Straight Outta Congress

Look for a big announcement July 4th.  In the meantime, here is Congressman Jack's rebuttal to Governor Perry's new rap campaign song.

Congressman Kimble Calls for Calm

Like many Americans, Thanksgiving is one of my absolute favorite holidays.  It's the time we all look forward to.  For men, it's a day off of work and a chance to watch football and relax.  For women, it's a chance to prepare a special meal for the family they love and present a lovely home for friends and relatives who drop by. 

This year, incidents in Missouri have been on all our minds.  However, I urge calm and ask people to not loot.  Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and not about taking things that don't belong to you.  How would those brave men and women who first settled this land and celebrated the first Thanksgiving feel about the people who should be carrying on their legacy stealing things from other people.  They would probably have to excuse themselves from their Indian guests because they'd be so sick at the thought.

Thanksgiving is all about the stuff in your life that you are thankful for and all the things you can buy at reduced prices so that you can be thankful for them next year.  There is no place in this holiday tradition for mistreating people.  I certainly hope that we won't see these rioters out there disrupting Black Friday with their screaming and rude behavior.   That sort of thing just takes away from those of us who want to celebrate Black Friday in our traditional way. 

Now, I'm not saying people shouldn't let their voices be heard, only that tonight isn't the time for it.  Why not wait until your city wins another championship?  The Cardinals have a chance next year even if the Rams are probably a few seasons away.  Have a safe and blessed holiday and please do not let radical atheists take Jesus out of Thanksgiving.  There's a war out there and for God's sake, we must win.

Jack Kimble's Speech to the 2014 Values Voter Summit

The History of Labor Day

            One of the most misunderstood days on the American calendar is Labor Day.  Labor Day is perhaps the only sarcastic holiday in the entire world.  The day traces its roots back to New York City in 1882.  At that time there was a benevolent factory owner named John Fitzpatrick.   Fitzpatrick had been an Irish immigrant himself, but through his own blood and sweat, he had managed to purchase a soap factory.  It wasn't glamorous, but he made a good living for himself and for his family with the soaps he produced.

            Like a lot of the business leaders of the 19th century, Fitzpatrick wanted to make a profit, but he cared first and foremost for his workers.  If they had a problem they not only knew they could always come to John, they knew he'd probably come to him first.  The Fitzpatrick Soap Factory was like one big family with 60 members.  The workers enjoyed their jobs and John had loyal workers.

            Then the International Brotherhood of Soap Factory Workers came to town.   At first, John's employees resisted joining the union, but a couple of his men got greedy and before long union membership had spread through the factory like venereal disease through a Parisian brothel.  Now, when it was time to discuss money or working conditions, instead of seeing one of his loyal workers sitting across the table from him, John had to deal with a suit wearing thug from the IBSFW. 

            John paid his workers 8 cents and hour, but once the union was running things, they demanded 14 cents an hour.   This was more money than John could afford.  Even though he wanted to pay his workers well, he knew this would bankrupt him.   John offered to pay 10 cents an hour, which was a 25% raise and all the money that he could afford.  The IBSFW didn't care and they immediately took the workers out on strike.

            For weeks the strike raged.   The union hired thugs and they smashed the windows on the factory and broke the lock on the front gate.   Things began to get violent and John was worried that somebody would be badly hurt, so he conceded.  He called the union and let the workers know that he was willing to pay the 14 cents an hour they demanded.

            When the workers returned to the factory, they sheepishly looked around at all the damage their strike had caused.  They all assembled in the factory yard, excited to return to work feeling that they had won something that they fought for.

            A very tired John Fitzpatrick walked out to greet them all feeling every bit of his 56 years of age.   The men smiled as he approached and asked John what he wanted them to do.   John was so disgusted he looked at his expensive work forced and told them, "Oh boys, you've worked so hard with your strike and everything.  Why don't you rest up from all your labor.  You can start working tomorrow."

            To John's surprise, the workers let out a mighty cheered and happily the men shuffled out of the factory yard.   John shook his head and sighed.   Somehow, those workers had missed the sarcasm in his voice.  "The next thing you know, they'll be wanting a parade or something," he said to himself.

            Unfortunately, the greedy workers had killed John Fitzpatrick' business.  Within 6 months, the factory was boarded up and the workers were out of jobs.   The one remnant of the factory was the holiday that John Fitzpatrick had created sarcastically.  Labor Day has grown to be a national holiday and workers everywhere owe it all to one soap factory and the sarcastic boss that created a national institution.

Reforming Education Must Be Our Number One Priority

To look at it, it's not a very imposing school building.  It almost looks more like a home or a lodge than an educational institution.  You wouldn't find a computer lab or a playground for the little ones, but Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School is exactly the type of education that we must try to provide for all of our country's children.  How influential was it?  Here's a sampling of quotes I found:

The Encyclopedia of Chicago defines the Prairie School by saying, "[it] began in Chicago yet rapidly spread across the Midwest. Ultimately its influence was felt around the world—most especially in north-central Europe and Australia. Its origins date from the 1890s."

 Asia-Pacific Journal says, "The influence of Frank Lloyd-Wright's prairie school on Japan cannot be overlooked."

It's worth noting that Japan has one of the highest achieving school systems in the world.   Now, the Prairie School was not inside a school district.  In fact, I've had a hard time finding its location other than that it began in Chicago.  It was a labor of love from one man who had already established himself as one of the most influential architects in the world.  They had no tenure or teacher unions.  In many ways, Frank Lloyd Wright established the country's first charter school.  This influential school should be an inspiration for all people who value education everywhere. 

On the Border with Rick and Louie

When something important like the border crisis comes along, I don't believe in patience.  I certainly didn't believe in waiting until Congress has the month of August off to do something about the problem.   Yesterday, I joined fellow Congressman Louie Gohmert and Texas Governor Rick Perry for a morning patrol of the border region.

I find myself outraged when I see immigrants from Central American countries like Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador when the United States has spent so many years looking out for the welfare of their people.  When a government that was too socialist or wanted some crazy scheme to take unfarmed land and give it to poor people, we have always been willing to intervene.  When the people of those countries rose up against socialist governments, we have always been willing to support democracy by training rebels at the CIA and supporting militaries when the will of the people was for a coup.  After we gave their countries the American dream, it seems like such ingrattitude that they reject it to come here to the land we stole from Mexico fair and square 160 years ago regardless of what Abraham Lincoln said.

Don't let malnutrition fool you.  These illegals are wiry and they are a crafty opponent.  Once we let them into the country, who knows what sort of evil they will do.    That's why it's important that we meet them head on with force, even if it means inadvertently blowing up a church or camp bus or two.

We made quite an impression when we met agents along the border.  They even started calling us, The Electables.    Sadly, we didn't get to shoot any illegals, though we did wing a very tan Italian-American who happened to live near the border.    With Rick and Louie manning the guns, I flew an attack helicopter deep over the border, but the children at the age are just so small, they're much harder to spot than I had hoped.  Still, it felt good to know that we had done our part for the good old USA.  It's our border, we all must protect it.

Louie and I promised Rick that we'd come back in August.  I know Texas, isn't part of my district, but as a Congressman you go where the trouble is.  It's just what we do.

University of Western Topeka Spring 2014 Commencement

On Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the University of Western Topeka's 2014 graduation. This is a great school and there's a reason that it's known as the University of Michigan of Kansas. You can visit the UWT web page at http://www.uwesterntopeka.org/