112th Congress

You know election season must be in full swing when "Mediscare" accusations start flying. Unfortunately, the heated rhetoric obscures the most relevant and startling point of all: Medicare will go bankrupt by 2024. This is not speculation or a partisan claim; it is a fact documented in this year's annual report from the Medicare and Social Security Trustees.

Rather than confront this reality and communicate honestly with the American people about options to save the vital program, the Obama campaign has chosen the time-honored tradition of sowing fear and division.

One day after voting to prevent a massive tax hike from hitting small businesses and families, House Republicans also took action to reform the entire tax code. It's not just high tax rates that discourage businesses from growing. The very structure of the tax system is so complex, inefficient, and unfair that the United States is becoming one of the worst places to do business in the developed world.

I recently sat down in Norman with a group of small business owners to get their perspective on economic issues. While politicians in Washington argue over how to create jobs, these local employers are the ones responsible for making payroll each month and working to make their businesses grow in a challenging economy.