Former Mayor of Charlotte, Anthony Foxx, will be named the next Sec. Of Transportation. Thoughts and Ideas? Will this be good or bad or status quo?
I don’t know anything about the gentleman but it might be nice (for us mariners in particular) if we got someone from a port city. Charlotte is a couple hundred miles inland, we would be lucky if he knows which way the pointy end of the boat goes.
Sealand hq was in Charlotte , make you wonder ?
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;107336]I don’t know anything about the gentleman but it might be nice (for us mariners in particular) if we got someone from a port city. Charlotte is a couple hundred miles inland, we would be lucky if he knows which way the pointy end of the boat goes.[/QUOTE]
He knows where the money comes from and in his case it comes from outsourcing labor to foreign countries and companies, and dancing to the tune played by the pig farmers of NC who stand to gain the most from eliminating the Jones Act.
Kiss the USMM goodbye, mates.
Nonsense. This guy doesn’t even know that maritime exists. He has no agenda to eliminate it. It will take him two years just to learn the basics of running a federal bureaucracy. Obama is so focused on gay rights, health care, climate change, putting more minorities in government, and creating more welfare programs, that he doesn’t have any time to even think about maritime issues.
He will do what his political masters tell him to do.
Have to disagree with you on that one tugsailor. Under Obama: Shipping strategic oil reserves on foreign flagged ships, stating that USA ships weren’t available (BS). Defunding short sea shipping programs and dredging operations in favor of highway infrastructure for trucks and the railways. Current goings on within MARAD, KP and other gov’t run maritime affiliates. The blanket moratorium on drilling in the GOM. Eliminating the Food for Peace program,instead they are going to send cash payments because that works so much better (easier to make cash disappear than actual food cargo) which will directly affect exports on US flag ships. This administration is no friend of the maritime industry (not that many others were). Hell, even the unions are getting upset with him.
So if we all can agree that the Jones act is & has been under attack from our fearless leaders, how can we protect it? It’s not like we can just vote for one party or another?
Obama just let those things happen through neglect, not by his policy or design.
But opponents of maritime have apparently bought themselves some Congressmen — and former Congressmen.
[QUOTE=capbubba;107564]So if we all can agree that the Jones act is & has been under attack from our fearless leaders, how can we protect it? It’s not like we can just vote for one party or another?[/QUOTE]
We oughtta start a Jones Act lobby of our own! gCaptain, being a tool of such mass communication, has so much more potential than just news stories and chit-chat. We are a massive network of what’s left of America’s merchant sailors. The people who run gCaptain are uniquely positioned to organize bodies, public relations, and fundraising. gCaptain could be a Washington lobby all its own with the right motivation and applied effort.
“Former Mayor of Charlotte, Anthony Foxx” "Thoughts and Ideas? "
Buckle up.
I second that Paddy…
[QUOTE=capbubba;107613]I second that Paddy…[/QUOTE]
Time to sing the song of the proletariat, wave the red flag and form a union! Actually just kidding, I’d rather shoot myself… But in all seriousness, short of being one of those marxists hide-outs we have a fantastic opportunity to join together and do some collective good for our industry. If Facebook can be used to topple a fully-entrenched military government in the middle east then SURELY gCaptain can be used to affect some change in an industry that should be among the highest national priorities.
[QUOTE=SomalianRoadCorporation;107610]“Former Mayor of Charlotte, Anthony Foxx” "Thoughts and Ideas? "
Buckle up.[/QUOTE]
Bull shit ~
Buckle up ye say ~
Every President since Nixon has cast its stone against the US Merchant Marine.
We are use to it.
Where is this leading us?
Tell us John McCain.
[QUOTE=BMCSRetired;107413]He will do what his political masters tell him to do.[/QUOTE]
Do Da - Do Da
Well, blindly sending money to a PCF does not seem to be working. May as well send it to gCaptain…
[QUOTE=capbubba;107624]Well, blindly sending money to a PCF does not seem to be working. May as well send it to gCaptain…[/QUOTE]
~ or working to make things better in you own neck of the woods ~
Yes Sir, would hate to see NAFTA come to the Columbia River…
[QUOTE=capbubba;107636]Yes Sir, would hate to see NAFTA come to the Columbia River…[/QUOTE]
NAFTA is not coming it is already here. Bush senior started the ball rolling, Clinton signed it into law and every president since had praised it. John McCain and LaHood are two of the biggest supporters of this piece of non sense. The trucking industry had something similar to a jones act protecting it from foreign trucks coming to the U.S. and hauling frieght. One of the big selling points of NAFTA was the cross border trucking program with Mexico. So NAFTA is the first step in letting the Mexican trucks across the border to have free reign to the entire country. This is not a coincidence that the biggest supporters of NAFTA are also the biggest supportrs of abolishing the Jones Act
So if tomorrow I file the paperwork to create an IRS Section 501(c)(6) U.S. Maritime Workers Trade Association, how many here will send me a $200 check? I need 5000 working American mariners to do so and I can set up shop in Washington but can promise nothing other than to try to help our cause. A $1M annual budget can buy very very little in that septic tank known otherwise as our Nation’s capital than a few lunches and small campaign contributions to the few friendly Congressmen and Senators who support us.
this is the category we would fall under
Grass roots lobbying. A tax-exempt trade association, labor union, or similar organization is considered to be engaging in grass roots lobbying if it contacts prospective members or calls upon its own members to contact their employees and customers for the purpose of urging such persons to communicate with their elected state or Congressional representatives to support the promotion, defeat, or repeal of legislation that is of direct interest to the organization. Any dues or assessments directly related to such activities are not deductible by the taxpayer, since the individuals being contacted, who are not members of the organization, are a segment of the general public.
vis. membership dues would not be directly deductible on income tax returns except under the professional employment expenses which is only the portion beyond 2% of gross annual income. Still interested?