More Good News from Iraq
Posted by: Rep. Joe Pitts (07-18-2008, 09:37 AM)
More good news is coming out of Iraq. The AP recently reported that U.S. forces, in cooperation with Iraqi authorities, have just completed a top secret operation that involved shipping 550 metric tons of uranium yellowcake out of Iraq.
Posted in Defense-Homeland Security, International Relations |
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Bring the House into the 21st Century
Posted by: Rep. John Culberson (07-15-2008, 04:41 PM)
Last week I sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader Boehner, (which can be viewed on my website) asking them to review the Rules and allow new media to follow the same rules as the traditional media. Many Members of Congress engage the media by posting entries on Twitter.com, where one can post regular updates from the House floor and the halls of Congress, and on Qik.com, where one can post short films and video updates on the Internet. By expanding their use of these tools, Members can make themselves more accessible to any of their constituents who are interested in polite and meaningful debate and discussion. However, the Rules of the House have not kept pace with new technology. Instead of making Members more accessible to the general public and shining sunlight in the deepest corners of Congress, the Rules actually prohibit these types of communication. I am now seeking cosigners for my letter asking House Leadership to review the rules regarding new media outlets. To see or sign onto this letter, please contact Alicia Lee in my office at alicia.lee@mail.house.gov or at 202-225-2571.
Posted in Unspecified |
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Out-of-Control Spending!
Posted by: Rep. Michele Bachmann (07-10-2008, 03:02 PM)
On Monday I penned this op-ed for the Washington Examiner on the out-of-control spending in Congress and my pledge to give up earmarks. Please take a look.
Posted in Appropriations, Budget |
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RSC Policy Brief: The Effect of Capital Gains Tax Cuts on Revenue
Posted by: Brad Watson (07-10-2008, 02:58 PM)
Over the past three decades, there have been five notable changes to the capital gains tax rate. In 1978, 1981, 1997, and 2003 legislation was enacted lowering the capital gains tax rate. Over this same period, the capital gains tax has been increased just once in 1986. The most recent change, the 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, reduced the top capital gains tax rate from 20 percent to 15 percent. This provision is scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, at which time the top rate will revert back to 20 percent. Many Democrats have called for higher capital gains tax rates, and the FY 2008 and FY 2009 budget resolution conference reports both call for the capital gains tax rate to return to 20 percent after 2010. Most conservatives argue that such capital gains rate increases will not only prove harmful to the economy but will have the opposite than intended effect on revenues. The RSC has prepared this policy brief to analyze the recent history of capital gains tax rates and revenue.
Posted in Budget |
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RSC Policy Brief: The Consequences of Repealing the Social Security Wage Cap
Posted by: Brad Watson (07-10-2008, 02:46 PM)
The Social Security program is funded by a 12.4 percent payroll tax, 6.2 percent on the employee and 6.2 percent on the employer. In 2008, the Social Security payroll tax applies to the first $102,000 of an employee’s income. This $102,000 threshold, beyond which wages are not subject to the Social Security payroll tax, is the Social Security wage cap. Some Democrats, as a means to address Social Security’s financial troubles, advocate raising or completely eliminating the Social Security wage cap. The RSC has prepared this policy brief analyzing the impact of these proposals on the Social Security system and on the tax burden.
Posted in Budget |
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Drill Now!
Posted by: Rep. Ted Poe (07-10-2008, 02:37 PM)
I am seeking cosponsors for the Developing Resources Immediately and Long-Term through Leases on Our Nation’s Offshore Waters (DRILL NOW) Act of 2008. This legislation establishes and ensures long-term energy supplies closer to America by ending current longstanding moratoriums on domestic production of energy offshore. It allows states to decide on drilling closer to their shores and lets them share in the revenue from leases within 50 miles of their coast. It also allows 25 f the royalty revenue on these leases to be deposited in a clean and alternative energy fund, which can be used to expand future energy sources nationwide in addition to petroleum and natural gas, such as biomass, geothermal, hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, wind, and hydropower. According to the Minerals Management Service, the most promising areas for new supplies of oil (86 billion barrels) and gas (420 trillion cubic feet) continue to be offshore. Allowing this energy to be tapped will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, provide billions in revenue to the federal government for clean and alternative energy research, and provide billions in revenue to many cash-strapped state governments. If you would like to join me as a cosponsor please contact Alan Knapp in my office at alan.knapp@mail.house.gov or 202-225-6565.
