Peter King Flips Off Labor On EFCA

New York is still a big labor state despite years of declining activity. That decrease in membership is attributable to years of anti-union legislation brought on by conservatives (in both parties) that put Corporate America ahead of the working and middle class. Yet in New York, local politicians have generally supported unions, even on the Republican side. Congressman Peter King of Long Island tried favoring unions in spite of his party's leadership in Washington.

Now organizations like the AFL-CIO and SEIU among others are pushing to enact the best pro-union legislation in decades. Yet Peter King, who had initially voiced his support for his union friends, has now flipped on them. The unions are predictably pissed off.

From Newsday:

Long Island labor-union organizers, reacting to Rep. Peter King's about-face on the proposed Employees Free Choice Act, are planning to demonstrate at his district office tomorrow in Massapequa Park. Unions say they back the proposal, which King supported and even helped sponsor in the past, as a way to make it easier for them to organize using only card signatures. King has said that economic conditions of the moment make it a bad idea. President Obama is expected to sign the measure if it reaches his desk. The demonstrators are expected to wave -- you guessed it -- flip flops decrying King's new position. King's withdrawal of support came prior to the same move by Sen. Arlen Specter -- the Pennsylvania Republican who created national shockwaves Tuesday by quitting the GOP for the Democrats. (Will he switch back now?)

Of course King isn't the first politican to go back on his EFCA support but every lost vote is an important one. With every other issue getting more play in the news, unions and their advocates have not been able to make enough of an impact on legislators and their tenuous feeling on helping the rights of workers wanting to unionize. With enough pressure, this movement can get back on its feet and make sure Congress passes, and the President signs the legislation.

Peter King Picks A Fight With Photographers

As a legislator, it is your job to introduce, debate and vote on legislation (primary job duties at least) that affect your constituents at home. Of course, not everyone can introduce important bills such as the EFCA, the economic stimulus bill or the Lily Ledbetter Act. Peter King, in service to his Long Island district, wants cell phone cameras to click. Yes, this really is a bill pending in the United States House of Representatives.

From OpenCongress:

January 9, 2009

Mr. KING of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

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A BILL

To require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Camera Phone Predator Alert Act’.

SEC. 2. FINDING.

Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone.

SEC. 3. AUDIBLE SOUND STANDARD.

(a) Requirement- Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any mobile phone containing a digital camera that is manufactured for sale in the United States shall sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone. A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound.

(b) Enforcement by Consumer Product Safety Commission- The requirement in subsection (a) shall be treated as a consumer product safety standard promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056). A violation of subsection (a) shall be enforced by the Commission under section 19 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2068).

I thought it was the Republican party that was supposed to be against the Nanny state, no? Congressman King's intentions might be good, but the requirement is not only hard to enforce, but ridiculous and does not only apply to those taking pictures for perverted reasons. Plenty of photographers prefer their digital cameras to be on silent to get the best shots. As this guy said, maybe we should all wear bells around our necks or perhaps put alarms on all the security cameras that film us all day long. Seriously Mr. King, why don't you put your mind to something useful and stop playing on people's fears.

Peter King And Pay To Play Politics Does Not Equal A Senator

Congressman Peter King, one of three Republicans left in New York's Congressional delegation has been a big talker lately. While Paterson jumbled the appointment process of Caroline Kennedy Andrew Cuomo Kristen Gillibrand, King was in the press talking himself up and his Democratic adversaries down. He's thinking of running for the Senate when the special election is held next year, but he has a lot of hurdles to jump through first, especially those he's created himself.

From The NY Daily News:

U.S. Rep. Pete King funneled $3 million in taxpayer money to a campaign donor for custom manhole covers that Con Ed said could be dangerous, a Daily News probe found.

The Long Island Republican sponsored federal dollars to pay for about 5,000 locking manhole covers designed to thwart terrorists. They would cover only about 2% of Con Ed's manholes in the city.

Con Ed said no but that didn't have to stop Manhole Barrier Security Systems (of Long Island of course) from getting their contract. Now how would you want to get around Con Ed's refusal? Hmmm...

The company CEO, his wife, some relatives and lobbyists contributed $16,700 to King as he was trying to earmark funds for the firm, records show.

CEO Michael Manoussos first gave $4,000 to King beginning in August 2006. In March 2007, King requested money for the covers. That year, the effort failed.

Manhole Barrier tried again last year. This time, Manoussos got relatives and lobbyists to kick in as well, records show.

He and his wife, Dawn, each gave the maximum allowed, $4,600, on Feb. 7. Two company lobbyists donated on the same day, and two other Manoussos relatives gave another $1,500 shortly after.

