Economy & Small Business
It may be March Madness in the NCAA, but a rare burst of sanity played out this month on Capitol Hill. House Republicans passed an important funding measure well in advance of the deadline. This is not an unusual occurrence since we have done the same with previous government funding legislation, as well as multiple bills to address the fiscal cliff, sequester and a number of other contentious issues. The twist this time is that the Democratic Senate actually took up the bill in a timely manner, made amendments and sent it back to the House for final passage.
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
Republicans' blueprint would balance the budget in 10 years and shift Medicare into a program that provides subsidies to the elderly to buy private insurance
All five U.S. House members from Oklahoma voted for the Republican budget on Thursday that would bring the federal budget to balance within 10 years, repeal Obamacare and change the structure of Medicare from a government program to one in which premiums for private insurance are subsidized by the government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House passed the Republican budget resolution to balance the budget in 10 years. The House also passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through September, preserving the sequester spending cuts and avoiding the threat of a government shutdown when the current funding expires on March 27.
"Today’s votes mark major progress toward a balanced budget, as well as a return to the regular order under which Congress was meant to operate.
House Republicans presented our annual budget blueprint last week, followed the next day by Senate Democrats. The contrast between the two plans could not be more stark.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House Budget Committee and Chairman Paul Ryan released “The Path to Prosperity: A Responsible, Balanced Budget.” This fiscal year 2014 budget resolution will balance the budget within 10 years.
"The Path to Prosperity budget is the right plan for our serious economic challenges. To overcome the $16 trillion debt, we need a responsible, bold proposal like the House Republican plan to balance the budget in 10 years.
Much like the Mayan Apocalypse, the dreaded beginning of sequestration came and went without much fanfare. After the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts went into effect on March 1, President Obama’s doomsday prophecies were exposed as politically motivated exaggerations and, in some cases, outright fallacies. Claims from the Obama administration that teachers are beginning to receive “pink slips” and Capitol Hill janitors are facing pay cuts were both awarded “Four Pinocchios” -- the highest score on the Washington Post fact checkers’ dishonesty scale.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 933, the Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013. The bill will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September, replacing the temporary funding measure that expires March 26.
It's not hard to find examples of wasteful government spending. The IRS has its own television studio that costs taxpayers $4 million per year to operate. The National Science Foundation paid seniors $1.2 million to play video games for a study. Just last year, the government shelled out an estimated $115 billion in payments to ineligible individuals. Not to mention the 90 different green energy programs across 11 different federal agencies that are eating up government resources, according to the Washington Post.
President Obama's State of the Union address was even more disappointing than his inauguration speech. Once again, the president disregarded the gravity of our economic challenges and outlined an old-school liberal agenda that is utterly out of step with our problems.