Posted in Energy and Environment |
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Five FY 2009 Spending Bills Approved by Appropriations Committee
Posted by: Brad Watson (07-10-2008, 02:27 PM)
Five of the twelve FY 2009 appropriations bills have been approved by the full Appropriations Committee: Military Construction-Veterans (13.8 percent increase from last year), Homeland Security (6.2 percent increase), Energy and Water (7.7 percent increase), Financial Services (7.4 percent increase), and CJS (9.4 percent increase). Five of the bills—the Legislative Branch, Interior, Labor-HHS, Agriculture, and T-HUD bill have been approved at the subcommittee level. And two of the FY 2009 appropriations bills, State-Foreign Operations and Defense, have yet to be marked up at the subcommittee level. The Democrats will not bring any appropriations bills to the floor this week.
Citizens Against Government Waste reports that the five bills marked up by the full committee include 3,694 earmarks at a cost to taxpayers of more than $2 billion. This breaks down as follows: the CJS bill includes 1,123 earmarks at a cost of $409.8 million, the Energy and Water bill includes 655 earmarks at a cost of $821 million, the Financial Services bill includes 197 earmarks at a cost of $57 million, the Military Construction-Veterans bill includes 102 earmarks at a cost of $621.3 million, and the Homeland Security bill includes 102 earmarks at a cost of $120.1 million.
Posted in Budget |
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New Information on the HPV Vaccine and Local Mandates
Posted by: Sarah Makin (07-09-2008, 06:21 PM)
A Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch, a conservative Washington D.C.- based public interest group, has unearthed very upsetting news that Gardasil—a vaccine administered to women to prevent certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV)—may have very adverse side effects including, anaphylaxis, convulsions, paralysis, spontaneous abortions, and even death.
You may recall that in the past year since the FDA approved Gardasil, school based health clinics and school districts have been introducing initiatives to mandate that middle-school and high-school girls receive the vaccine. Although there are no federal mandates that force parents to have their children vaccinated, state laws can require certain vaccinations for attendance at public school. Many states would like to include Gardasil in their list of required vaccinations; in Virginia, they already have. In fact, a new Virginia law requires that girls entering the 6th grade get the vaccine (the law will go into effect in 2010 so as to have more time to study Gardasil and its effects).
Unfortunately, the rights of parents are slowly being taken away each day in America, and new state mandates requiring a potential harmful vaccine is yet another way that parental rights are being undermined.
Note: RSC Member Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced a bill, H.R. 1153, last year that would prohibit federal funds or other assistance from being made available to any state to implement any requirement that individuals receive vaccination for HPV. Currently, 52 Members of the RSC are cosponsors of that legislation.
Posted in Unspecified |
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Medicare Spent $92 Million on Prescriptions from Dead Doctors
Posted by: Brad Watson (07-09-2008, 06:16 PM)
The Washington Post reports that medical suppliers billed Medicare for up to $92 million since 2000 for wheelchairs and home equipment that was prescribed by dead physicians. Since 2000, about 500,000 such fraudulent claims were honored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at a total cost of between $60 million and $92 million.
Posted in Budget |
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CBO: $268 Billion Deficit through First Nine Months of FY 2008
Posted by: Brad Watson (07-09-2008, 06:00 PM)
With one-quarter of the current fiscal year still remaining, CBO projects that the federal deficit for the first nine months of FY 2008 is $268 billion. This is more than double the federal deficit at this point in FY 2008 ($120 billion). Federal tax collections are down 1 percent and spending is up 6.4 percent so far this year, but CBO notes that outlays in June were reduced by $62 billion because of “calendar-related shifts and certain one-time shifts.” CBO also notes that $79 billion of the $148 billion increase in the deficit is attributable to tax rebates included in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Some private economists forecast that the final FY 2008 deficit may reach $500 billion, which would be the highest nominal federal deficit in U.S history.
Posted in Budget |
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Bring the Madrassa Boys Home
Posted by: Rep. Michael McCaul (07-09-2008, 03:24 PM)
Pakistani Madrassas have come under intense international scrutiny for their anti-Western teaching and their links to terrorism, including the London subway bombings three years ago. Three of the four suicide bombers who carried out the London plot were British nationals of Pakistani descent and two of them attended madrassas in Pakistan. The Binoria madrassa is known to recruit Americans most aggressively. It prominently displays a banner supporting the Taliban and Osama bin Laden spoke to students there before the 9/11 attacks. It is believed that there are 600 American boys being educated in 22 madrassas in Pakistan. Moreover, it is known that the Binoria Madrassa has students from American allied countries such as Canada as well, and other countries which have open travel policies with the United States. Therefore I’m asking Members to become original cosponsors of my resolution to encourage the U.S. Secretary of State to work with the new democratically elected Government of Pakistan to secure the return of all American children being educated in madrassas in Pakistan. We must send a clear message that the United States of America will be vigilant in protecting our national borders and our children. If you would like to cosponsor this resolution or have any questions please contact Alex Manning in my office at Alex.Manning@mail.house.gov.
Posted in International Relations |
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There They Go Again!