So the company stirred the magic ingredients in the corrupt pot of one Peter King and lo and behold, the next month the Long Island Congressman had a $3 million dollar contract for them. That is how things work in Congress when the system is utterly broken. Of course Congressman King worded the request a little bit differently when he submitted for the money, but his buddies at Manhole Security got what they wanted. It really is amazing what a few thousand dollars can get you in the game of pay to play. I can't wait for King to answer the questions surround this as he opens his Senatorial bid.

Peter King Is Clearly Ignorant About Sarah Palin And Political Parties

While at the Republican convention this week in St. Paul, Minnesota, Congressman King (R-Long Island) has been good about spouting the recently generated talking points for veep choice Sarah Palin. You know, "Obama bad, Palin good, woo hoo!" In the middle though he got off topic and talked about his admiration of Joe Lieberman, and forgot who was in what party when, and where they are now.

From The Daily Politics:

Rep. Peter King revealed this morning that he shared John McCain's reported interest in having Sen. Joe Lieberman run for vice president on the GOP line, but said he understands why the party's conservative base wouldn't stand for that.

"Actually, I was a strong supporter of Joe Lieberman myself; Joe Lieberman's a great guy," King said. "But there is a reality of selecting someone from another party as vice president at the Republican convention. So, I don't think that it's unreasonable that people resisted that."

Well Peter you are correct, Joe is technically in another party, his own. The problem concerns Sarah Palin and her party, or shall I say, parties. While she is currently a Republican, she was part of the Independence Party not too long ago and still keeps ties with them. In case you haven't heard, the Independence Party in Alaska advocates for secession from the United States. Is that something for people to resist as well Peter? So not only is she a corrupt, book-burning ideologue, she's a supporter of a party that favors Alaska seceding from the United States.

Now does that mesh with McCain's new "Country, First" poster?

Peter King Sticks Up For His Buddy Vito

There is nothing like a good sense of camaraderie among office co-workers. If I get caught drunk driving with a BAC twice the legal limit, father a love child and hide it for three years from my legal family 250 miles away and act like a complete hypocrite at my job, I want a friend like Peter King. After laying out some of the facts in diatribe, he decided to get some "perspective."

From Peter King's Op-Ed in the NY Post:

Let's get some perspective: Presidents such as John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson had extramarital affairs; Grover Cleveland and (it's now believed) Thomas Jefferson fathered children out of wedlock. Objective journalists would look at the entire person and not present a trivialized, prurient caricature.

The Vito Fossella that I know is a hardworking congressman who addresses issues seriously, while still holding onto his engaging, bantering sense of humor. And - in a field full of egotists and prima donnas - he's a congressman who's called Vito by his staff and anyone who walks up to him on the street.

I recall being with him on President Bill Clinton's 1998 trip to Northern Ireland at a key juncture in the Irish peace process. At one point, I went with Vito and his wife Mary Pat to a low-income Catholic neighborhood in West Belfast, where we met with a bunch of Irish kids who'd never before encountered a guy called Vito. He couldn't have been more gracious or cordial - talking, smiling and posing for pictures with kid after kid.

For perspective's sake, Vito Fossella is no Jefferson, Kennedy or LBJ. Name me one thing of value to our country that he's done in ten years. No, talking, smiling and posing for pictures does not count, even if it is West Belfast. While Jefferson did father children with his slaves, he is also credited with things like.....helping to write the Declaration of Independence and the U.S.-f**king-Constitution! Vito has been a sycophantic follower of George Bush for the last eight years. He's proud of his vote to defend marriage. He's proud to support the war in Iraq and to lower taxes for the rich by screwing the poor (including many Staten Islanders who have had their homes foreclosed on).

Spare me your "Vito is a good man" crap Mr. King. Congressman Fossella is as much a scumbag in his personal life as he has been working in Congress.

Vito Fossella Shows Us Why He Must Be Kicked Out Of Congress

I always thought that when an incumbent was running for re-election to Congress, he or she would say the things that people tend to agree with. Kissing babies, advocating for helping little old ladies across the street, upholding the Constitution, you know, the important things. Apparently Vito Fossella wants out of his job representing Staten Island and is determined to let us know it. Fellow Republican Peter King penned an Op-Ed in the NY Daily News today to call for the Democrats to pass a bill that violates the rule of law and our Constitution, all in one shot. How would one go about that? By passing retroactive immunity and lying about the situation to the readers of the Daily News.

From The NY Daily News:

Over the past two months, the House of Representatives has found the time to pass legislation on such pressing issues as establishing a National Watermelon Month and designating 2008 as the International Year of the Reef.

