Maybe he didn't enter the competitive Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, but Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack showed last week that he has no intention of heading to the political sidelines.
Mack, whose father held the seat Nelson currently holds, surprised many pundits and political observers when he chose not to enter the contest, instead focusing on his congressional duties. Mack had made a short-lived bid to become the head of the Republican Policy Council, the fifth highest position in the GOP congressional leadership. Now he appears to be raising his profile in Congress, hammering President Barack Obama on health care and international affairs.
Last Wednesday Mack, who had been named chairman of the Repeal Task Force set up by the Republican Study Committee earlier in the month, unveiled his new group and came out swinging at the presidents speech on the national debt made earlier in the day.
Washingtons knee-jerk reaction for too long has been to introduce more and more legislation to solve societys problems, he insisted.The task force launching today is assembled to change that narrative and start peeling back a government that is bloated and needs a diet to make this countrys economy more agile and make our government more efficient and effective.
How ironic that at the same time we are talking about reducing government in the House, the president is punting off the tough spending decisions and protracting our nation's debt problem for the next two decades, added Mack.
Joined by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, and seven other congressmen, Mack said the task force would look to repeal the federal health-care law that Obama backed, energy mandates, and the Davis-Bacon Act which requires that employees working on public projects are paid prevailing wages. Mack and members of the task force argue that Davis-Bacon --which was signed into law in 1931 by Herbert Hoover and crafted by then-U.S. Sen. James J. Davis of Pennsylvania, who served as U.S. labor secretary under Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Hoover --hinders small businesses looking to obtain federal contracts.
Mack also used his perch as chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee as a base to attack Obama during a hearing on American foreign aid.
The Obama administration has failed the American people by placing political initiatives like $109 million for the Global Climate Change Initiative ahead of the security needs of the region, insisted Mack.
Mack, a frequent and vocal critic of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez,called for the elimination of foreign aid to Venezuela and other nations in the ALBA alliance (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) including Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua.
"Governments that stake their success on building hatred toward the U.S. should in no way, shape or form receive assistance from our government, said Mack. The State Departments haphazard approach to security-related assistance, and lack of leadership in implementing these programs, demonstrates that security is not a priority for this administration.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
