U.S. Representative Ron Paul

One Christmas tradition Congress could do without is the broken process of passing the annual Omnibus Spending Bill, which we recently did right before the holiday recess.

Every December Congress fights and argues over spending and never seems to be able to pass the necessary appropriations until the very last minute.  There is panic and threats of government shut downs and reduction in essential services.  And they always threaten the essential services, as if there is no waste they could possibly eliminate instead.  This past December, right on cue the administration warned about dire civilian defense department layoffs if the money didn't come soon.

And so at the very last minute the Omnibus was rushed through in a whirlwind, just in time to save the day.  Members of Congress had less than 24 hours to read the nearly 3,500 page bill before a vote was taken.  The bill was supposedly much too important to waste time reading it.

I feel differently.  I feel the important bills are the ones we should take especial care to closely examine.

However, we are led to believe that if the Omnibus bill failed, horrible things would have happened.  But the situation is a setup that ensures our government spending balloons every year just as the elites and special interests dictate.  The vast majority of Members of Congress don't actually know what the money is being spent on until after passage and by then it is too late.

To address this flawed and corruptible process I have proposed a very simple change called the Sunlight Rule, which mandates that bills be presented to Congress and staff for review in their final form no less than 10 days before they come to the floor for a vote.  This would allow the representatives of the American people time to read the bills before having to make a decision on them.  Every now and then you hear criticisms of congressmen and women for not reading the bills.  That is a problem, however in cases like the Omnibus spending bills, a few hours is not nearly enough time to comb through and evaluate the hundreds of pages they contain.  The rules do not currently specify any amount of time that must be allotted for Congress to read or deliberate any legislation before a vote.  That needs to change.

Congress should read the bills.  But to do that requires an appropriate amount of time.  More appropriately phrased, Congress should be ALLOWED to read the bills.  And no member of Congress should, in good conscience, vote affirmatively on a bill they haven't fully analyzed.

I am hoping that in the New Year more of my colleagues will resolve to take a stand for honesty and due diligence in representing the people of this country and that we can enact the Sunlight Rule.  With it, we will be a wiser, more open Congress and our decisions in Washington will be more deliberative and fully informed as they ought to be.

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Congress is re-convening this coming week and I would like to take this opportunity to give my legislative forecast for the coming year.  Here are a few things we can expect to see from Washington .

First and foremost, we will see ramped up spending for the warfare/welfare state.  There is no resolution or end in sight on the Iraq occupation.  While the American people try repeatedly to communicate to Washington that enough is enough, there still remains little political will in Washington to bring the troops home.  The war will continue to require mountains of taxpayer and newly printed dollars, and our economy will sink under the burden.  If we are manipulated into a second war, the effects on our economy will be truly devastating.  Welfare and entitlement programs will also be ramped up as the economy flounders and budgets in American households are strained.

This leads me to my next forecast of more federal bailouts for the housing sector.  Efforts by the Federal Reserve to stave off recession will have the net effect of only blowing the bubble bigger, making the crash that much more painful when it inevitably comes.  The malinvestments caused by easy credit in the housing industry will be prolonged by more easy credit.  New programs and laws will be enacted to prop up housing, all with a falling dollar, devalued by continued foreign interventions.  The crisis in the housing market will spread and I’m afraid we are in for some rough economic times.

Moreover, the government will require more money than ever this year, and as funding options run out, taxes will go up.  Expect stealth tax increases on consumer goods, perhaps airline tickets or cigarettes, and increased government fees here and there.  Ironically total revenues will probably fall due to a weakened economy.  The new programs started to “help” the country will require extra money wherever the government can squeeze it out of you, unfortunately it will be at exactly the moment you can least afford it.   Since the Democrats enacted “pay-as-you-go” rules for new legislation, cutting taxes to give relief during recession will be bureaucratically next to impossible.  In spite of that, I will continue the uphill battle for tax relief.

Last, I expect, in spite of rhetoric to the contrary, we will see more federal control of education as Congress prepares to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.

If this is indeed the agenda of Congress, let us hope that there is not nearly enough time to accomplish it all this year.

