Economy & Small Business
Bloomberg - Kathleen Hunter & Roxana Tiron
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein is among the executives scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama today. The president is seeking business support for his campaign to extend tax cuts for middle-income Americans while letting rates rise for top earners.
Washington Post - Aaron Blake
Much of the news coverage of the so-called “fiscal cliff” in recent days has focused on whether Republicans are willing to violate their Grover Norquist-sponsored pledge not to vote to raise taxes.
But what if the the Norquist pledge doesn’t even apply to the current situation?
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) doesn’t think it does. And Norquist and his group — Americans for Tax Reform — aren’t saying that Cole is wrong.
Politico - Jonathan Allen
Republican Rep. Tom Cole urged colleagues in a private session Tuesday to vote to extend the Bush tax rates for all but the highest earners before the end of the year — and to battle over the rest later.
The Oklahoma Republican said in an interview with POLITICO that he believes such a vote would not violate Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge and that he’s not alone within Republican circles.
The Hill - Russell Berman
Meeting with his conference for the first time since the election, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday told his troops to settle in for a long battle over the “fiscal cliff.”
“Sit back, this is going to take a while,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in characterizing Boehner’s message at the closed-door meeting.
In once again electing a Republican House of Representatives, Democratic Senate and Democratic White House, the American people voted to maintain the status quo in Washington's balance of power. While the composition of the legislative and executive branches may remain the same, a continuation of current economic policies is not an option.
The last unemployment report to be released before the election reiterates how far we have to go to reach pre-recession levels of prosperity. The 7.9 percent unemployment rate recorded for October is up slightly from September's 7.8 percent. Even more discouraging, it is slightly higher than the 7.8 percent recorded when President Obama first took office while the recession was at its peak.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the death of Skip Healey:
"I was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of longtime Republican and civic leader Skip Healey of Davis. Skip has been a fixture in GOP politics for over 50 years, serving as the Budget Committee chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party for over four decades, as well as national committeeman, a district and county official and a leader in countless political campaigns at the state and national level.
The latest discouraging economic news provides a sobering reminder of exactly what is at stake when Congress reconvenes to address the "fiscal cliff" issues at the end of this year. The most recent economic growth report shows almost no growth to speak of. At a weak 1.3 percent for the quarter, the economic growth rate showed a decline from the previous quarter's 2 percent growth and is well below the 1.7 percent growth that had been projected.
It is considered one of the great political compromises, and one of the most unequivocally successful policy changes in recent congressional history. Welfare reform, a joint effort by President Clinton and a Republican Congress led by Speaker Newt Gingrich, confirms both that bipartisan progress is possible in a sharply divided government and that good things happen when the status quo is toppled
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House passed H.J.Res. 118, a resolution to overturn the Obama administration's move to waive welfare work requirements.