Weekly Columns
As the president’s time in office grinds to an end, I am disappointed—but not surprised—that he continues to advocate for the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Campaign promise or not, the dangerous terrorists at Guantanamo do not belong on American soil. Unfortunately, the president’s latest insistence on closing the terrorist detention center is the same tired plan he’s unsuccessfully pushed for the past seven years. And just like the last seven years, his latest proposal is dangerous, contrary to federal law and deeply unpopular with both parties in Congress and with the American people.
Like most rhetoric coming from President Barack Obama, his latest budget was filled with initiatives that sound good until you get into the details, especially the details regarding how to pay for these initiatives. This couldn’t have been more clear than in the method he proposed to deal with health threats to society posed by diseases like cancer and conditions like opioid abuse. While the president saw the value of enlisting biomedical and scientific researchers to deal with these problems, his proposed plan to pay for these policies is extremely irresponsible.
In what has become an annual event, last week President Obama released a budget proposal that has no basis in reality. This year, he again ignored our nation’s crushing burden of debt and the outdated entitlement programs that are driving it and instead offered a proposal that raises taxes on job creators and proposes billions of dollars of additional spending for new government programs.
Clearly, the threat posed by ISIS/ISIL in the Middle East isn’t diminishing and the need to do something to protect the United States and our friends abroad is more urgent than ever. Considering the escalating conflict in the area occupied by the terrorist group, attacks against our allies and direct threats surfacing in America, it is past time for thoughtful debate to take place, a clear strategy to be agreed upon and decisive action to be taken to destroy this barbaric enemy.
After seven long years, the damaging consequences of President Obama’s liberal agenda and policies become even more glaring by the day. Instead of confronting the serious challenges that desperately needed his attention, leadership and willingness to work with the legislative branch after he took the oath of office, the president has chosen throughout the entirety of his administration to ignore some of the most pressing issues facing the American people.
Long before the controversial Iran nuclear agreement was set in motion by the Obama Administration, Republicans voiced their strong opposition to engaging and negotiating with the terrorist regime. Unfortunately, despite concerns from both lawmakers and many American citizens, President Obama chose to risk our nation’s security for an agreement that will undoubtedly increase volatility in the Middle East and ultimately pave the way for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. To call the Administration’s performance “disappointing” would be an understatement.
Throughout his tumultuous and controversial tenure, President Barack Obama has wasted time, words and energy claiming that America’s challenges are not of his making. Sadly, what America heard during his State of the Union address last week was only more of the same. Instead of offering a plan to move the nation forward, his speech was largely an attempt to defend his unfortunate record of failed policies and hide the larger problems overcoming our country.
Last week was one for the history books in Congress because it brought an occasion that was a long time coming. Upon the return of lawmakers for legislative business this year, the U.S. House of Representatives swiftly voted to repeal the president’s healthcare law. At first, that might not sound like anything new coming from House Republicans, given our more than 50 previous attempts to repeal the harmful law. But this time marked the first time the measure was also agreed to by the Senate and finally able to reach the president’s desk.
As congressional lawmakers return this week to get things done for the American people they were elected to represent, there is a lot of hope that this year will be different. In particular, there’s great optimism that it will be a year marked not by governing from crisis to crisis but instead governing by regular order.
Despite the commonly held opinion that this has been an unproductive Congress, I believe that this year lawmakers have proved that the federal government can function under regular order and responsibly get the work of the American people done. It is especially encouraging that, even in the era of divided government, there are a number of legislative achievements that can make all Americans rest assured that the work of the people, through their elected representatives, is indeed getting done.