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It has been over 6 years since the atrocities of September 11 were committed and there are still some very basic measures that need to be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice and make America safer.  I have proposed legislation to help with these efforts and will continue to fight in Congress for the safety and security of the American people.

My legislation entitled The Marque and Reprisal Act of 2007 (HR 3216) makes the surgical strike option available to the President in our mission to capture Bin Laden.  Our military has been pursuing him without result for far too long now, and it is high time ALL constitutional tools were utilized in the hunt for this dangerous madman.  As an American it sickens me to know that Bin Laden and top leaders of al Qaeda remain at large and thumbing their noses at us, while we unravel the sacred fabric of our constitution out of fear.  It is Osama Bin Laden and the perpetrators of terrorist attacks that ought to be afraid of us, not the other way around.  The answers are found in the Constitution.  We should boldly root out the perpetrators and not let them get away with their crimes against us.  As the home of the brave we should use Letters of Marque and Reprisal to bring Bin Laden to justice. 

Also, we need to take serious steps to prevent terrorists from gaining easy access to targets on our soil.  Quite alarmingly, even with the knowledge that the 19 terrorist hijackers entered our country legally, and that 15 of them were from Saudi Arabia , student visas from terrorist sponsoring countries are still far too easily obtained.  In a baffling move President Bush struck a deal with Saudi King Abdullah in 2005 to allow 21,000 more Saudi young men into the US on student Visas.  Of course, not all students from terror sponsoring countries are terrorists, but I place a higher premium on the security of the American people than the convenience of citizens of hostile countries.  We should not be making the goals of would-be terrorists easier to accomplish, but rather should be vigilant about defending against enemies at every turn.  They should not be slipping through our doors so easily, using our immigration laws against us, and that is why I proposed the Terror Immigration Elimination Act (HR 3217) to toughen standards for VISAS from countries on the State Department's list of terrorist sponsoring countries in addition to Saudi Arabia .  Just as you decide who to invite to a dinner party in your home, we should be in charge of who we allow in this country, without apology.

A lot has been done to fight the War on Terror and much of it has been misdirected, but there are some tools still needed and more progress to be made.  My bills The Marque and Reprisal Act of 2007 and The Terror Immigration Elimination Act are logical steps in the right direction.

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This past week in Washington there has been much talk about the economy.  It seems by their actions the leadership and the Fed is finally willing to admit we have a problem, and we need to do something about the economic mess we are in.  This is a good thing.  However, they are still not being honest about the root cause of our impending crisis and want to deal only with symptoms, not the disease.

There are some positive aspects of the highly lauded economic stimulus package that has been negotiated.  I am in favor of taxpayers getting some of their money back, however temporary tax cuts and one-time rebates will not “fix” the economy.  What we desperately need right now is real deep significant tax cuts that are enabled by big spending cuts and reduction of government waste that is so rampant.  Unfortunately, too many in Washington still believe we can spend our way into prosperity, which does not work and never has.

Countries build wealth through robust economic environments, in which jobs are created and businesses can operate at a profit and grow.  When taxes bleed away profits and burdensome regulation hamstrings operations, our businesses and our jobs go overseas.  The United States must foster a competitive business environment once again.

There are a few ideas out there for economic stimulus that I do support, such as making permanent President Bush’s tax cuts.   I have also signed on as one of 49 original cosponsors of the Economic Growth Act of 2008 which will provide actual economic stimulus through private sector tax relief and job-creating business incentives.  This plan features

• Full immediate expensing for major business asset investments
• Reducing the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% to be aligned with average rates  in Europe
• Indexing the capital gains tax for inflation
• Cutting and simplifying the corporate capital gains rate

Enactment of these dramatic tax cuts will free up money so employers can start hiring again.  I would like for the unemployed to have the satisfaction of having a job again so the standard of living of the American family will go up.  And even more than a one-time miniscule rebate check, I want you to keep more of your own money in the first place.

Sending out checks and cutting interest rates yet again is merely a shot in the arm when in actuality, the economy needs major surgery.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to provide major tax relief to the American people.

