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November 6, 2009
The Administration announced today that unemployment hit 10.2% for the month of October—this is the highest rate of unemployment since April, 1983. These atrocious numbers come at a time when Speaker Pelosi has introduced a bill that would kill more jobs and tax more Americans into poverty. Eight months ago, the Democrats promised that borrowing another trillion dollars would immediately “create” jobs and that our unemployment rate would not rise above 8%. Why are we focusing on Speaker Pelosi’s plan for government-run health care when we should focused on creating jobs and providing tax relief for working families and small businesses? I will continue to fight against the Pelosi Health Care Bill and fight to support a fiscally responsible plan that will help lower health care costs and reduce our raging deficit.
To learn more about health care, listen to my radio interview with Greg Corombos of Radio America.
November 5, 2009
Fact of the Day: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just confirmed that Speaker Pelosi’s Health Care Bill will insure 2.5 million more illegal immigrants than the Democrats’ old health care bill, H.R. 3200. Alternatively, the Republican health care bill specifically denies taxpayer-provided health coverage to anyone who is not an American citizen or a legal resident of the United States.
To hear more about the health care debate, click here to read a section-by-section summary of the House GOP Health Care Bill.
November 4, 2009
According to Section 501, page 297, of the Pelosi Health Care Bill, individuals who do not purchase “acceptable” health coverage, as defined by the government, will pay a tax generally equal to 2.5% of an individual’s adjusted gross income. To put this in perspective, individuals with an income of $40,000 would be required to pay a $1,000 annual tax. This doesn’t make health care more affordable for Americans; it simply penalizes those who choose a “non-government approved” path.
For the first time in our nation’s history, the Federal government will be forcing Americans to purchase a particular item in order to avoid being penalized by the government. Never before have American citizens been taxed for not buying something. This is the antithesis of freedom, liberty, and the principles of the U.S. Constitution.
I encourage you to read an alternative health care bill that will bring down costs without adding to our deficit and without harming senior citizens or the doctor-patient relationship. Read a summary about common-sense health care reform by clicking here.
November 3, 2009
The Wall Street Journal calls the Pelosi Health Care legislation the “Worst Bill Ever.” Throughout the course of this week, I hope to use this blog to highlight for you some of the countless things wrong with the Pelosi Health Care Bill. Today, I’m going to provide you simply with a link to a list of 111 new Federal Bureaucracies created under this legislation. Click here. The list even provides you with the page number where the program is created in the bill. I encourage you to check this blog regularly or visit my Health Care Alert page for the latest updates.
Congress can do so much better than the Pelosi bill, and the American people deserve so much better. We must defeat the Pelosi bill and pass a viable solution like H.R. 3400 that will increase patients’ control—not government control—over health insurance.
October 28, 2009
“This entire health care debate can be put on a bumper sticker that says: WHO DECIDES?”
Click here to watch my latest Floor statement on the ongoing debacle of a health care debate.
October 27, 2009
Last February, Congress voted on an 1100-page, $787 billion stimulus bill after it was made available for a mere 13 hours. You do the math. Do you honestly think everyone in the House read that bill in its entirety? Do you think those who voted in favor of it knew every single provision they were voting for? We have seen this pattern repeated again and again this year: 15 hours for a 1400-page, $850 billion energy tax bill and less than twenty-four hours for a 1400-page, $1.3 trillion health care reform bill, to name just two. It is no wonder that Americans are losing faith in their government when they hear about shenanigans like this daily.
Obviously, Members of Congress should have time to read, understand and scrutinize language that has the potential to become a law of our land. This is why I am pleased to announce that I have officially signed on as a co-sponsor to H.Res. 554, known by many as the “72-Hour Bill.” This legislation would require that all bills brought to the House be posted in their entirety on the Internet for 72 hours before the House can vote on them. For laws that may last a lifetime, surely a mere three days can be spared to make sure that we understand it and get it right.
You may view the language of this bill, as well as a list of its 208 cosponsors by clicking here.
October 21, 2009
The state-by-state unemployment numbers are in. As you will see, these numbers only reinforce the fact that the $787 billion “stimulus” signed into law eight months ago has done nothing for job growth in this country. The Ways and Means Committee has released a table comparing the Democrats’ state-by-state projections of job growth (made back in February when the stimulus was first signed) with the current change in job growth. In Georgia alone, the estimated change in jobs was +106,000. The actual change in jobs in our state is -131,900. Click here to see the data on the remaining states. Keep in mind as you look that only one state (North Dakota) experienced a positive change in net job creation.
Our economy is hurting. However, until the Federal government acknowledges that small businesses are responsible for creating jobs, we will continue in this tailspin. I hope these newly released numbers are a wakeup call that there needs to be an alternative approach. Americans need to know that we can get the economy back on track by devoting far fewer dollars to bailouts and handouts and far more attention to getting the government off of the backs of small businesses and entrepreneurs, which are responsible for upwards of 90 percent of new jobs.
I am one of only eight members of Congress who has voted against every bailout bill. Why? Because I know what you know: Americans do not want the bailouts, increased unemployment checks, food stamps, and government subsidies that are included in the many stimulus bills--they want a wage-earning job so that they can pay their own bills.
October 20, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee health care bill is now online. You may view all 1502 pages of the trillion dollar Senate version of “health care reform” by clicking here. If you are interested in tracking the bill’s status, visit the Library of Congress’ website by clicking here and typing in “S. 1796” in the “Search Bill Summary and Status” field.
You might also be interested in this column that considers what S. 1796 might be morphed into in the future.
October 14, 2009
This is a reminder that I am accepting service academy nominations requests through this Friday, October 16th. If you are between the ages of 17 and 24, a resident of the 7th District, unmarried and of good moral character, I encourage you to contact Annie Valenty in my District Office at (770) 232-3005, extension 11. Click here to visit the “Academy Nominations” page on my website.
October 8, 2009
You may be interested to know that the highlights from my September 3rd Town Hall Meeting by clicking here. You will see me and over 1300 of your fellow Americans engaging in a conversation about the most prominent issues facing our country. It was one of the most high-energy Town Hall events I have ever hosted in my Congressional career. I hope this video will serve as a useful resource to you.
To browse an archive of previous blogs, click here.