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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.
That was the view of U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who voted for the measure late Tuesday night. He said passing the bill ensures that upcoming budget debates will focus solely on reducing federal spending.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) was appointed to a seat on the House Rules Committee tonight by House Speaker John Boehner. The Rules Committee is part of the House leadership and works with the Speaker and the Majority Leader to schedule bills and set the terms of debate on the House floor. Every piece of legislation considered by the House must first pass through the Rules Committee.
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. The legislation delays devastating military cuts for two months and prevents numerous other damaging tax policies including an increase in the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Tulsa World - The Associated Press
Congress has passed legislation that may help boost the water supply in Lake Thunderbird.
The legislation was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and was carried in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. The resolution allows the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District to tap into the Atoka line that runs near Lake Thunderbird. The Norman Transcript reports that this raw water source can be used to help raise water levels in Lake Thunderbird during drought conditions.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK-4) today applauded the Senate passage of H.R. 3263, the Lake Thunderbird Efficient Use Act. This measure grants the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District (COMC) authority to import and store non-project water into Lake Thunderbird in order to firm up municipal and industrial water supplies for cities including Norman, Midwest City, and Del City.
The fiscal cliff fiasco has been perhaps a fitting end to a year and a legislative session full of frustrating, down-to-the-wire legislative battles. Passing major legislation is often such a contentious, eleventh-hour process, it seems as if all of Washington is hopelessly dysfunctional. While this is largely true, there are a few congressional success stories worth highlighting.
The "Accountability Review Board" assembled by the State Department to investigate security failures leading to the Benghazi terror attack has released a report that fails to hold any senior officials accountable for the assault that claimed four American lives.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 5862, his bill to allow the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma (O-Gah-Pah) and its tribal members to pursue their Indian trust-related claims in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The Quapaw Tribe sought relief in court for accounting of funds held in trust for the tribe and the tribe’s members and agreed to mediation with the federal government. However, the federal government's failure to abide by the agreement has left the tribe with no resolution or recourse for 10 years.
The media coverage of the fiscal cliff misses the point so consistently, it's enough to provoke a James Carville-esque outburst to remind them: "It's the spending, Stupid." The fixation with the tax side of the equation obscures that the real solution to the fiscal cliff involves spending cuts and entitlement reform.