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The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to be secure against all unreasonable seizures.  My home state of Texas is unfortunately planning on some very unreasonable seizures of land with the monstrous Trans Texas Corridor highway project.  The TTC plans call for a highway to cut through about 4,000 Texas miles, and with separate rail lines for passenger and freight, a multi-lane highway with separate truck lanes, utility and cable easements, this highway could be as wide as 1200 feet across.  In the end this project would consume something like half a million acres of land in Texas .  However, since the exact path of the road has not been determined, it is putting much more acreage in jeopardy, and in limbo.

Taking land is destructive enough.  But the perpetual threat of taking an undetermined amount of land is hanging over the heads of millions of Texans and putting their lives at a standstill.  Land is a store of wealth and a source of stability.  This highway project is tragically threatening that for so many Texans.

The principle of private property is the cornerstone to a free and prosperous society.  In situations where a colossal government land grab is a distinct possibility, investment or improvement becomes more risky with an uncertain future and tends not to happen.  How do you sell land that may or may not be taken by the government at some point in the not too distant future?  Who would buy it?  How do you cultivate or build on, or even near, land that may or may not be paved over and turned into a massive, noisy thoroughfare in a few years?

Even more insulting is the distinct possibility that, while the road will collect tolls and fees, making a private foreign firm billions of dollars in revenue, the costs of building it could be heavily borne by taxpayers.  So the costs will be socialized and the profits privatized.  Public-private partnership indeed!

From Washington I have voiced my staunch disapproval of taking these hard-working taxpayers’ land for a private toll road, by introducing legislation (HR 5191) that simply states, “No Federal funds appropriated or made available before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act may be used by a unit of Federal, State, or local government to carry out the highway project known as the 'Trans-Texas Corridor'.”  I am working hard in Congress to make sure that no Federal funding is used to undermine property rights in this way.

We should be focusing on guarding and securing our borders for the protection of the American people.  Instead we are paving the way for more and more people to cross the border as comfortably as possible.  And taking the family farm to do it.  It is an absolute outrage.

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As a United States Congressman, I take my oath to uphold all of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights very seriously. Unfortunately, too many in Washington DC believe they can pick-and-choose which provisions of the constitution they can uphold. For example, many politicians, judges, and bureaucrats believe they have the power to disregard our right to own guns, even though the second amendment explicitly guarantees the people's right to "keep and bear arms."
 
Like the Founding Fathers, I believe that the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to a free society.  Where law-abiding citizens are most freely allowed to defend themselves, communities are safer, while crime rises when law-abiding people's access to firearms is restricted. Gun laws only disarm those who respect the law.  Those with criminal tendencies do not turn in their weapons and reform their ways because government bureaucrats enact statutes that tell them to.  Gun control laws turn peaceful citizens into sitting ducks for criminals to prey upon.
 
Ironically, one of the most draconian gun laws in the nation is in the nation's capital. Banning guns did not make DC safer.  In fact crime in DC rose after the gun ban went into place!  Fortunately, last year, a federal court struck down DC's gun ban in the case of DC v. Heller.  This is the first time in years a court found a gun control law violated the second amendment. However, victory is not secured.  The city of DC has appealed and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. If the lower court's decision is upheld, law abiding citizens should once again be allowed to defend themselves in DC and I would expect it to become a much safer city.  It would also set a very positive precedent that could affect gun laws all over the country.
 
However, a Supreme Court decision that the District of Columbia 's gun laws are a "reasonable" infringement on constitutional rights could severely setback the gun rights movement.
 
This is why I have signed on to a brief headed by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and signed by a majority of Congress asking the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court's decision and take a stand for stricter standards of constitutional review for gun laws. I am pleased to work with Senator Hutchison, and so many of my other colleagues, on this important issue. As a member of the Second Amendment Caucus, I will continue to work with those of my colleagues who support gun rights and grassroots activists to defend the Second Amendment Rights of Americans.

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Five years ago last week, the US  military's "shock and awe" campaign lit up the Baghdad  sky. Five years later, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and nearly four thousand Americans dead, we should pause and reflect on just what has been gained and what has been lost.

From the beginning, the march to war was paved with false assumptions and lies. Senior administration officials claimed repeatedly that Iraq was somehow responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001. They claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They manipulated the fear of the American people after 9/11 to further a war agenda that they had been planning years before that attack. The mainstream media was complicit in this war propaganda.

