Economy & Small Business
In his second inaugural address, President Obama did not utter the word "debt" a single time. While the president had no hesitation discussing policies to increase spending, he remained virtually silent regarding the most important and urgent challenge currently threatening the nation's future.
Much of the recent coverage of 11th-hour legislative deals and partisan stalemates focuses on negotiations between House Republican leadership and the White House. Yet the most underreported factor in the habitual Washington gridlock of the past two years is the failure of the Democratic Senate to do its job.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after House passage of H.R. 325–The No Budget, No Pay Act:
"The Senate's failure to pass a budget in nearly four years is disgraceful. House Republicans have voted repeatedly to cut spending, but progress in reducing the debt is impossible without cooperation from Senate Democrats.
President Obama spent the last press briefing of his first term lecturing Congress to "pay the bills they have already racked up." "They" is a curious choice of pronoun for a president who has accumulated more debt than any chief executive in history.
After the 113th Congress was officially sworn in on January 3, one of the first orders of business was to approve new rules under which the legislative process will operate during this session of Congress.
During the 2011 debt ceiling debate, President Obama famously declared that the government should "eat our peas" and raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached. But it is the president who needs to get comfortable with the idea of eating not only peas but carrots and spinach, as well.
Ada News - Eric Swanson
Congress’ last-minute deal to avoid a “fiscal cliff” of middle-class tax increases and federal spending cuts isn’t perfect, but it sets the stage for reducing the deficit down the road.
Washington Post - Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake
At the end of November, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole broke with party orthodoxy, insisting that his fellow Republicans should take a fiscal cliff deal that raised taxes on those making more than $250,000 immediately.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House approved the Senate-passed fiscal cliff agreement to extend and make permanent low tax rates for individuals earning up to $400,000 per year and families earning $450,000.