Congressional power struggles will capture the headlines until Election Day, but what happens to fiscal policy afterwards remains somewhat of a mystery. If we are to believe some partisan prognosticators, taxes will dramatically increase, and rampant spending will push the nation even further into debt. The likely reality, however, provides a far more muddled picture.

If the House switches hands, we can look to past sponsorship of legislation to establish a realistic baseline for potential spending initiatives. In the House, there would be pronounced differences from committee chairmen. If the stars align for Democrats on Election Day, Charles Rangel (D-NY) will chair Ways and Means, and Jim McCrery (R-LA) will play the role of Ranking Member. The ideological contrast between the two could not be more vivid.

Yet, how can this contrast be measured? The National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s BillTally system, which uses 3rd-party estimates to compile the cost of each lawmaker’s budget agenda, can provide some clues. In a report last week, NTUF focused on the BillTally data for likely committee chairs in the 110th Congress. Congressman Rangel, in just the First Session of the 109th Congress, proposed over $1.6 trillion in new spending. Among his initiatives: a healthcare bill that would run upwards of $1.5 trillion, a Department of Peace and Nonviolence with a price tag of $9 billion annually, and $793 million to Amtrak. Read more...

For several months, the Committee worked tirelessly to achieve a comprehensive port security bill that we could send to the President for approval – and that is exactly what we accomplished. With the President's signature on this legislation, the security of one of our biggest domestic vulnerabilities – our seaports – will be greatly enhanced and anti-terror measures will be put into place. This is an incredible accomplishment for this Committee and the security of our nation.

Having this legislation become law is one of the most important things we'll do this year to advance homeland security. The SAFE Port Act takes the necessary steps to secure our ports, and the American people will be safer because of it.

In one bold and unjust stroke, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) appointed by President Bush has invited employers to rob workers of their freedom to have a union by simply reclassifying them as “supervisors. Read more...

America has a problem with guns – there are too many shootings, too few common sense restrictions, and too little inclination to ask where these guns come from, who is able to get them, and why we need all these weapons.

This week and last week, we were all reminded of this again.  We need to have a serious national conversation about this, and commit ourselves to making progress.  For the past five years, we’ve been going backward, not forward.

It’s hard to know what might have prevented the recent school shootings, but making it harder to buy high-powered weapons and ammunition certainly would help.  Let’s require background checks on every gun purchase, stop bulk sales of handguns and make it easier to close down bad gun dealers. Read more...

For more than two centuries, most members of the United States Congress have served the American people in a true and faithful manner. Unfortunately, the 109th Congress has been marred by the ethical and legal scandals of Republican Congressmen Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley, and today, by the guilty plea of Bob Ney. Their actions do a disservice not only to the constituents that elected them, but to Congress itself. These acts of impropriety shake the confidence that Americans have in their legislative body and illustrate the extent of the Republican culture of corruption and arrogance of power that is pervasive throughout the House. Special-interest influence, secret legislating, lobbyist gifts, and revolving doors have compromised the integrity of Congress and the legislative process.

Ending this Republican culture of corruption that has favored the special interests over the interests of the American people is a top priority of House Democrats. It is long past time to drain the swamp of corruption. Democrats' New Direction for America, based on the principles of honest leadership, bipartisanship, and fiscal discipline, will address the urgent concerns of the American people while restoring civility and integrity to the U.S. Congress. Through bipartisan administration of the House, Democrats will work to re-establish regular order for legislation, and secure the rights of the minority - regardless of which party is in the minority.

With our Honest Leadership, Open Government proposal, Democrats will end the unfair special interest influence, reform the legislative process, and ban gifts and travel from lobbyists. We will return the People's House to the marketplace of ideas that works for all Americans, not just the privileged few.

Today, President Bush has signed into law the Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE Port) Act Conference Report. Included in the bill was language to extend the prohibition on gambling using wire communication facilities to include Internet technologies, effectively curbing Internet gambling in the U.S.

The bill includes provisions guaranteeing that states - like Utah - which have banned all forms of gambling within their borders will not have their laws trumped by federal legislation. Previous incarnations of the bill did not offer this protection.

By signing this bill into law, President Bush helped secure our ports and struck a decisive blow to Internet gambling. Gambling is a vice, and Internet gambling is especially insidious. Internet gambling sites lack the necessary tools to protect children, and can cross state borders with the click of a mouse.

The brazen nuclear test performed by North Korea last weekend highlighted our country’s need for a national missile defense system. Democrat leadership in Congress continues to strike at funding for this important program, but North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear device and continues efforts to develop missiles to strike the United States or our allies. Their recent threatening statements are disturbing and Congressional Democrats should repudiate their opposition to a national missile defense system immediately.

It is absurd that Democrat leaders spent the weekend accusing the Bush Administration of failing to respond to the North Korean threat when Congressional Democrats have on consistently voted against this President’s missile defense program – a program that is designed almost specifically for this type of threat. Read more...

I commend President Bush for signing the SAFE Port Act into law because it is another concrete step in protecting and securing our borders.  This GOP Congress is not just talking tough about securing our borders -- we've taken real action.  Whether it's providing the necessary funding for 700 miles of fencing, blockades and more Border Patrol agents to stem the tide of illegal immigration or better screening of the millions of containers that enter our ports every year, we are committed to ensuring our nation's security.  The SAFE Port Act is part of that commitment.

In a sharp rebuke to Democrat naysayers who predicted otherwise, the federal deficit for fiscal year 2006 has been cut in half ­ a milestone originally set by President Bush for 2009 and ridiculed as unrealistic by Democrat leaders from Minority Leader Pelosi (D-CA) to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). This week's announcement that our plan is three years ahead of schedule is a strong vindication of Republican, pro-growth economic policies, especially given the costs of 9/11, the War on Terror, and recent hurricanes like Katrina.

Republican tax relief has stimulated strong economic growth ­ creating nearly 6.6 million new jobs in the past three years, raising worker paychecks, and fostering 37 consecutive months of job growth and record low unemployment ­ all of which have flooded the federal treasury with greater-than-expected tax revenues. In fact, spending as a part of the total federal budget is now significantly less than it was in 1994, when Bill Clinton and the Democrats held both Houses of Congress ­ 9% today versus 14% in 1994. Read more...