Posted by: Rep. John Campbell (07-09-2008, 03:18 PM)
When will the Washington insiders get it? Today, The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper reported about an earmark from Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski (PA), which the Department of Transportation (DOT) is actively opposing.
Posted in Appropriations |
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Priceless Opinion
Posted by: Paul Teller (07-02-2008, 04:48 PM)
Just wanted to make sure you didn't miss the Supreme Court's striking down of yet another part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance regulation law. Read more here.
Posted in Campaign Finance-Elections |
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Democrats Don’t Want to Vote on Parental Consent
Posted by: Sarah Makin (07-01-2008, 10:52 AM)
The House of Representatives considered a bill last week (H.R. 6385) to regulate the enforcement of child abuse and neglect at residential treatment facilities at the federal government level—regulation which is already occurring at the state level. Republicans offered a Motion to Recommit (MTR)—a last chance measure for Republicans to make the bill better—which would have amended the bill to require that a covered treatment facility under the bill create a policy to ensure that parental consent is required before any prescription medication (including contraception), not previously disclosed in writing by such parents or legal guardians, may be dispensed to such child. This MTR put the Democrats in a tough position, as the Democrat Leadership didn’t want their Members to have to take a vote on requiring parental consent for contraceptives for teens.
It may be important to note that teenage pregnancy rates have declined to about 75 per 1,000, down from a 1990 peak of 117, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center. According to a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll, sixty-seven percent of parents support giving contraceptives to teen students. According to the poll, only 30 percent of parents were in favor of providing contraceptives without parental consent.
Posted in Life Issues and Abortion |
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For Shale!
Posted by: Rep. Michele Bachmann (06-30-2008, 02:26 PM)
Last week I wrote an op/ed in the Washington Times about the need for Congress to reduce our nation’s outrageous gas prices. My op/ed calls for the immediate opening of U.S. shale reserves to solve our energy dilemma. Click here to read on…
Posted in Energy and Environment |
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Restroom Gender Parity
Posted by: Sarah Makin (06-27-2008, 04:09 PM)
With record gas prices and the largest deficit in history, the Democrats bring you … Restroom Gender Parity. This week, Rep. Towns (D-NY) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) circulated a Dear Colleague letter amongst their House Colleagues entitled, “Support for Restroom Gender Parity in Federal Buildings: Co-sponsor the ‘Restroom Gender Parity in Federal Buildings Act of 2008’.” According to the Dear Colleague, the bill would “require any federal building constructed for public use, with a total expenditure in excess of $1,500,000, to have a 2 to 1 ratio for women and men’s restrooms.” The bill would use American taxpayer dollars to double the amount of women’s bathrooms in federal buildings and allow “for the advancement of gender parity” and “the general well being and health care of women everywhere.”
Is this really how Congress should be spending its time?
Posted in Unspecified |
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Freedom!
Posted by: Rep. Michele Bachmann (06-26-2008, 05:13 PM)
I was pleased to see the Supreme Court uphold our nation’s greatest document, the Constitution, today restoring Second Amendment rights long denied to D.C residents by their extraordinarily restrictive firearm ban. The Second Amendment, which guarantees the individual right to bear arms, has been attacked by Washington politicians for far too long. Our Founding Fathers wrote this Amendment to protect the rights of our citizens. It’s a relief to hear that the voices of D.C.’s citizens were heard at the U.S. Supreme Court and that their freedom to own a firearm was protected.
Posted in Judiciary and Immigration |
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Do as I say, not as I do?
Posted by: Brad Dayspring (06-26-2008, 01:02 PM)
It is interesting to note that just three months ago, Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd wrote to President to demand the resignation of then HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson because of “allegations of impropriety.” That is an interesting twist of fate, given the situation that Senator Dodd finds himself in today, similarly facing “allegations of impropriety.”
Posted in Government Oversight |
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A Victory For Freedom
Posted by: Brad Dayspring (06-26-2008, 10:34 AM)
The Supreme Court has overturned Washington D.C.'s unconstitutional ban on handguns, opening the door for DC residents to have the same 2nd Amendment rights as the rest of our nation. Check out the RSC release here. Follow Bench Memos over at National Review for updated info. The decision can be read here.
Posted in Judiciary and Immigration |
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Sunlight
Posted by: Rep. John Campbell (06-25-2008, 11:32 AM)
In the past year, I along with several of my fellow “earmark warriors” have advocated for sweeping reforms of the earmark process. One of the main pillars of this effort is the complete and outright disclosure of all earmarks requests. Our friends over at the Sunlight Foundation have compiled a list of members who are currently transparent in their earmark requests, those who aren’t, and those who have currently abstained from earmarking. Click here to see the list in full.
Posted in Appropriations |
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