Free Republic

Rep. Allen West has endorsed Rep. Sandy Adams over Rep. John Mica in the incumbent on incumbent primary that is unfolding in Florida’s newly created 7th District. The endorsement is not entirely surprising – West is a staunch tea partier, and Adams is often portrayed as the tea party challenger to the so-called establishment candidate, Mica, who has been in office since 1993 and chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “Two years ago, the citizens of Florida called for a change in the way things were going in our Nation’s Capital,” said West, who was elected in the same...

Florida Congressman John Mica (R) is currently in a head to head primary match up with fellow Member of Congress Sandy Adams in the newly drawn 7th congressional district. Mica’s challenge of Adams is increasingly being questioned by those who are turned off by Mica’s recent posturing and comments that have been directed towards freshman Republicans in Congress and now Tea Party activists. Just last week, Mica let go with the following- “When it comes to the new guys, we are talking about amateur hour. These guys need help finding their way to the bathroom.”-Congressman John Mica


They’ve been accused of rampant thievery, spending billions of dollars like drunken sailors, groping children and little old ladies, and making everyone take off their shoes.
 
But the real job of the tens of thousands of screeners at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is to protect Americans from a terrorist attack.
  
Yet a decade after the TSA was created following the September 11 attacks, the author of the legislation that established the massive agency grades its performance at “D-.”
  
“The whole program has been hijacked by bureaucrats,” said Rep. John Mica (R. -Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
  
“It mushroomed into an army,”...

They’ve been accused of rampant thievery, spending billions of dollars like drunken sailors, groping children and little old ladies, and making everyone take off their shoes. But the real job of the tens of thousands of screeners at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is to protect Americans from a terrorist attack. Yet a decade after the TSA was created following the September 11 attacks, the author of the legislation that established the massive agency grades its performance at “D-.” “The whole program has been hijacked by bureaucrats,” said Rep. John Mica (R. -Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “It...

After watching a two-week shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, transportation advocates and congressional staffers are concerned that the federal gas tax could become the next confrontational issue that Democrats and Republicans push to the brink. The Senate and House are in the process of considering a long-term highway bill. Passing a short-term extension while they work out the details of a longer measure would normally be considered routine, but so was a short-term extension of FAA funding. That all changed July 23, when 4,000 FAA workers were furloughed for nearly two weeks as the House and Senate could not...

Accompanied by a small bipartisan band of House lawmakers, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) arrived in Italy Friday to visit with U.S. troops amid the ongoing political uprising in nearby Libya. The excursion — Pelosi's first official trip abroad this year — comes a day after the United Nations passed a resolution allowing a no-fly zone over Libya and authorizing the international community to take "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians. Italy has lobbied other countries for help to deal with the refugee crisis as Libyans flee their homeland amid the violence. The Libyan government called for an "immediate...

In a nod to tea party power, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos reversed course on a majority of state senators and his own voting record Friday by saying he supports Gov. Rick Scott's decision to refuse $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money. "Florida is leading by example in keeping its fiscal house in order. We must demand the same from Washington," Haridopolos, who voted for high-speed rail in December 2009, said in a letter. [snip] Haridopolos' new stance was widely interpreted in the state Capitol as an election-season play for votes in his bid for U.S. Senate — a...

As Barack Obama was exiting the House Chamber at the conclusion of last night’s State of the Union address, a very interesting exchange was captured on camera between the President and Republican John Mica (FL-7), Chairman of the Transportation Committee. Mica can be seen in the middle of a group of Democrat lawmakers clamoring for Obama’s autograph, standing next to Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA20), a huge high speed rail supporter who’s lobbying hard for the project in California. As Obama approaches Mica, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to Obama’s immediate right and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) directly behind him,...

Rep. John Mica says that the White House is stonewalling Congress on information about preparedness in view of the attempted terror attack. The TSA doesn't have a head, but only because it took 9 months to find a nominee. Senator DeMint has placed a hold on this nominee in an effort to ensure that the TSA is not unionized, which would put its role in protecting our national security at risk if there were ever a strike or even if a TSA employee needed to be fired.

Brushing aside tradition, the Obama administration is pushing for federal authority to regulate the nation's subway and light commuter rail systems following last summer's subway crash in Washington, D.C., that left nine people dead. Next week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will formally ask Congress to give his department authority to regulate and oversee those rail systems, a move that some Republicans on Capitol Hill worry is another alarming example of an ever-expanding federal government. "In this case, it sounds good, safety and enforcement over transit systems, but it may not be that effective," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., told Fox News....

The leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Monday came to the defense of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood after he was rebuked last week by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs over a comment about highway taxation. Oberstar and Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., the senior Republican on the transportation committee, said that a mileage tax would be one of the options that Congress will consider as it puts together a new five-year surface transportation spending program. Read More

Maya Mask Splendor Enhanced With Sparkling Mica ScienceDailyReconstruction of the Rosalila in the Copan museum. The Rosalila is still entombed within another pyramid. Ms Goodall said the mica was applied over the red paint of stucco masks on the corners of Copan's well-preserved Rosalila temple, found buried under another pyramid. (Credit: Dr. Jay Hall) (Jan. 27, 2008) — Ancient Mayan temple builders discovered and used lustrous pigments to make their buildings dazzle in the daylight, a Queensland University of Technology researcher has discovered. Studying tiny shards of paint from the Mayan city of Copan, QUT physical and chemical sciences PhD...

Rafale Strike Version Enters Operation With French Air Force By Michael A. Taverna 07/02/2006 11:22:38 PM SHOWTIME The Dassault Rafale F2 strike aircraft is poised to enter the French air force inventory, augmenting Europe's force-projection capability and opening a new chapter in the battle with rival U.S. and European manufacturers for lucrative foreign military sales contracts. The first F2 squadron stood up at the St. Dizier air base in eastern France last week, in the presence of a host of dignitaries led by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. The high-profile event underscored not only the operational and industrial importance of...

Redistricting is creating a U.S. House of Lords. John Mica has pulled off a feat many of us would have thought impossible. He has been elected to Congress without ever having his name on the ballot this year. His story says a lot about what has happened to the House of Representatives, the part of the federal government designed to be closest to the people, but one that has become more like an American House of Lords. I heard about Mica from Russ Freeburg, a retired Chicago Tribune political reporter who now lives in Mica's Florida district. When Freeburg and...

Republican Congressman John Mica holds a strong lead over Democrat Wayne Hogan in Florida's District 7, despite an aggressive TV campaign by the challenger, a new Orlando Sentinel/WESH NewsChannel 2 survey shows. With roughly three weeks until the Nov. 5 election, the 10-year representative from Winter Park leads Hogan, a North Florida attorney, 52 percent to 35 percent, the survey found. Thirteen percent of those contacted were undecided. The 17-point lead is "a pretty good sign" that Mica is safe, said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington. "He's still the favorite."