Nearly ten years ago, long before 9/11, I requested the time in opposition to the fateful Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, where I then stated on the Floor of the House of Representatives, "I see this piece of legislation as essentially being a declaration of virtual war. It is giving the President tremendous powers to pursue war efforts against a sovereign Nation." Less than five years later we were invading Iraq .

Five years into the invasion and occupation of Iraq , untold hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead; some two million Iraqis have fled the country as refugees; and the Iraqi Christian community – one of the oldest in the world – has been decimated more completely than even under the Ottoman occupation or the rule of Saddam Hussein.

On the US side, nearly four thousand Americans have lost their lives fighting in Iraq and many thousands more are horribly wounded. Our own senior military officers warn that our military is nearly broken by the strain of the Iraq occupation. The Veterans Administration is overwhelmed by the volume of disability claims from Iraq war veterans.

A study by Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz concludes that the cost of the war in Iraq could be at least $3 trillion. The economic consequences of our enormous expenditure in Iraq are beginning to make themselves known as we fall into recession and possibly worse.

Iraq war supporters claim that the "surge" of additional US troops into Iraq has been a resounding success. I am not so confident. Under the "surge" policy the United States military has trained and equipped with deadly weapons those Iraqi militia members against whom they were fighting just months ago. I fear by arming and equipping opposing militias we are just setting the stage for a more tragic and dangerous explosion of violence, possibly aimed at US troops in Iraq . There is no indication that the Iraqi government has made any political progress whatsoever.

The sooner we withdraw the better.  The invasion and continued US occupation has strengthened both Iran and Al-Qaeda in the region.  Continuing down the road of a failed policy will only cost more money we do not have and more lives that should not be sacrificed.  Interventionism has produced one disaster after another. It is time we return to a non-interventionist foreign policy that emphasizes peaceful trade and travel and no entangling alliances. We can begin by withdrawing from Iraq immediately.

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House Democrats recently adopted a budget with massive tax hikes, many of which are directed at those Americans who can least afford them.  By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010, this budget will raise income taxes not only on those in the highest income brackets, but raises the lowest bracket from 10 percent to 15 percent is well.  Estates would again be taxed at 55 percent .  The child tax credit would drop from $1000 to $500.  Senior citizens relying on investment income would be hurt by increases in dividend and capital gains taxes.  It's not just that the Democrats want to raise taxes on the rich.  They want to raise taxes on everybody.
 
The problem is, policing the world is expensive, and if elected officials insist upon continuing to fund our current foreign policy, the money has to come from somewhere.   The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost us over $1 trillion.  The Democrats' budget gives the President all the funding he needs for his foreign policy, so one wonders how serious they ever were about ending the war.  While Democrats propose to tax and spend, many Republicans aim to borrow and spend, which hurts the taxpayer just as much in the long run.
 
Supporting a welfare state is expensive as well.  Over half of our budget goes to mandatory entitlements.  The total cost of government now eats up over half of our national income, as calculated by Americans for Tax Reform, and government is growing at an unprecedented rate.  Our current financial situation is completely untenable, and the worst part is, as government is becoming more and more voracious, the economy is shrinking.
 
The bottom line is that Washington has a serious spending addiction.  While both parties debate how to raise the revenue, both parties seem happy to spend over $3 trillion of your money in various ways. While some in Washington criticize the war in Iraq, very few are criticizing the interventionist mindset that got us into the war in the first place.  Many so-called "Iraq War critics," criticize this administration rather than truly opposing the decades old policies that led to war.  They claim they will eventually get the troops out of Iraq, but the danger is that they simply plan to move them around to other countries, not bring them home.  The American people want peace.  Minding our own business is the best way to achieve it.  Not only is it also a whole lot cheaper, but free trade and friendship with other countries benefits all involved. 
 
This spending spree is exactly the wrong policy for an economy on the brink of recession.  History has shown that all empires eventually crumble under a worthless currency and with an exhausted military.   Since too many of our nation's leaders haven't taken the time to learn from history, we are seeing mistakes repeated through recently enacted policies such as the new House budget.

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Congress is poised to pass the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) authorizing up to $50 million in unconstitutional foreign aid.  The bill passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee with a bipartisan agreement to nearly double the President's requested amount.  It is always distressing to see officials in our government reach across the aisle to disregard Constitutional limitations.

