Today's report was a factual validation of what we have been saying all along: When the American people keep more of their own money, they grow the economy, and when the economy grows, tax revenues increase. We've heard a lot of talk from people who seem to think that the only way to cut the deficit is to raise taxes; this report unequivocally proves them wrong.

Lowering taxes has fueled sustained economic growth and job growth that ultimately bring more tax dollars into the Treasury, which helps us reduce the deficit.  At the same time, we need to restrain spending, and we're working hard to do this through budget reforms such as my legislative line-item veto and overall efforts to control spending.

Today's announcement of lower deficit projections shows that tax relief paired with spending controls can put our fiscal house in order and eliminate the deficit.

By Christian E. Weller, senior economist; and John S. Irons, director of Budget and Tax Policy, Center for American Progress

President Bush is woefully out of touch with economic realities. “He fails to acknowledge that the economic recovery of the past few years has left millions of American middle-class families behind,

I am deeply shocked and saddened by the horrific images of the coordinated terrorist attack in Mumbai that killed hundreds of commuters riding the train lines home after work. These terrible images recall similar tragic acts of terror perpetrated in Madrid and London against innocent people, and even last week's revelations of a plot targeting New York City's bridge and tunnel system.

The attack reminds us again of the deadly threat the civilized world faces from those who only know how to hate. It also is a stark reminder that as a global community how vigilant we must be in our effort to apprehend the perpetrators of such acts both here and abroad - before such horrendous acts are committed.

Today's act of brutal terror in Mumbai also shows how vulnerable the world's economic centers are to the deadly threat of terrorism. By targeting India's commercial capital, the terrorists attacked the underpinnings of the Indian economy - the economic engine and diverse ideals of Mumbai.

But now we must focus our attention on the suffering of the wounded and the heavy loss of hundreds of families whose loved ones were killed. I send my deepest sympathies to our Indian friends, and, as a member of Congress, I will work to ensure India receives the necessary support from the United States to cope with this tragic incident and apprehend the perpetrators responsible for this brutal terrorist act.

- Congressman Crowley, former Democratic Chair of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans and a member of the House International Relations Committee

Recently, Reps. Bob Inglis, Spencer Bachus, Rich Boucher and I sent a letter calling for a Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Commerce Department's pending review of a proposed agreement between VeriSign and ICANN. Valid concerns have been raised that the ".com" domain name registry could become an unregulated monopoly.  In addition, the proposal guarantees VeriSign the opportunity to unilaterally increase prices in most years of the new contract.

It just makes sense that the Committee that has oversight of this issue take a close look. This matter will directly affect Internet operation and cost.

In February of this year, as part of a settlement of litigation between VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) relating to VeriSign's operation of the .com top level domain (TLD) registry, ICANN's Board of Directors narrowly approved changes to the .com registry agreement and submitted them to the Commerce Department for required review and approval. Concerns have been raised about potentially anticompetitive elements of this proposed agreement and its potential for creating a perpetual and unregulated monopoly over the single most valuable asset on the Internet - the .com domain name registry.  These anti-competitive concerns are all the more alarming because .com makes up about 75 percent of domain name registrations in the United States and a significant percentage globally.  Under the terms of the proposed agreement, control of the .com registry would be handed to one company, VeriSign, without any reasonable opportunity for rebidding the contract in the future and without effective limits on the maximum prices charged for .com registrations.  It appears that these provisions would foreclose competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Last week I joined with Congressmen Cannon, Bachus and Inglis in calling on House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Chairman Smith to hold hearings on this matter.  Hearings would allow Members of the Subcommittee to examine the implications and timing of the proposal and ensure that the goals  of competition, consumer choice and innovation that both the Commerce Department and ICANN are obligated to promote are not thwarted.

I was dismayed by John Tierney’s column in today’s New York Times attacking the merits of Title IX (“Let The Guys Win One,

Although Russia is currently hosting the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg (July 15-17), there are questions about its eligibility to be a member of the exclusive G-8 club.


Through its plentiful energy resources, large landmass, educated population, permanent membership on the UN Security Council, and extensive civilian and military nuclear infrastructure, Russia plays a key role in world affairs.  These factors influenced the Group of  7 (G-7) major industrial democracies (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany,  Japan,  Italy, and  Canada), to invite Russia to participate in its meetings.  After participating as an observer in four summits, in 1998 Russia became a full member of the group, now renamed the Group of 8(G-8), despite its still-developing economy and the uncertainty regarding the momentum of its democratic reforms.


Since then, however, President Putin has steered Russia away from democracy and toward authoritarianism.  He has increased pressure on opposition political parties and civil society, strengthened state control over national broadcast media, and pursued politically-driven prosecutions of independent business leaders, academics and others voicing criticism of the government.  Regional governors, once directly elected, are now appointed by the Kremlin, and the government has taken a number of steps to reduce electoral competitiveness.  In recognition of this deterioration in democracy, the human rights organization Freedom House has downgraded Russia’s status from “Partly Free

It's certainly prudent for the U.S. to begin to think about how we will interact with a post-Castro Cuba.  However, it would be imprudent to keep in place policies that have made Castro the longest-reigning dictator in the world.

Simply put, more of the same won't hasten democratic reforms in Cuba.

The interests of democracy, both in Cuba and here in the U.S., would be better served by a more honest examination of our current Cuba policy.