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The appropriations process of the first session of the 112th Congress ended on a surprisingly positive note with passage of a 2012 funding bill that cut government spending for the second year in a row. National Journal reporter Major Garrett described this year's spending cuts as "the deepest and most unsettling" that "official Washington" has ever seen, but most conservatives would just call the $95 billion in cuts a good start. Much more progress is needed to undo the damage of decades of reckless spending and put the nation on sound fiscal footing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to work with the Senate to extend the payroll tax holiday for one full year. On December 13, the House passed the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act, which would extend the payroll tax holiday for one year, reform and extend unemployment benefits, protect access to doctors for Medicare beneficiaries, and accelerate a decision on the Keystone pipeline. The Senate payroll tax plan would only extend the tax cut for two months.
As with most things in Washington, this year's appropriations process was slow and frustrating, but the end result is a major victory for fiscal sanity.
On December 16, Congress finalized a fiscal 2012 government appropriations bill that cuts spending for the second consecutive year -- the first time since World War II that government spending has been reduced in back-to-back years. These are real spending cuts that reduce spending by $95 billion compared to fiscal year 2010 and brings non-defense discretionary spending down to 2008 levels.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the Senate approved a temporary extension of the payroll tax holiday:
This bill spends less --$70 billion less-- than the president requested and $6 billion less than we spent last year, the second year in a row we have actually cut discretionary funding.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House of Representatives approved an appropriations bill to fund government operations for fiscal year 2012:
"For the second year in a row, Congress has actually decreased spending. This bill represents a turning point from the years when Washington spending increased automatically, year after year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 3630 - the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act. The bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives Tuesday, extends the payroll tax holiday for one year, reforms and extends unemployment benefits, protects access to doctors for Medicare beneficiaries, and accelerates a decision on the Keystone pipeline.
Concerns about government overreach and overregulation are among the the most common complaints I've heard in town hall meetings this year. And no government regulation has inspired more justified outrage recently among Oklahomans than the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed new rules controlling farm dust.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act:
Last month, the Federal Election Commission announced that it has doled out $17.7 million in taxpayer money to both the Republican and Democratic parties to fund their 2012 presidential nominating conventions. Days later, U.S. debt reached $15 trillion. The timing of these two events reinforces the fact that is is simply outrageous to devote millions in taxpayer money to pay for presidential campaigns when we're going broke.