the fire for which admission he was quickly executed. Van der Lubbe also had diminished capacity, mentally. The fire provided the Nazi Party the provocation it needed to round up the usual suspects (Communists) and politically implicate them in a conspiracy to burn the Reichstag. In turn, the Communist claimed the Nazi’s burned it down as a pretext to eliminate the German Communist Party. They may have been right but, like Charlottesville, the animosity only rose to disastrous levels and nobody really knows.
Advance 84 years to Charlottesville, Va. James Alex Fields Jr., a young man of diminished capacity, with a short arrest history of beating his invalid mother, drove his fathers car into a crowd of demonstrators killing one woman and injuring others. He was immediately arrested.
Unlike the New Germany under the rising Nazism of 1933, the real fascists at Charlottesville,Va. were the black clad ‘antifas’ with hoodies and face masks who challenged the few white supremacists idiots there defending the removal of a statue of Robert. E. Lee. Where did the antifa’s come from so quickly? That looks like a similar provocation. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun. History repeats itself, not in exact detail but in method and intents. The Left’s idea is to charge white supremacists with “hate” crimes like Hitler did the German Communists and, as long as the “Left” has the media, they will continue to do so.
Herr Hitler wanted a Nazi Germany legally elected by popular vote and, regardless of his
methods, he got it. He wanted to abolish democracy legally, under German law, and when President, Von Hindenburg died, he got that too. Germany officially and legally became a fascist state under National Socialism with Herr Hitler as its leader. We know the end result. It took a then non involved America to get involved and help the allies defeat the fascist Axis. The Democrat Party, long ago suborned by the Communist/Socialist Party USA, saw that and realized that America’s quick ability to rally against fascism in WW2 had to be neutralize today.
That’s when the those old “Yellow-dog Democrats” started quitting the party and become Republicans. Yet, Democrats, still feasting off the image of FDR, maintained an electoral hold over Americans until Reagan. Until then, the Democrat party worked to suborn America and recreate it into a new socialist image and, there has been turmoil ever since.
The one big difference between America under years of Democrat political hegemony and Germany under Naziism, is that Americans had a 2nd Amendment and still do, a danger to fascism that must be eliminated at all costs. They keep trying.
Now, a non-political but totally Nationalistic figure to an extreme, Donald Trump, is President and promising to destroy all that work the Left has done to prevent America from ever again being strong enough to stop fascism. Now we have it openly on our own streets, coming from the left under the guise of Vigilantism, demanding changes that the vote can’t get for them. If they can’t change it, destroy it; demonize real American Nationalism as a remnant of Confederate White Supremacy, but destroy it so they can move on to their One World Socialist Order.
Remember, freedom is the goal, the Constitution is the way. Now, go get ‘em!
Rep. Collins: “Speaker Will Keep Us Through Christmas” for Tax Bill
GMFTO, News, Politics October 16, 2017
9th Congressional district Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) spoke exclusively to FYNTV on Friday’s edition of Good Morning From the Office. Collins spoke on a multitude of issues, from the executive actions regarding Obamacare, to his personal crusade for adequate internet service and competition in rural Northeast Georgia. However, his remarks regarding tax reform were quite revealing. According to Collins, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) has informed House members that he will keep the House in session, if necessary, throughout the Christmas recess in order to pass tax reform.
The tax question is asked around the 11:00 minute mark of the FULL INTERVIEW below.
BKP: From the House side, will we get tax reform?
Rep. Collins: Yes. I feel very comfortable, in fact, it is the top priority for us in leadership, and the speaker. In fact, the speaker put us on notice yesterday (Thursday) that he would keep us through Christmas or any other holiday to make sure it gets done this year. It was very disturbing to hear some members of the Senate saying “Well, we gotta negotiate, it may be the first of the year” No. It’s time to get behind the American people, time to get behind the President and pass tax reform. It’s way past due.
Senator David Perdue: The RAISE Act Should Be Part Of Congress’ Immigration Solution
Politics September 6, 2017
9th District Congressional Candidates on FYN’s Candidate Day
Election, Politics May 23, 2016
Mike Scupin, Roger Fitzpatrick, Paul Broun, Doug Collins, and Bernie Fontaine speak on FYN’s Candidate Day for the citizens on the eve of the election day.
Congressional Panel 4/22/16
Election, Politics April 24, 2016
BKP sits down with 4 Congressional Candidates to talk about issues facing America and Georgia.
Roger Fitzpatrick 4/11/16
Election, Politics April 11, 2016
Roger Fitzpatrick, candidate for the 9th district, calls into Good Morning From the Office!
Morning Monologue 4/7/16
Election, Politics April 7, 2016
See BKP’s full Morning Monologue with Doug Collins and the 9th District.
You can also see the interview on its own further below.
Paul Broun responds to Doug Collins Radio Attack Ad
Election, Featured, Featured Stories, Politics March 10, 2016
Congressman Doug Collins, Representative from the 9th District in Georgia, is wasting no time going after his opponent, Dr. Paul Broun, former Representative from the 10th District.
Broun, along with Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine, and Mike Scupin, has announced his candidacy challenging Collins in the 9th District congressional race. Collins has not acknowledged the other candidates but his campaign released a scorching radio ad about Paul Broun.
Below is part of the transcript from the ad posted by the AJC:
Collins: “I’m Doug Collins and I approve this message….”
Narrator: “Career politician Paul Broun. Former congressman Broun’s hypocrisy is bad, but Paul Broun’s repeated abuse of the taxpayers’ money is even worse.
