Lawmaker News

Yesterday, President Obama’s first tax hike took effect. Yes, that’s right on April Fool’s day, but it’s no joke.

When President Obama first took office, he pushed through Congress, and signed a bill increasing taxes on tobacco. This increase amounts to 62 cents per pack of cigarettes, and 40 cents per individual cigar.

This came as part of the so-called State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), unfortunately, it is not nearly as strong a program as its title implies. It is nothing more than the first step in the short march towards socialized healthcare. Read more...

Friends,

Today, when the House takes up the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) will present an alternative budget for the third year in a row. We do so each year in order to not only highlight opportunities to eliminate wasteful government spending and rebalance our tax structure, but to address the glaring needs for increased investments in long-term social and economic programs.

Our budget starts with an ambitious agenda to address the most pressing matters facing America today. We invest $991 billion in non-defense discretionary spending for fiscal year 2010, which is $469 billion over the President's budget. This is a bold infusion of resources that includes $300 billion in stimulus that we feel was left out of the economic recovery package and increases in domestic priorities that will ensure America's economic recovery. Read more...

Last time I posted here, Congress was embroiled in a vigorous debate about whether to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Opponents were fighting tooth and nail against the bill deeming certain parts of the package "wasteful spending." One of the programs opponents were calling wasteful was funding to restore forest health and prevent wildfires.

I vehemently disagreed that it was wasteful to improve forest health by clearing out forests that have become overgrown, choked, or diseased because of poor and unnatural forest management practices. This work helps restore eco-systems and wildlife habitat to their natural condition, protects local communities from wildfires and creates jobs. Working with my colleagues in Congress, we kept the wildfire prevention funding in the final legislation.

Now we're able to see the first results of those efforts. Read more...

I was elected last November because the people wanted change. And nowhere is change more desperately needed than on Wall Street, which is apparently the only place in the world where you can steal from the taxpayers and then bill them for services rendered. So far, taxpayers have spent over $500 billion in direct cash infusions into banks and financial institutions, with guarantees of trillions more. Yet, these companies are still paying their executives lavish sums for driving their companies (and the entire economy) into the ground.

I introduced a bill - the 'Pay for Performance Act' - to put an end to this theft. It's on the House floor today. It bans unreasonable and excessive pay to employees of financial institutions that are running on taxpayer money. The bill is based on two simple concepts. One, no one has the right to get rich off taxpayer money. And two, no one should get rich off abject failure. If the government owns a chunk of a bank, that bank must pay its employees reasonably, and all bonuses must be performance-based. Read more...

The President’s nearly $3.6 trillion budget proposal to be voted upon in the U.S. House this week is making history in all the wrong ways. At a time when the American people are hurting, Washington Democrats propose adding an historic weight to the already painful burden the American taxpayers must bear – shattering old records of government taxing, spending and borrowing. Read more...

Like so many other Americans, I was outraged when I found out that AIG was going to use taxpayer dollars to award $165 million in bonuses to its executives. With so many families struggling to get by in this economic crisis, the pay-out of these bonuses showed that executives on Wall Street remain entirely out of touch with our country’s working people. We have seen time and time again that the culture on Wall Street is to award executives for a job not-well done.

And yet, not everyone at big Wall Street banks makes big Wall Street bucks. I found myself wondering whether this pay-out could have even happened if there had been someone in the room when the decision was made to award these bonuses who truly knew the value of a dollar. What if someone who puts in a year’s worth of hard work without the promise of a seven figure bonus at the finish line was asked how much an executive should make? Read more...

In an interview with The Hill Sen. Bob Corker(R-Tenn.) laid out what he thinks the key is to rebuilding the economy and where he thinks we can see an end to government bailouts.

In our great nation, from the first day of pre-school we are taught that if you work hard and never give up, you can do anything in America. Sadly, for a growing number of kids in this country, the American Dream does not apply.

Each year, as many as 65,000 high school graduates have their dreams of higher education shattered by an unfair system that ignores their good grades and hard work. These kids can be found at the tops of their classes, in schools all across the country, and are as American as you or I. They meet state residency requirements and many have never known another state or country, yet they are forced to pay out-of-state or international tuition rates because they are undocumented. These rates are much higher than in-state tuition, and effectively prevent them from going to college. Read more...

The President has expressed his confidence in and his commitment to a successful restructuring of and long-term viability plan for General Motors and Chrysler. The road ahead is going to be very difficult and painful, although as the President said, there is potential for both companies to emerge from restructuring as stronger, more competitive companies. I share the President’s confidence in GM and Chrysler and will go even further and state that I steadfastly believe that both companies are on the verge of emerging from this dark period as industry leaders once again in sales, fuel economy, safety and customer satisfaction. The message from the President is clear -- there is a lot of work to be done yet; I stand ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Read more...

Last week, the Obama administration laid out its plan for dealing with the drug-related violence that is gripping Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that more federal agents would be sent to the Southwest border. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Mexico and pledged our cooperation in the struggle against the drug cartels.

Nearly 6,000 people, including more than 500 law-enforcement and military personnel, were killed in the war between rival cartels and the Mexican government, and the bloodshed continues. Read more...