The Marine Log: Shipbuilding champion Gene Taylor loses re-election bid
U.S. shipbuilders are losing a staunch Congressional ally. After 11 terms in the House, Rep. Gene Taylor has lost his bid to be re-elected to the Mississippi District 4 seat.
…His eleven terms brought a seniority that placed him well to defend shipbuilding interests as Chairman of the key Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. He is also Co-Chairman of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus.
The Journal of Commerce: Maritime Advocate Taylor Loses Election
The wave of Republicans taking over the House on Tuesday swept out Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., one of the most passionate supporters of the Coast Guard and U.S. merchant marine in Congress.
Taylor has served 11 terms in Congress. He is chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower and expeditionary forces and chairman of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus. His district includes the Northrop-Grumman shipyard at Pascagoula.
In October, Taylor vowed to tighten the Jones Act, and last September he used his seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to urge the Maritime Administration to be more aggressive in promoting the U.S.-flag fleet.
The Daily Press (Hampton Roads VA): Election fallout: Shipbuilding advocate is defeated
Before Virginia voters think they’re unaffected by what happens in Mississippi, they should take a gander at Tuesday’s election results.
One of the many Democrats going down to defeat was Rep. Gene Taylor — an 11-term congressman who was considered a major ally of U.S. shipbuilders.
Taylor chairs the Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee of the House armed services panel. He also co-chairs the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus.
Wired.com: GOP Wins; Gitmo, Missile, ‘DADT’ Fights Loom
Taylor’s defeat could be big, too. He chaired the congressional shipbuilding caucus and helped add a provision to this year’s defense authorization bill requiring the Navy to build three ships for every two it retires. Plus, he was a major backer of nuclear-powered ships.
TheStreet.com: Don’t Trade Defense Stocks on Election Hopes
Shipbuilders also lost a key ally in the House with the loss of Rep. Gene Taylor. Rep. Taylor has been a strong supporter of shipbuilding and increasing the Navy fleet and budget given that his district is home to Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Shipbuilding.
The reason Gene was so effective was his ability to work across party lines to get things done for the maritime portion of this Nation’s Armed Forces. He simply did not see National Security as a partisan issue. Meantime, Palazzo continues to exhibit why he’ll have a hard time filling those shoes as this Doug Mouton report for WWL TV illustrates:
A conservative Democrat may have existed in ’94, but it definitely does not exist anymore,” Palazzo said.
Having as main campaign theme firing someone from the other party and demonizing the other political party does not engender the kind of bi-partisanship the American Public as a whole wants to see in Congress so Palazzo begins his freshman term behind the eight ball whether he understands that or not. (My guess is not)
To the extent conservative Democrats do indeed exist today, though they were generally wiped out on Tuesday from Congress, has negative implications for Palazzo as well. He enters a Congress chock full of the liberal democrats he claims to detest. To the extent they can now sit back in the House, take little to no responsibility for governing while incessantly slinging arrows should give Steven quite an education as DC will be a little bit different from Jackson. Throw in John Boehner already backtracking on repealing Obama care which was Palazzo’s other main campaign plank plus the rumors of Boehner’s marital infidelity with a lobbyist circulating around the internet and hopefully our readers will understand why I’m with the 59% in that Rasmussen poll that think the GOP will fail even before they take office.
I hope such a preordained failure isn’t so but I wished that in 2006 and 2008 too. Meantime both political parties remain stuck on stupid, mindlessly serving themselves and their big money corporate and special interest sponsors while the rest of the populace suffers the aftermath of decades of greed that culminated in the financial implosion of 2008.
Let them eat Cake.
sop
And Mississippi’s fat ass Governor and Piyush lead the way. Way to go guys…. Un Ba F**kin Believable!!!!!
Nowdy gets on me if I run Boss Hogg down too much but I share your sentiments 100% Ricardo.
sop
All you really have in life is your name. Taylor is savvy enough to have seen where this was going about a year ago. As a Blue Dog, he could easily have pulled the old switcheroo, like so many spineless career politicians have done to obtain an office or remain in it. But instead of switching parties to keep his position, he stayed true to himself and preserved his good name. I respect the guy more for having lost than I would have if he had switched parties and won.
Well put Sock. Along those lines we also found out TEA Party candidate Joe Tegerdine was a principled man as well. Provided he doesn’t run against Gene, I’d have no problems pulling the lever for him.
sop