The Department of Labor has reported that wages and benefits paid to American workers in the July-September quarter rose at the fastest rate in over two year, providing further evidence that pro-growth policies enacted by this Congress have kept money in the hands of American consumers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs and fueled economic growth while creating good, high-paying jobs.

The Labor Department’s announcement that wages and benefits are up is proof positive that the pro-growth, low tax policies that Republicans have enacted are working.  Gross domestic product (GDP) has risen steadily for the last five years.  The economy has created jobs for 37 consecutive months.  Wages and benefits for American workers have risen by 3.3 percent in the last 12 months.

The economy is strong and it is bringing higher paying jobs and new opportunities to working families.  It is essential that we continue to strengthen the economy by controlling spending and reducing taxes.

Senator Kerry’s comments are unbecoming of a U.S. Senator. While an apology is appropriate, it cannot camouflage his divisive opinions.

Having just returned from Afghanistan this week, I can attest that many soldiers I met there had acquired graduate degrees from some of America’s finest colleges. Perhaps when Sen. Kerry was insulting the education of America’s bravest he overlooked Gen. Petraeus – recently in charge of the NATO Training Mission in Iraq - who has earned both a PhD and a master’s degree from Princeton. Apparently, Sen. Kerry also overlooked Gen Abizaid– Commander of U.S. Central Command in Iraq – who is both a West Point and Harvard graduate, fluent in Arabic and a renowned expert in Arab affairs.

The fact is Sen. Kerry owes American soldiers and their families an apology and his scoffing at that suggestion is merely another example of his elitist and out of touch frame of mind.

On a day when many of us are feeling a sugar hangover from Halloween, a report this week from a leading economist and the British government suggests we would have a huge economic hangover if we don’t cut global warming emissions soon (but it’s not the Halloween scare that it sounds).

The report, The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, is led by a highly respected former World Bank economist, Nicholas Stern. It finds that the pro-growth strategy for the world is to act now to cut global warming emissions. Stern argues that a failure to act will set in motion climate extremes that act as a permanent drag on the global economy. The review concludes that the economic return on climate protection investments will range from $5-20 per dollar spent.

While there are many offices at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue where this light bulb has not lit up, the good news is we’re seeing action already from states like California (and many in the Northeast), cities like Seattle (and hundreds more across America), major venture capitalists, and nations around the world. Regardless of next week's election results, we expect more pressure to do something real to protect both the climate and economic growth (not to mention cutting overdependence on insecure energy supplies).

Ultimately, it comes down to this: to reap any reward, people know you need to make an investment. And the return on climate protection investments would be five- to twenty-fold, according to the report. The real job-killer would be inaction, which the Stern report suggests could impose a huge economic hit on global GDP. To avoid that sort of economic harm, the report notes we need to put real programs in place now to make big changes happen in the next ten years. Of course, that’s the same timeframe scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

Post-Halloween scariness? No, just sound advice from economists and scientists to cut emissions safely and affordably, starting right now.

What's the most important issue in this year's election? If you had to answer that question using only the information available from the Republican Party, you would choose from the following: al-Qaeda, immigration, playboy bunnies and porn.

Al-Qaeda is a threat, one that the war of choice waged by George Bush and the Republican-led Congress has greatly exacerbated [not to brag, but I predicted exactly this outcome before the war began]. Illegal immigration is a problem, but Republicans in the House rejected a bipartisan solution which even George Bush supports, in part so they could use the issue in misleading attacks against their opponents. I personally don't like them but campaigning against Playboy bunnies and porn descends into the realm of the absurd. In my own race, Republican incumbent John Kline is falsely accusing me of comparing U.S. Marines to Nazis. Oh yeah, I don't like Nazis either. The fact that some Republicans are campaigning on such things is a vibrant illustration of how desperate they are to avoid real scrutiny of their record. They're grasping for any distraction they can to deflect attention from the elephant in the room.

Iraq.

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We've known it all along, but now it's official: the international effort to stabilize Afghanistan is being shortchanged. General David Richards, who leads NATO's contingent of 31,000 in Afghanistan -- including some 13,000 U.S. troops under his command -- today plainly stated that he needs substantially more fighting men and women in Afghanistan to win.

The White House foolishly has tried to bring stability and security to Afghanistan on the cheap. From the beginning, the Administration devoted inadequate military forces and funding to the vitally important task of securing the peace in Afghanistan. Instead of working with our NATO allies to ensure that sufficient numbers were dispatched to the conflict, the Administration attempted to outsource Afghanistan’s security to warlords and drug kingpins. That was a profound mistake, and it has come back to haunt us. Read more...

Last night at Pasadena City College John Kerry stated, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq. Read more...

The President resisted calls from his critics to give in to North Korea’s demands — understanding that this threat could only be met by a unified international response — and instead worked with the international community to apply international pressure on Kim Jong Il’s dangerous, criminal regime. This multilateral response is working.

The President was right to call for additional, tough measures at the United Nations, and the first results are clear. His decision to have the response to this threat be a multinational response was the right one.

The only reason to invade Iraq was to reelect the Republicans. An estimated 600,000 innocent human beings have been killed. May God have mercy on their souls.

Chris Smith has worked together in the House with Mark Foley for 12 years. During that time Smith served alongside Foley on the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus, formed 9 years ago, of which Mark Foley chaired. While Foley was visiting the pages' dorm at night, offering rides in his BMW in 2000, 2002, and 2003, a supervisor in the Clerk's office was telling pages to not read too much into Foley's being friendly, warning them about him. Smith and the GOP leadership turned a blind eye. Chris Smith didn't stop Mark Foley from preying on teenage pages, any more than Speaker of the House, Denny Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner, or NRCC chair Tom Reynolds did.

Chris Smith should join me in calling for Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader Boehner and Chairman Reynolds to resign. Until Rep. Smith calls for the resignations of those in his Republican party leadership who knew about Foley's conduct and encouraged Foley to run for another term in office, Smith is standing by his party and shirking his responsibility to hold accountable those who had a duty to report what they knew to law enforcement and to protect Congressional pages. Read more...