The House will consider H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s healthcare bill, starting tomorrow morning. A final vote on passage is expected sometime late Saturday or Sunday. Democratic leadership is feverishly counting votes and trying to negotiate last-minute deals, including whether or not federal funds will be used to pay for abortion and whether illegal immigrants will be able to get federal subsidies for care. President Obama will travel to Capitol Hill tomorrow to make a personal appeal to House Democrats. Speaker Pelosi can only afford to lose around 40 Democratic votes since no Republican is expected to support the bill. It will almost certainly come down to the wire with a very close vote possibly in the dead of night.

Thousands Rally Against PelosiCare

On Thursday, thousands of people came to the West Lawn of the Capitol to make an emergency “House Call” to oppose healthcare. The Republican Caucus spoke boldly about how PelosiCare could lead to a government takeover of healthcare and leave us with a mountain of debt. After the press conference, thousands crossed the street to the Capitol office buildings to speak personally with their Member of Congress. I had the privilege of meeting with many 16th District constituents in my office yesterday afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came down from Pennsylvania to make your voice heard!

PelosiCare Could Means Millions of Lost Jobs

The House Ways and Means Committee, using figures provided by the Congressional Budget Office, estimates that Speaker Pelosi’s healthcare bill could lead to more than 5.5 million lost jobs in the next ten years. With unemployment now at 10.2 percent, the highest since 1983, we cannot afford to pass legislation that will further damage the job market. The House energy bill, considered earlier this summer, would kill up to 3 million more jobs. New government taxes and regulations will not help our entrepreneurs and businesses create the new jobs our economy needs to come out of this recession.

Stimulus Creates Few Jobs in 16th District

President Obama’s economic team has announced the number of jobs “saved or created” by the stimulus act. The “jobs saved” number has been roundly criticized since it is not a standard economic statistic but the administration claimed that the stimulus bill would save 7800 jobs in the 16th District alone. At this time, they are reporting 67 jobs in our district created at a cost of $109 million. The stimulus bill was advertised as a jobs bill, but only about 12 percent of the $825 billion in spending was expected to create jobs. Most of the spending went toward bailing out the states or liberal priorities like the National Endowment for the Arts and climate change research. We need a real jobs bill that focuses on freeing businesses from the taxes and regulations that are holding back job growth.

Quote of the Week

“This is the mother of all unfunded mandates. We can't print money. We can't borrow money. A lot of staffers in Congress really don't understand this idea of a balanced budget.”
--Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D), opposing changes to the Medicaid contained in the Pelosi healthcare bill that would increase state spending obligations.