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In August, House Republicans announced our next major jobs initiative: a series of bills to roll back the Obama administration's radical, job-crushing regulations. After identifying ten of the most damaging regulations, we've set about modifying or repealing them one by one.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement in response to President Obama's announcement that he would be recalling all American troops from Iraq by the end of the year.
"The clear winners in today's announcement are Iran and Al Qaeda. I find it very disappointing that Prime Minister Maliki and President Obama were unwilling to give the effort needed to come to an agreement that was clearly in the best interests of both of our nations.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement in response to the death of tribal official Elouise Cobell:
"I was saddened to learn of the passing of my good friend and distinguished Native American leader, Elouise Cobell. Nobody fought harder for the honest management of trust assets of Indian Country than Elouise. Due to her efforts, literally hundreds of thousands of native Americans received justice and compensation for the past mismanagement of tribal assets by the U.S. Government.
Details about the Justice Department's horribly botched gun-tracking program, dubbed "Fast and Furious," reveal government incompetence at best and misconduct at worst. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been investigating this troubling case for months -- often with little cooperation from Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department.
The failure of the Obama stimulus bill to keep unemployment below 9 percent demonstrates that the government is not effective at creating jobs. What the government can do is remove barriers to economic growth and create conditions favorable for employment. The long-delayed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama will do just that. And, unlike the $787 billion stimulus, they will not cost taxpayers a dime.
It's easy to see why congressional approval ratings have reached historic lows. The latest spending fight is a perfect example of the politics-as-usual -- and, even worse -- budgeting-as-usual practices that have undermined trust in the federal government and created record deficits.
Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) hosts his monthly program "Cole on Congress" and visits with Rep. Mike Simpson (ID-02) to provide an analysis on the issues facing our nation. (September 2011)
Now that the Obama administration is releasing an economic plan at the rate of roughly once a week, it almost makes one miss the days when the president contributed nothing at all to the debate. At least during the months when President Obama remained virtually silent regarding the nation's most significant challenges, we were spared calls for $1.6 trillion tax hikes.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the Obama White House released its latest debt plan, which calls for $1.5 trillion in new taxes:
"This proposal is more about election year politics than deficit reduction. The fact that President Obama once again failed to propose serious reforms to entitlement programs -- which are the main drivers of the debt -- shows he is interested not in solving problems but in scoring political points.
As Paul Harvey might say, "now we know the rest of the story." In an address to Congress, President Obama touted his jobs plan as a cure-all for the nation's economic woes and exhorted legislators to pass his bill without delay -- and without actually having seen the bill yet. But details on how to pay for the plan were conspicuously absent.