THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 44 - SHE VOTES AGAINST DUTIES AGAINST ARTIFICIALLY INFLATED CHINESE PRODUCTS COSTING AMERICAN JOBS

This is Lynn Jenkins, she does not represent us

China has been propping up its currency. Lynn Jenkins apparently thinks that is okay. What are the effects of China's currency policies? First a little detail about Chinese money. The Chinese yuan is like the British pound, it is the unit of accounting. The Chinese renminbi is like the British sterling, it is the unit of currency.

According to the International Monetary Fund, China's exchange rate policy contributes to large trade deficits in the United States. The overvalued Chinese currency has a negative impact on economic growth and job creation. The Chinese are placing a drag on international trade policies, making it more difficult for countries to import and export goods. The overvalued Chinese yuan depresses interest rates and may be a contributing, if not exacerbating, factor in the recent global economic crisis. The Chinese policy distorts investment patterns as China looks for overseas investments of accumulated American dollars to keep the renminbi undervalued.

One economist, Peter Morici, formerly the chief economist of the International Trade Commission, said the U.S. trade deficit with China will reduce American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by more than $400 billion.

The 2008 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Paul Krugman, estimates that China's exchange rate policy reduces American GDP by 1.4 to 1.5 percentage points each year and equals 1.4 to 1.5 million fewer American jobs each year.

The budgetary implications of H.R. 2378 estimate that this bill will produce $125 million in revenue, from increased customs duties, for the period of fiscal years 2011 - 2020, while costing $41 million for salaries, expenses, & benefits for additional staff. The bill does not trigger the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The pay-go considerations show the bill increases revenues and does not involve direct spending .

Although discussions have been held on this topic with China, they refuse to budge from their position.

So what part of Chinese monetary policy does Lynn Jenkins favor? Does she like the cheap lead laden toys dumped on our kids? Does she like America being a debtor nation to China? Does she favor Chinese people working rather than American people working?

To summarize China's monetary policy gives the United States large trade deficits which means it is costing us more money than it is worth to do business with China; economic growth and job creation are stunted; international trade is negatively impacted restricting the flow of goods between nations; Chinese monetary policy made the global economic crisis worse; China is investing American dollars to keep the Chinese renminbi artificially cheap.

So what to do? The House of Representatives has answered with H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which contains sections amending Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to clarify that countervailing duties may be imposed to address subsidies relating to a fundamentally undervalued currency.

What could keep a fiscally responsible incumbent Republican Representative to Congress from voting for H.R. 2378? Maybe it is the Chamber of Congress' China Connection.

The U.S. Chamber of Congress endorsed Lynn Jenkins' candidacy on June 29th.

The problem with the Chamber's endorsement is that the Chamber lobbied for TARP and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as that legislation was necessary to keep Chamber members on life support until the most critical part of the economic crisis passed. Lynn Jenkins is opposed to the Stimulus, and the TARP predates her tenure in the House.

The other huge problem with the Chamber's endorsement is that MSNBC and other sources were reporting last night that Chamber membership is now open to foreign corporations. Those corporations are sending their checks directly into the same Chamber of Commerce checking account the Chamber uses to pay for attack ads against Democratic candidates.

Remember when Associate Justice Sam Alito retorted to President Obama's remark that the decision in Citizen's United would not permit foreign corporations from influencing American elections? Well here it is. The Chamber of Commerce needs to be investigated by the Department of Justice for being a front for Chinese, Indian, and other foreign corporations attempting to buy influence in American politics.

The Republicans are voting to keep tax credits that encourage shipping American jobs offshore. The Republicans are voting to keep the import duties down on Chinese products, costing America direct revenues from customs and duties, costing America at least $400 billion in GDP, and costing America close to a 1,500,000 American jobs each year.

Ironically, Lynn Jenkins claims she should be reelected because she has been fighting for jobs. Well, she voted against American jobs when she voted against H.R. 2378, roll call 554. She voted against keeping American jobs in America when she voted closing tax loopholes that let American jobs get shipped overseas, that was H.R. 1586 the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act of 2010. Some record!

THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 38 - SHE VOTES AGAINST JOBS AND FOR TAX BREAKS TO SHIP JOBS OVERSEAS

Lynn Jenkins didn't vote to keep American jobs in America. H.R.5982, the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2010 failed to get the 2/3 majority needed to pass, thanks to Lynn Jenkins and the Party of No. This was a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of certain information reporting requirements to corporations and to payments for property, to eliminate loopholes which encourage companies to move operations offshore, and for other purposes.

Maybe you, like me, think that eliminating these loopholes in the tax code is a good idea. C.P.A. Lynn Jenkins voted to let American corporations move jobs out of America, and keep the tax break too! That was roll call 514.

Kansas' schools are hiring teachers. That is not thanks to the State Legislature making more money available for our kids. Teachers are being hired because of Public Law 111- 226, H.R. 1586, now known as the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act.

The Senate returned H.R. 1586, the Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 to the House with Amendments. Two Rules were brought bringing the Senate's amendments to the House. Lynn Jenkins voted against those Rules, on roll call votes 516 and 517. The Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 passed the House by resolving the differences with the Senate on roll call vote 518. Lynn Jenkins voted no.

Now remember H.R. 5982? That bill was grafted into H.R. 1586 and these jobs that Lynn Jenkins voted against are largely paid for by closing the tax loopholes that let American businesses ship jobs overseas.

RESCISSION

Unobligated funds, that's the money appropriated to Federal Departments and Agencies which has not been spent. Well, H.R. 1586 took back a whole slew of that money through a series of rescissions. This bill was paid for by using unspent money. $20 Million from the Department of Energy. $100 Million from the General Services Administration. $6.8 Million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. $28.6 Million from the E.P.A. $11.2 Million from the National Parks. $157 Million from funds allocated to the Commissioner of Social Security, making other funds available through another section of preexisting law. $92.7 Million from the Department of Education. $506 Million from the Department of Defense (mostly construction). $6.1 Million from the Department of Veterans Affairs. $5 Million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $120 Million from the Department of State. $7 Million from the Department of Transportation. $2.2 Billion from unobligated funds to the States from Federal Aid to Highways.

The Democrats looked at the unused money and put it to work making Air Travel safer, Social Security more dependable, and Teachers available to our children. Lynn Jenkins said no.

When H.R. 1586 first appeared it was a bill to tax the bonuses paid from TARP funds. Lynn Jenkins voted against that version of the bill. Lynn Jenkins was one of only 93 Members of the House who thought it was a bad idea to tax the big bonuses of bad bankers who got TARP funds. The original version of H.R. 1586 passed on roll call 143 by a margin of 328 to 93.

Now Lynn Jenkins is asking where the jobs are and calling the Sunset Provisions of the Republican Tax Breaks for the Richest of the Rich a Democratic tax hike. What a load of manure! Lynn Jenkins repeatedly voted against the Summer Jobs bill until the bill finally passed before Congress' summer recess. That was July 27th and the bill was H.R. 4899. We discussed that bill back on July 9th. Republicans held the Summer Jobs bill until the end of July so they could rant about a lack of jobs. Talk about brass.

Now those folks who got those huge bonuses paid for by the taxpayers courtesy the TARP funds are the same people Lynn Jenkins thinks should not have their tax breaks see a sunset.

Lynn Jenkins does not represent us.

THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 9 - VOTING AGAINST JOBS PLUS A REVIEW OF RECENT ECONOMIC ACTS

This is Lynn Jenkins, she does not represent us

The AMERICAN JOBS AND CLOSING TAX LOOPHOLES ACT of 2010, H.R. 4213, is a bill about putting Americans back to work. House Republicans love to tell us that the STIMULUS failed. They refuse to be honest and come clean with the truth about Republican economic policies which deregulated Wall Street and the lax efforts over at the Securities and Exchange Commission. What happened is that Republican policies loosed the fox in the henhouse, greed ran amuck.

Of course it is hard to get the facts straight when you've decided not to participate in governing the nation and all your efforts are doubled down in demagoguery. Let's remind the Republicans, that means you Lynn Jenkins, of some important events.

The AMERICAN REINVESTMENT AND RECOVERY ACT (ARRA) was passed shortly after President Obama came to office. He signed the bill February 17, 2009.