“Paul Broun claims to be an outsider. But Paul Broun’s been on the ballot 12 times in 26 years for six different political positions. He’s so desperate to further his political career, Broun’s now campaigning for Congress in a district he doesn’t even live in.
“While Paul Broun’s hypocrisy knows no bounds, Broun’s abuse of taxpayer’s money is even worse. In Congress, Broun nearly bankrupted his office budget with an excessive amount of taxpayer-funded mail.And now, former congressman Paul Broun is under a federal criminal investigation into his use of taxpayer money to aid his failed U.S. Senate campaign.
“Career politician Paul Broun’s hypocrisy is bad, but Paul Broun’s abuse of the taxpayers’ money is even worse.”
Broun made the following statement to FetchYourNews.com concerning the attack radio ad from the Collins Campaign:
The ad is false! I’m a doctor, not a career politician. I have never misused government funds. I am not and have not to my knowledge ever been under a criminal investigation. I would expect a Southern Baptist preacher not to do this (ad). The last time I checked God’s Ten Commandments are still in effect. The 9th says Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Maybe God told Mr Collins that The Big 10 don’t apply to him or his campaign.
Since both Dr. Paul Broun and Congressman Doug Collins are Christians it will be interesting to see how much religious mud will be slung during this campaign.
Click to listen to Radio ad posted by AJC
Morning Monologue 2/3/16
Opinion February 3, 2016
Rush Limbaugh wrong about his Iowa Assessment and Political outrage in Congress.
Georgia Congressional Delegation Calls for Federal Review of Proposed State Department Training Facility
Business, News, State & National July 8, 2015Cite concerns over lack of accountability, transparency in decision-making process
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) along with several member of Georgia’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation are calling for a federal review of a Department of State proposal to construct a costly new training center from scratch in Virginia instead of using an established federal training facility in Georgia that could save taxpayers millions of dollars.
The proposed Virginia location for a training center for Foreign Service personnel would require taxpayers to fund the construction of an entirely new facility – a decision that the Office of Management and Budget admits was made by the Obama administration without the necessary cost-benefit analysis of options.
Senators Isakson and Perdue are calling on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a complete, independent analysis of all options for meeting the State Department’s training needs, including augmenting an existing facility – the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, or FLETC for short, in Brunswick, Ga. – that the Georgia delegation argues could achieve significant cost savings.
“As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we want to improve diplomatic security training efforts in a cost-effective, timely manner,” writes the Georgia Congressional delegation in a letter to the GAO. “We believe a thorough and impartial review of proposals is necessary to determine the option that best addresses State’s needs in a fiscally responsible manner.”
In a 2008 report to Congress, the State Department determined it needed to consolidate its existing security training facilities to improve instructional efficiency and to provide training to an estimated 9,000-10,000 Diplomatic Security and other State personnel.
The Department of State announced its interest in moving forward with plans to construct the new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, known as FAST-C, in Blackstone, Va.
The State Department’s initial proposal for the construction of FAST-C was estimated to cost over $950 million. The State Department later reduced the scope of the project and lowered the estimated cost to $413 million.
Senators Isakson, Perdue and members of the Georgia delegation are calling for a thorough and impartial review of the State Department’s existing proposals for its training center given the vast cost difference based on estimates by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security between constructing the facility from scratch in Blackstone, Va., at the cost of $413 million, compared to estimated $272 million to retrofit the existing training center in Georgia.
“We have concerns that this scaled down version leaves critical infrastructure needs, such as boarding, medical, dining, and recreational facilities unaddressed,” they continued.“We are also concerned that costs would likely increase significantly after the initial groundbreaking to address these gaps in infrastructure, and potentially additional training needs.
“The proposals we have seen for FLETC and FAST-C vary considerably in cost, scope, and projected completion time. We believe that due to these significant differences, an impartial review is imperative before the administration moves forward with either option. As such, we respectfully request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review both State’s FAST-C proposal and the DHS proposal to expand FLETC’s Glynco site to meet State’s requirements.”
A copy of the letter from Senators Isakson and Perdue along with U.S. Representatives Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA-01), Sanford Bishop, (D-GA-02), Lynn Westmoreland, (R-GA-03), Tom Price, (R-GA-06), Rob Woodall, (R-GA-07), Austin Scott, (R-GA-08), Jody Hice, (R-GA-10), Rick Allen, (R-GA-12), Barry Loudermilk, (R-GA-11), David Scott, (D-GA-13), and Tom Graves, (R-GA-14), to U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro is available here.
Background:
In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) submitted a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to service State’s training needs by augmenting the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), in Brunswick, Ga., which provides security training for DHS and 95 federal partner organizations, including the State Department, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies. In its 2013 proposal to OMB, DHS included the construction of new buildings, weapons ranges, and driving tracks to meet the requirements of State’s original FAST-C master plan. FLETC estimated that this new construction would cost $272 million. By leveraging its existing facilities to meet State’s training needs, FLETC estimates its proposal could also achieve significant cost savings over the long term.
In April 2014, the Administration confirmed that it planned to adopt the State Department’s proposal to build FAST-C in Blackstone, Va. However, in a meeting with Senate staff in May 2015, OMB explained that the State Department never provided the necessary information to OMB, or to FLETC, to allow for an accurate comparison of the two options despite OMB making the specific request that it do so. In that same meeting, OMB stated that the State Department has “artificially constrained the analysis” of the FAST-C proposal, and that OMB ultimately chose to simply defer the decisions to the State Department. It appears therefore that OMB failed to conduct a sufficiently rigorous analysis, in significant part due to a lack of cooperation by the State Department.
