Promoted from the diaries….

It’s time for wholesale change. The agency that’s supposed to make sure the federal government minimizes costs and runs efficiently is at the center of a fraud and waste scandal. When the General Services Administration burns taxpayers for $822,000 for what amounted to a Las Vegas party, the answer has to be more than outrage. What happened at the GSA is symptomatic of a culture of corruption and government waste in Washington. The problem is massive and costly, and demands a serious response.

Last year I introduced a bill called the Federal Realignment and Closure Commission Act (H.R. 2680). The FRACC Act would begin a fundamental reformation of the federal government by creating a commission to evaluate every federal program, department, and agency to identify which ones are actually functioning efficiently, and which ones are duplicative, outdated, wasteful, or irrelevant. It’s patterned after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that the Defense Department has used to reorganize its base structure. What is even more unique about the FRACC act is that once the President grants approval to the Commission’s recommendations, the plan takes effect automatically unless Congress acts to disapprove of the plan in its entirety.

The FRACC Act has the potential to put an end to ridiculous and wasteful spending, save billions of dollars to bring down the deficit, and claw back the scope of a government that has grown far beyond its Constitutional boundaries. Imagine a Federal government which must prove that its rules and agencies are actually serving the American people purposefully, efficiently and constitutionally. It can happen, but it will take a majority in the Senate and a president in the White House who believe these are worthwhile goals.

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Congressman John Fleming, M.D., represents Louisiana’s 4th District. He is Co-Chair of the Congressional Values Action Team, Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He is a physician and small business owner.

Maybe President Obama sees the writing on the wall. His time in the White House is running out and he knows it. How else can you explain the radical agenda he’s been pushing at full speed lately?

He has been aggressive on three fronts: Energy, defense, and religion.

In January, Mr. Obama baffled even his union allies by rejecting the Keystone pipeline project, with its estimated 20,000 new jobs. He placated his enviro-liberal base at the expense of jobs and energy. Keystone, however, will still build its pipeline… for China. Canada is now likely to go west and build a pipeline that will send billions of barrels of North American oil to China.  It’s akin to moving a life-sustaining IV from one patient to another.

The Obama Administration’s deliberate obtuseness offers another benefit to China. While China builds up its military at an alarming pace, President Obama is slashing U.S. defense. His latest scheme? Reduce our nuclear capability by up to 80% unilaterally, even as potential foes around the world are increasing and modernizing their nuclear stockpiles. As far back as 1983, Mr. Obama said he wanted, “a nuclear free world.” That kind of thinking always sends a dangerous message to the bad players of the world that the U.S. is in appeasement mode and is deliberately weakening its ability to deter attacks.

Next up? Religious freedom. Apparently Mr. Obama’s thinking hasn’t changed since he mocked people who, he said, “cling to guns or religion.” Now he’s flatly disregarding conscientious objections they may have to abortion-inducing drugs. Deeply held beliefs that are protected by the First Amendment are being trampled by the administration in an unprecedented way.

What is the goal behind all this hardball politics?  Could it be his only chance for reelection? Or, is this a last, desperate push to deploy his transformational socialistic agenda? General Patton once said, “Never let the enemy pick the battle site.” Obama appears to be trying to gain a tactical advantage by seeking to divide and preoccupy his opponents, while obfuscating his real record. It’s a ‘Let’s Change the Subject’ playbook, and these aren’t small-ball diversions. That’s how bad his record is.

We should not assume his strategy will fall under its own weight. There’s determination behind these destructive policies, and it must be met by greater determination from conservatives.

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Congressman John Fleming, M.D., represents Louisiana’s 4th District. He is Co-Chair of the Congressional Values Action Team, Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He is a physician and small business owner.

Over the next couple of weeks, two things could happen that will affect the future of Obamacare. It has been widely reported that the Justices of the Supreme Court will meet privately on November 10^th to decide if they will hear the case against President Obama’s health care reform. Twenty-six states have challenged the constitutionality of Obamacare’s individual mandate, and even the Obama Administration has asked the High Court to rule. But, a critical deadline precedes the November 10^th meeting.

The House Judiciary Committee has given the Justice Department until this Friday, November 4^th, to produce documents and witnesses that are necessary to shed light on whether Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is qualified to render an impartial judgment on Obamacare. Justice Kagan was the Obama Administration’s Solicitor General and she may have had a role in preparing a legal defense for Obamacare before taking her seat on the Supreme Court. In June, I led a group of 49 House members in requesting a Judiciary Committee investigation. A limited number of Department of Justice emails, which were released through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, have already raised serious questions about whether Justice Kagan has an inherent conflict of interest related to the President’s health care reform, should it could come before the Supreme Court.

As a result of our letter, Judiciary Committee Chairman, Representative Lamar Smith, wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder on July 6^th. He asked the Justice Department to turn over any documents related to the health care legislation that also mentioned or involved then-Solicitor General Kagan. It took almost four months for the Attorney General’s office to reply, which they finally did on October 27^th. In that letter an Assistant Attorney General characterized the request for information as “unseemly.” Without offering any legal basis, the Justice Department refused to cooperate. Chairman Smith rejected this stonewalling and wrote back, giving the Justice Department until Friday, November 4^th to produce the documents and make two former colleagues of Solicitor Kagan available to be interviewed.

Before the Supreme Court Justices meet to discuss whether to hear the case against Obamacare, it is imperative that the American people know whether one of those Justices had any role in helping to prepare the Administration’s legal defense for Obamacare. If Justice Kagan was offering guidance to the Administration on how to withstand legal challenges to Obamacare, then she cannot be impartial and should recuse herself from any of the Supreme Court’s official decision-making about this critical issue.

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Congressman John Fleming, M.D., represents Louisiana’s 4th District. He is Co-Chair of the Congressional Values Action Team, Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He is a physician and small business owner.

My name is John Fleming and I am running for Congress in Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District. We are the last congressional race in the country. Voters go to the polls this Saturday, December 6, and I am asking each of you to join my campaign and help start the movement to take back the House. I am a man of conviction, drive and the desire to uphold America’s Constitution. I want to go to Washington with a single purpose: to represent the people as a servant leader.

I am a true social and fiscal conservative. Unlike many so-called politicians today, I am standing firm on my conservative values and traditions. My top priority is helping our economy by supporting tax cuts and drilling to create American jobs.

I am endorsed by Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator David Vitter, Representative Charles Boustany, Representative Steve Scalise, Representative Rodney Alexander and Representative Jim McCrery.

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