Posted on 03/26/2006 3:11:48 PM PST by mnwo
Speaker of the House endorses Collins
Lori Glenn
MOULTRIE — Continuing on a string of endorsements from heavy hitters in the Republican party, former Congressman Mac Collins picked up a nod from Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert Wednesday in Moultrie.
Collins has served six terms in Congress and has made a few friends along the way, including the Speaker and Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, both of whom rallied behind him at a $100 per couple fundraiser luncheon at the Sunset Country Club. More than 100 people attended.
Collins has been endorsed by President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and as of last week in Macon, was endorsed by both Georgia senators and Governor Sonny Perdue. And he surpassed his opposition Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Macon, by $106,000 in fundraising for the last quarter, Collins’ Press Secretary Bill Hagan said. Hastert was more than happy to back Collins in his race for the 8th District — one of the most watched congressional matches this year given President Bush’s sinking public approval rating and polls showing a shift toward Democratic support.
Collins and Hastert are like-minded in believing the Republican Party still represents the philosophies of most Americans.
Collins has a natural way of simplifying complicated issues and getting the job done, Hastert said.
“I’ve seen him do it legislatively time and time again,” Hastert said. “I need a good conservative voice — a voice like Mac Collins who actually says something in a district and goes back to Washington to do it. This is an important race for us, and that’s why I’m here...”
“...It’s a decision that people in this district have to make, what do they want, more government and more taxation or less government and more personal responsibility and I think Mac represents that idea — to keep a little bit more of your tax money in your pocket and making your decisions instead of the bureaucrats in Washington. I think it’s right for this district. I think it’s right for Georgia. I think it’s right for the American people,” he said.
When asked about justifying the U.S.’s prolonged stay in Iraq, the Speaker kept in step with the White House plan.
“I remember 9-11. We lost 3,000 people in this country in about 45 minutes. Now, we’ve taken losses in this country, and every loss is a very, very precious person to lose and has volunteered mostly to fight to protect our freedoms. We’re fighting terrorism where terrorism is, and it’s in the Middle East and not fighting terrorism on the main streets of Savannah or Atlanta or Tallahassee or Chicago or New York or Philadelphia. I think that’s important,” he said.
Looking long-term, he said, establishing a solid democracy will settle the Middle East. The U.S. soldier is working to help the Iraqi soldier and the Iraqi policeman help themselves, he said. To accomplish that, a withdrawal of U.S. troops must not occur too quickly, he said.
“... You can’t close out anything that you started and not finish the job,” he said.
Collins remarked terrorists’ efforts in the past were funded by Saddam Hussein.
“You won’t find any written receipts that say Saddam gave this amount of money to al Qaida or he gave this amount of money to the Taliban,” he said.
Collins said reports show Hussein offered $25,000 rewards to families of suicide bombers. Hussein’s reach extends all the way back to attacks on Marine barracks in Beirut
“We lost airmen in Saudi Arabia. We lost sailors on the USS Cole. We had an attempt on the World Trade Center in 1993 and again in 2001,” he said.
Funds to support terrorists came from Iraqi petroleum, he said, and that store of oil is still there poised to pass back into the hands of terrorists to use against the peaceful side of the world.
“The only way that we can make sure that that doesn’t happen is to stay there to help stabilize that part of the region and the world, and then those funds will be used for the people of Iraq and benefit the Iraqi people,” Collins said.
On a national security-related issue in which the Illinois Congressman is well-versed, the Speaker spoke in support of strong energy policy. The passage of the president’s Energy Policy Act is a start, he said.“We need to have biofuels, biomass fuels, ethanol, soy diesel and whatever else we can put together and have the ability to do that. But we also have to have is to have is people to be able to sell it, because right now a lot of ‘petroleum’ companies don’t want to sell 100 percent or something E85 or those things. They’d rather sell petroleum products, so we have to incentivize people to be able to sell and set up those pumps to sell it. We also have to incentivize the automobile industry to produce automobiles to burn E85 and other alternative fuels. In Congress, we’re trying to do that, trying to move forward and just sometime cajoling people to do it,” Hastert said.
Ethanol is a cheaper product than gasoline at this point, he said, really is a profitable fuel to produce.
Oh, wow, big news! I thought Hastert might endorse the Dem (chuckle).
Mac Collins is a good man & deserves to be elected!
District swing voters have been waiting with bated breath. The candidate Hastert endorses immediately picks up 5 percent of the vote.
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