(The) C0MM0N PE0PLES S0URCE for News

November 2, 2008

The Facts

US House Representative John Mica is up for reelection next week. Mica is a Republican and has been in the House since 1993. He ran unopposed in 2004, but Democrat Faye Armitage, a former economics professor, is running against him this year. Many Republicans consider Mica a real embarrassment to the party, and the polls in Florida say the voters are tired of him.

John Mica’s past & present committee assignments are as follows:

• Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (Ranking Member) which include:

             o Subcommittee on Aviation

             o Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

             o Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management  

             o Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

             o Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

             o Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

             o Subcommittee on Domestic Policy

             o Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Post Office and The District of Columbia

• Coast Guard Academy Board of Visitors
• Kennedy Center Board of Trustees

My View

Not being a Floridian, what brought my attention to John Mica were the hearings by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the financial crises we are currently going through. I watched every single one of the hearings live. While there are always one or more committee members who will bring politics into the hearing, Mica has to be the world’s champion. When it came his turn to question the panel, he did absolutely nothing but try to blame the Democrats for the crisis. Then, after he had spent his entire allotted time bashing the Democrats and trying to get the panel members to agree with him, he complained that he hadn’t been given time to question the panel. Mica just kept registering his protest when he was informed his allotted time had expired. After watching the hearings, I decided to do some research on Mica.

About the only good thing I could find on John Mica was that he voted “Nay” (no) both times on the bailout bill. But that’s where the good ends. He may have voted “no” but his only objective in the investigation was to blame the Democrats for the mess. If he truly wanted to get to the bottom of the problem, he would have used his time to question the rats who were at the core of getting the country into the fiasco we’re in instead of party grandstanding. For that alone, the country does not need him back in Washington.

Now, for some other reasons Mica should be voted out.

• Mica head butts a news cameraman.
• Insisted that had Lehman Brothers had more lobbyists they would have avoided bankruptcy.
• Once bragged that lobbyists were the best people he knew.
• Did not want any investigations into Abu Ghraib.
• Voted against the Family Medical Leave Act.
• Has implied that he will become a lobbyist when he leaves office.
• His biggest campaign donations are from the industries his committees oversees. You can view them here and here.
• He has a long list of missed votes.

See how he voted on key bills.

See a list of votes against the Republican Party.

See how he is rated by special interest groups.

See a complete history of his Congressional service.