The Administration

Our criminal justice system is broken. Earlier this week, during a hearing of the Judiciary Crime and Drugs Subcommittee entitled "Restoring Fairness to Federal Sentencing: Addressing the Crack-Powder Disparity,”  we heard from the U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Judicial Conference of the United States calling for equalization of the crack – powder sentencing structure.

There is no excuse for breaking the law by using and/or selling illegal drugs.  But today we have a civil rights injustice in our drug sentencing policy between crack cocaine and powder cocaine.  According to the Journal of American Medical Association, “cocaine in any form produces the same physiological and subjective effects.”  Yet under current law, it takes 100 times more powder cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the five- and 10-year mandatory minimum sentences. Read more...

In President Obama's inaugural address, he declared that "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."

The President's statement referenced false and disingenuous choices of the Bush Administration. As the facts continue to come to light about exactly what happened at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, and other U.S.-run secret prisons around the world, it is increasingly impossible to ignore that the U.S. government violated the basic human rights of prisoners. Not only did these insidious tactics sacrifice our national integrity, but they may also have compromised our security as well. Read more...

When President Barack Obama walked into the Oval Office on January 20th, we already knew that our nation was in the midst of an epic collapse of its financial markets.  We also knew that far too many families were living under crushing circumstances—everything from the lack of adequate housing and health care to little or no hope for a brighter economic future.  Because of the energy, the intellect and the nose-to-the-grind spirit of President Obama, today, America stands on a more sturdy financial foundation.  While there are still difficult days ahead, especially for low-income families and those who have or are likely to lose their jobs, I am heartened by the spirit of hope and optimism that our President has brought to our nation and many parts of the world.

Like me, an overwhelming majority of Americans on the political left and the right believe our country is now headed in the right direction.  It has been my privilege to vote with this President, on behalf of the people in my district, on several important pieces of legislation that, combined, have created new jobs in energy and transportation, provided insurance for 11 million uninsured children and put in place the long overdue value of paying women equally for the jobs they do in the work place. Read more...

When President Obama first took office, I appreciated and supported his calls for bipartisanship. Unfortunately, these calls are being overshadowed by his support for a divisive agenda that is out of touch with mainstream America.

Where the economy is concerned, the president and his administration have followed one formula: borrow, spend and tax. They believe that bigger government and more taxes will help grow our economy. Most Americans do not. Read more...

While marking President Obama's 100th day in office, Senate and House Democratic leadership said that the Republicans in Congress are out of touch with their Republican constituents.

Today, several of my colleagues and I sent a letter to Budget conferees asking them to include language in the final budget resolution that calls for the Federal Reserve to identify banks and other financial institutions that have received more than $2.2 trillion in taxpayer-backed loans and other financial assistance since March 24, 2008.

Simultaneously, Mark Pittman of Bloomberg reported that the Federal Reserve has lost $9.6 billion on the assets it purchased from Bear Stearns and AIG last year. Read more...

President Obama calls out Holocaust deniers and says he will work for an end to intolerance. Elie Wiesel calls Iranian President Ahmadinejad the world's greatest Holocaust denier.

Next week, the House will consider legislation on credit card reform. I believe that this legislation, while well-intentioned, may have unintended consequences for the financial sector. This bill has the potential to reduce investment in the marketplace, increase rates and fees for all credit card holders, and restrict credit availability. In our current economic climate, as we are trying to resuscitate our markets with pro-growth initiatives, we must be mindful of the effect interventionist legislation can have on the financial sector. Additionally, the Federal Reserve already has consumer protection rules that are on the verge of being implemented. Codifying these rules limits the flexibility of the Fed to make changes to the regulations if needed.

The concern over this bill’s potential to reduce investment in the marketplace is valid. Fewer funds available for lending may contribute to a greater tightening in marketplace liquidity. In addition, the legislation has the potential to increase rates and fees for all credit card holders. As a result of restricting risk-based pricing, the risk will likely be spread to all cardholders, regardless of their level of credit risk.

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President Obama is proposing a “cap and trade” energy tax that will raise utility costs on every American family to generate $646 billion in new taxes, while shipping millions of American jobs to foreign countries.

I am very concerned about how the liberals in Congress plan to mark-up the climate change bill in the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week. The most important parts of this bill are left blank, and without details, the Demoract leadership on this committee is attempting to hide the true cost that American families will have to pay if this bill becomes law. This process severely lacks transparency and is a disservice to the American people.

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President Obama and Democrat leaders in Congress expect to raise billions of dollars through an unprecedented “cap and tax” proposal. With this money, they plan to accomplish many of their campaign promises and long-standing party goals – health care and education reform, to name a few.

And they may just get their way. Their proposal will raise taxes on American businesses and families by an expected $646 billion over the next 10 years. Coincidentally, that is more than enough to pay for President Obama’s $634 billion “down payment” on an expansion of government-provided health care.

In just a few short years, you may be paying for several others’ health care by simply flipping on a light switch and turning on the coffee pot each morning.

Read more...