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In a recent speech at the Pentagon, President Obama announced his plans to make significant changes to the size and strategies of U.S. military forces. Under the new strategy, Army and Marine Corps forces will be reduced and our military presence in Europe will be scaled back.
With the start of a new year, the White House is wasting no time setting the stage for more of the same regulatory overreach that has bedeviled employers and stifled job creation since President Obama took office.
On January 4, the president announced his decision to issue a so-called "recess appointment" to install Richard Cordray to lead the controversial new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). President Obama used the same procedure to appoint three new members to oversee the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after President Obama announced new defense strategy priorities in remarks at the Pentagon:
"These changes will make America weaker, not stronger. We are cutting defense spending and the size of our armed forces because the Obama administration is overspending in other areas, not because we have a military that is too large or overfunded.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after Boeing announced the transfer of hundreds of engineering jobs to their Oklahoma City facility:
"This is great news for our state and confirms that Oklahoma is a fantastic place to do business. Boeing's decision to transfer up to 900 high-quality jobs here is a testament to the quality of our workforce, sensible tax policies, and infrastructure investment. Oklahoma continues to build on our reputation as a business-friendly state, and that should only attract more jobs in the future."
Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) hosts his monthly program "Cole on Congress" and visits with Rep. Steve Womack (AR-03) to provide an analysis on the issues facing our nation. (December 2011)
Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) hosts his monthly program "Cole on Congress" and visits with Rep. Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) to provide an analysis on the issues facing our nation. (December 2011)
It's official: This Congress is the least popular in history. The 17 percent average yearly approval rating for the 112th Congress is the lowest recorded in the 30 years Gallup has been tracking congressional ratings.
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.