The GOP has announced their six members of the so-called Super Committee to address budget cuts.

House Speaker John Boehner chose House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell chose Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio.

I’m off to do some research. What are your thoughts on these picks?

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I only mentioned this briefly after the elections this fall — Dennis Ross was elected here in Florida’s district 12 to replace Adam Putnam who ran for, and won, the commissioner of agriculture post.

I read two separate stories involving Ross this morning. The first in the Washington Post notes that Ross, along with 30 year old Minnesota Republican freshman Justin Amash, will serve as chairman (with Amash as vice chairman) of the House Oversight subcommittee on the federal workforce, U.S. Postal Service and labor policy.

[Committee Chairman Darrell] Issa expects Ross and Amash to work on building “a 21st century federal workforce that no longer grows itself at the expense of private sector job creation, and gets more done with less.” Preventing “a fiscal meltdown” at the U.S. Postal Service is also “one of the central priorities” of the new Congress, Issa said in his statement.

[...]

Though the Postal Service is seeking serious structural reforms, it is still unclear how far Congress is willing to go to revamp it. USPS lost $8.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September and postal executives are seeking passage of legislation that would allow them to set delivery routes, close post offices and adjust prices without congressional approval — a potentially tricky vote for lawmakers who would face criticism for approving the closure of neighborhood post offices.

The other story mentioning Ross was in the local Lakeland Ledger, reporting on local residents who want to keep Obamacare. Ross, who campaigned against the plan, is scheduled to give his first house speech on that subject this morning. The text of that speech, as provided by the representative’s Chief of Staff Fredrick Piccolo Jr., was included in a sidebar.

Today I rise in support of repealing and replacing the recently enacted health care law that nationalizes nearly one sixth of our country’s gross domestic product.

This November, the American people sent a resounding message to Congress and to this administration that they do not want to pay higher taxes for a one-size-fits-all health care system that replaces doctors with bureaucrats. Instead, the American people want complete control of their healthcare dollars and healthcare decisions and they want to be able to take their policies with them from job to job without being penalized by the federal government. Americans need privatized healthcare that forces competition in order to achieve affordability, choice and innovation.

As a small business owner, I understand that adding $104 billion in taxes and compliance costs to our unstable job-market creates a massive burden on our taxpayers and is not the best way to encourage economic growth. Imposing new regulations on small businesses by mandating employers provide health insurance stifles economic growth and makes it difficult for businesses to survive.

We can bring down costs and increase affordability by allowing the free market to create robust competition. One common sense reform is the interstate sale of health insurance. By breaking down the barriers of the sale of health insurance, American citizens will have the ability to choose the plan that best fits their needs at a rate that is affordable to them. By allowing competition, we bring costs down and provide the best possible product for the American people.

I was very pleased voting for Dennis as my representative. I’ll be watching him closely, and, as I promised him in a message on Twitter, holding him accountable.

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Floridians should be awfully proud to have Lt. Col. West representing us. Here’s why:

That is clear cut character.

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Here is Senator Rubio’s acceptance speech.

And here is Lt. Col. Allen West

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I’ve figured it out – this feeling I’ve been having for a couple of weeks. This is far from my first election, but this one feels different. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was that made it feel that way.

Then it hit me. This is the way I used to feel when I was a little kid when Christmas was on the way. It wasn’t that I knew what gifts were going to be under the tree, but the knowledge that there would be gifts. I don’t know what “gifts” will be under the tree when the wrapping starts flying off tomorrow night, but my gut tells me it’s going to be good, and it’s going to be fun.

At this point, there are few, if any, saying that Democrats have any chance of retaining control of the house. It’s not a question of if, but of how many. If you want to play a drinking game tomorrow night (an why wouldn’t you?) how about a drink for every new description of the what this election is like. (Is it like 1994, the 20′s, or some other big swing year? You’ll hear them all starting right after dinner).

The higher the swing in the House, the more likely it is that we’ll see a change of power in the Senate. As I read somewhere (Hotair?) if we gain 70 or more seats in the House, would it then be possible to not take the Senate as well? I think that’s a good point.

But 51 or more seats in the Senate won’t be enough. We’ll have to wait until 2012 to get to the magic “60+”. We can start working on that on Wednesday.

But this isn’t about the math, it’s about the feeling, the atmosphere, the buzz. That all says that something is on the way. We’ll have to wait about 24 hours to find out exactly what it is, but for now feel free to shake the package and let me know what you think is in it in the comments.

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Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, running for Congress in Florida district 22, really does get it. Watch, as he answers a marine’s question.

Dealing with a threat requires understanding the threat. Is there any doubt that Colonel West understands? I didn’t think so.

(h/t Rick at Wizbang)

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While I live in Florida, I’ve spent most of my time here at bRight & Early blogging about national politics. I really need to take a closer look at the races around the state.

I’ll get to my own House district (12) soon, but this evening I want to offer up this video of Lieutenant Colonel Allen West who is running in district 22.

That’s a man that we could use in Congress. The mental picture he paints regarding San Fran Nan is priceless.

Video via The Shark Tank

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I am excited about attending the TEA Party in Lakeland, Florida this Thursday. The event is being held at Kryger Overlook Park on Lake Mirror in Lakeland from 5:30 to 8:00. Music will be by the group Quittin’ Time, and there is a great slate of speakers:

• Matthew Brower – Local activist, and host of The Hour of Power with Matthew Brower on Blog Talk Radio.
• Nick Wukoson – Candidate for Florida House District 83
• Dennis Ross – Candidate for US House of Representatives from District 12. Dennis is running for the seat currently held by Adam Putnam.
• Marco Rubio – The next Senator from Florida. OK, there’s still an election to be held, but I am very confident that this conservative powerhouse is poised to win.

I am very anxious to hear everyone, and to mingle in what I am expecting to be a very large crowd. I really hope that I’m able to meet other local bloggers. Let me know if you’re going to be there in the comments.

See you there!

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This is Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL) speaking at a town hall meeting today. Adam Sharp captured his response when asked about the constitutionality of forcing Americans to purchase health insurance.

“I don’t care about the Constitution.”

Yeah, we kind of got that when they passed this mess.

h/t Gateway Pundit on tweets from @CO2HOG and @ginabella

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What more can be said?

Image by Tombstone Generator

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