In the final year of the Bush Presidency a number of laws were enacted to curb the economy's critical condition. Chief among these were the ECONOMIC STIMULUS ACT OF 2008, the EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008, and the TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF PROGRAM (TARP),

The BUSH ECONOMIC STIMULUS ACT provided economic stimuli for the economy. It provided for, inter alia, ◊ tax rebates to low and middle income families, ◊ tax incentives to increase business investment, ◊ and an increase on the limits imposed on mortgages eligible for purchase by FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC.

Then came BUSH'S EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008 is commonly called the BAILOUT. The Act proposed by Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, provided up to $700 Billion to back banks in crisis as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. The subprime mortgage crisis is a result of Republican efforts to, as former President Ronald Reagan was want to say: "Get Government Out of Our Boardrooms!" Those regulations, like Glass-Steagall, were developed after the madness of laissez-faire economic policies brought about the Great Depression.

The TARP legislation enacted by President Bush used the taxpayers' dime to purchase the assets of financially troubled Big Banks and Insurance Companies. Originally thought to cost upwards of $356 Billion, as of April 12th the cost was down to $89 Billion.

When President Obama came to office the economy was in shambles. goals of the ARRA include ◊ Preserving and creating jobs. ◊ assist those most impacted by the recession, ◊ provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health, ◊ invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits, ◊ stabilize State and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases.

According to the Wikipedia summary, ARRA specified that 37% of the package is to be devoted to tax cuts equaling $288 billion and $144 billion or 18% is allocated to state and local fiscal relief (more than 90% of the state aid is going to Medicaid and education). 45% or $357 billion is allocated to federal social programs and federal spending programs.

The success of these measures in keeping America out of another Great Depression, albeit in a tremendously difficult recession, can be seen from the jobs chart below.

Red = Bush & Blue = Obama

Now back to H.R. 4213, the AMERICAN JOBS AND CLOSING TAX LOOPHOLES ACT. This bill provides for Tax Credits for Alternative Fuels; Individual Tax Relief; Low Income Housing Credits; Business Tax Relief; Temporary Disaster Relief Programs-Nationally, for the New York Liberty Zone, for the GO-Zone for states affected by Hurricane Katrina, and for Midwestern Disaster Areas; Unemployment Insurance; Health - for provisions affecting COBRA, pushes back mandatory Medicare limitations on medically necessary therapy caps, Medicare provisions for ambulances, extends reimbursement for Medicare Part B, and continues the Erickson Advantage Continuing Care Retirement Community program; extends Child and Family programs under Title IV of the Social Security Act; provides funds for Farmers experiencing loss from disasters including drought and flooding;  Provides for Pension Funding; and Homebuyer Credits. This list was not inclusive, this is a major piece of legislation. Oh, and by the way, it is a PAYGO bill.

We've heard from the Republicans about no jobs, all Wall Street and no Main Street. Time and again Lynn Jenkins and the Party of NO votes for the Big Banks and against the common folk. This is another one of those times. On roll call 943 the bill advanced by a vote of 241 to 181. Lynn Jenkins voted no. The bill passed the Senate by a margin of 62 to 36 on record vote number 48. Kansas' Senators Brownback and Roberts voted against it.

The recession is not over yet. H.R. 4213 is needed to keep us going in the right direction.  The bill remains in the Senate where it is being subjected to a number of amendments.

Yesterday the Senate rejected an amendment by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to eliminate big oil and gas company tax loopholes, and to use the resulting increase in revenues to reduce the deficit and to invest in energy efficiency and conservation.Sam Brownback backed Big Oil while Pat Roberts was a no show on the vote.

The Senate also rejected an amendment from Louisiana's Republican Senator David Vitter, whose stated intent ensure that any new revenues to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund will be used for the purposes of the fund and not used as a budget gimmick to offset deficit spending. Sam Brownback voted for this amendment while Pat Roberts was AWOL.

The Senate did pass an amendment to H.R. 4213 by Minnesota's Democratic Senator Al Franken.  That measure creates an office of Homeowner Advocate in the Treasury Department to assist homeowners with foreclosure issues.