But legislative leaders haven't found time to restore one of the most important tools in the war on terrorism - a tool the Democrats took away from our intelligence officials in February when they failed to modernize the law that governs the surveillance of terrorists overseas.

The clock is ticking with more urgency every day.

Since right after Sept. 11, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agents have had the authority to quickly monitor foreign-to-foreign communications of terrorists without having to first obtain a court order. Knowing in real time exactly what the enemy is going to do has helped foil numerous attacks, including the Heathrow Airport plot last year, which could have claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people.

Yet, 77 days ago, House leaders allowed the law to lapse. There's a clear way to break the deadlock: embrace the Senate bill passed in a bipartisan fashion by the Democratic-controlled Senate. That bill would close the terrorist loopholes, protect our civil liberties and also provide liability protections for the telecommunications companies that have played a key role in helping the government defend our nation since 9/11. We hear lots of talk about bipartisanship these days, but the party in power seems unwilling to practice it on the most pressing national security issue of the moment.

With our pleas for action ignored, we have been forced to take the extraordinary step of organizing a discharge petition. Once a majority of the House signs onto the effort, the bill would bypass normal procedure and go directly to the House floor for a vote. We began circulating the petition last week. So far, 184 members have joined our effort. That's 34 short of the magic number of 218.

So they couldn't even get the signatures of the entire Republican caucus. That is not good for the case, just for starters. The statements up above and in the rest of the Op-Ed are arguments of the worst sort, meaning false and misleading. First off, passing Watermelon Month does not tear away at our system of laws and open, accountable government. Passing the old Senate legislation to let telco companies off the hook would.

They also fail to mention that anti-terrorism activity is still on going and will do so for several more months. There is plenty of time to allow for legislation that will continue protecting Americans while holding those that acted illegally along with the President in monitoring American citizens without using the proper channels, such as obtaining court orders. When you spy for the President and you feel good about your culpability in the matter, then let the case go to trial and stop hiding behind George Bush.

Peter King and Vito Fossella try to dismiss themselves of being fearmongers, but that is exactly what they are doing. It is written throughout the Op-Ed. They do not care for following the rule of law and are willing accomplices to letting George Bush, AT&T, Verizon, etc go free from prosecution that they so justly deserve. That makes them criminals too and for that both need to be kicked out of office by the people that live in their district.

I would love to see Peter King lose in November, but the demographics in that part of Long Island are not in our favor yet. However in Staten Island, there is a sea change going on and we have a great opportunity to show Fossella the door. If you disagree with the Republicans desire to revamp FISA to let Bush and telecommunication giants, then it is time to come together and rid Staten Island of the stench Vito Fossella creates in the Borough, New York City and in the Congress itself.

Peter King, Long Island's Favorite Bigot

Although he might not have as good a shot at being kicked out office as his friend Vito in Staten Island, Peter King needs to go. The guy is Giuliani's Homeland Security guy and he actually opens his mouth and says shit like there are "too many mosques in this country." What happened to freedom of religion, sounds more like freedom for Peter's religion, that intolerant bastard. Of course he now claims he was taken out of context.

Who do you believe, King or the video:

Over 5 1/2 Years Later....

New York City finally has something in the works so that we can have WMD experts based here downstate. The "Civil Support Team" is already based in areas like Boise, Topeka and upstate NY because those are key targets for terrorists, ya know? The two Republican Congressmen from the area, Vito Fossella and Peter King announced at a little press conference to strut their stuff. They claim to have jumped several Congressional hurdles to introduce this, but it seems like a no-brainer to have brought more security to the NYC area immediately following 9/11.

From WCBS-TV:

The key move was an amendment, offered by Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., of Watertown, to the House's 2008 Defense Authorization bill, providing funding for a second team in Gotham. What remains is for Congress to approve adding two CST teams to the 55 now in existence nationwide and add more money for fiscal 2008.

The teams are widely scattered with at least one in every state and territory, in such locations as Indianapolis; St. Paul, Minn.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Boise, Idaho; Phoenix; Topeka, Kan.; Honolulu; Augusta, Ga.; Stark, Fla.; Rapid City, S.D., Tacoma, Wash.; Smyrna, Tenn.; and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

New York's Congressional delegation has complained vigorously to the Bush administration that funds for homeland security were being funneled to states and small cities where the actual terrorist threat was minimal compared to New York, where planes hijacked by terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

Why didn't the Republican controlled Congress with Bush flying high at the time swiftly enact this rather inexpensive program? The truth is Bush and his buddies may like to talk tough about terrorism, but in reality do very little about it. Protecting New York City should be priority number one and being the 56th recipient of this program is completely unacceptable.