Collinsville Downtown, Inc. (Main Street Program) has begun making plans for its 8th annual Hogs’n’Hot Rods Show featuring classic and antique cars and motorcycles. Approximately 200 cars will be entered in numerous categories, with plaques handed out at the end of the day.

A live DJ will be on hand to broadcast music and talk about the cars and motorcycles that are entered for judging as well as the local merchants and their wares. There will be a wide assortment of arts and crafts vendors and commercial vendors, as well as a good selection of food concessions. A Kids Zone will also be available for the children in your family to have some fun too.

We anticipate approximately 10,000 visitors to our community for the day.

Anyone wishing to be a vendor at Hogs’n’Hot Rods may contact Collinsville Downtown, Inc. at 371-5530 for further information. This is an opportunity to showcase your business and possibly make new contacts for future events.

Watch this website for added attractions at Hogs’n’Hot Rods.

Rejecting the Status Quo in Washington

Right now, our economy is struggling and American families are hurting – they are being forced to cut back and expect their government to do the same. Last week, House and Senate Democrats passed the largest spending bill in our nation’s history. The so called stimulus package, which was written behind closed doors in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, set a record deficit, put almost $1 trillion in new federal spending on the table, and created over thirty new government programs on the table all in one day. Spending more of your hard earned money is all the 111th Congress seems to be doing. The American people are fed up, and so am I.

If we are going to continue putting more spending and programs on the table, then we must absolutely have a tool to take outdated spending off the table. I introduced H.R 1023, the Federal Agency Program Realignment and Closure Act (FAPRAC) to do just that – while saving taxpayers untold billions of dollars.

My bill creates a 17 member bipartisan commission, comprised of both public and private sector officials, closely modeled after the proven Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, which will provide an objective, non-partisan, and independent review and analysis of all federal agencies and programs. The commission will target agencies and programs that perform a duplicative function, would perform better at the state level or perform better in the private sector and create a list of recommended realignments and closures. The list is then given to Congress for a simple up or down vote and cannot be amended. Taxpayer savings from this legislation will be used solely for deficit reduction and cannot be used to fund any new or existing government programs. It goes without saying that BRAC is a proven model that saves taxpayer money. If it is good enough to reform our nation’s military, it is good enough to be applied to the entire federal government.

Throughout President Obama’s campaign, in his inaugural address, and even in his meetings with House Republicans, he has repeatedly called for a line by line review of the federal budget – my bill does that. If he is serious about addressing wasteful federal spending, this is his chance to do it in a bipartisan way. The handwriting is on the wall and it is time to put the federal government back to work for the people and my legislation will do just that.

If you wish to contact Congressman Sullivan regarding a specific issue, please visit our contact web page at http://sullivan.house.gov/Contact.