Much of this aid will run through government-to-government channels and will be vulnerable to corruption.  Some of the aid will be sent to faith-based organizations who, along with accepting government largess, will now be subject to governmental controls and will soon become more dependent on taxpayer funding than private funds.  If they accept the aid, they must be careful of the vague language regarding what types of programs they can run.  For example, the requirement that 33 percent of any funding received must go toward abstinence-only programs has been dropped and replaced with a 50 percent requirement toward behavior change.  Many humanitarian organizations are incensed by the politicized requirements placed on their work, and feel they are being forced to continue failed programs at the expense of more effective ones.

The obvious question remains:  Why are politicians in the United States deciding what is best for people in Africa ?  And why are taxpayers in the United States being forced to fund –for example - family planning facilities that perform abortions?

In fact, Afrobarometer, a leading source of data on public attitudes in Africa asked Africans what their main developmental concerns were.  They found that Africans are much more concerned about jobs, agriculture and basic infrastructure than they are about health issues like AIDS.

Africans should decide what is best for Africa .  American taxpayers should decide what charities deserve their money.  Forcibly taking money from the United States and sending it overseas is unconstitutional and immoral.

The energy that lobbying groups and celebrities expend for charitable causes here on the Hill could be better put to use actually addressing problems.  It is sadly symptomatic of the trend toward bigger government that instead of private fundraising efforts, people put their hand out to Congress.  It is unfortunate that some activists prefer funding taken by force, to donations freely given.

These efforts, though well-meaning, are misguided.  The truth is all the foreign aid in the world will not transform Africa into a thriving, healthy continent.  The economic growth of Africa depends on African entrepreneurs, liberalized trade policies, and political and economic freedom.  The best thing we could possibly do for Africa and for our own country, is to stop sending misguided aid, and stop protectionist trade practices that prevent African farmers and producers from competing in our markets.  Perhaps then Africa's leaders would focus less on how to get aid out of the United States , and more on the economic vitality of their own countries.

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It is becoming harder and harder for Washington and the mainstream media to ignore the ripple effect the collapse of the housing bubble is having on the economy.  Inflation is up, cost of food is up, oil and gold are up, foreclosures are up, unemployment is up, government spending is at record highs, its seems that the only thing down is the value of the dollar.  The middle and lower classes are getting squeezed as prices jump and wages stay flat.

Though it is good that Washington is acknowledging the problem instead of sweeping it under the rug, I always get nervous at their ideas of solutions.  A proper solution requires an honest, in-depth look at the root of the problem.

What the government needs to stop doing is taxing Americans literally out of house and home in the wake of the housing debacle.  We should not take money from taxpayers to bail out bad businesses.  At the same time, we need to make sure that America can get back to work by easing taxes and regulations on good businesses and allow them to function and prosper.  Also there a lot of tax cuts and tax reforms we could be making to ease the burden on the American people.

I have many bills in Congress that address the high taxes Americans pay, but one in particular – my Tax-Free Tips Act – should be a no-brainer at a time like this.  This legislation would exempt gratuities earned by service sector workers from income tax liability.  A tip is a small gift and there is no contractual requirement to give it, yet if someone leaves a restaurant without tipping, the IRS will still estimate how much they should have been tipped and tax the waiter based on that, should they perform an audit.  This is patently wrong.

People working these jobs are the backbone of our economy, and they often support a family or put themselves through school on this money.  They are already taxed on their base wages through withholding.  They should not be taxed on tips.  We do not need to put this kind of pressure on our service workers.

To really fix the economy and get it back on track, though, a sea change, not a quick-fix attempt, is needed.  I was very pleased and encouraged that on Friday the Wall Street Journal published my letter to the editor addressing some of our economic problems.  The message is getting out because people are demanding answers.  The American people are strong, resourceful, hard working and determined.  Because of this we can get through these tough economic times, but our leaders need to understand how we got here in the first place.  Continuing the same flawed policies that got us here will only prolong the agony.

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One major concern I discussed a few weeks ago regarding the Trans Texas Corridor is where the land will come from.  Another concern is where the money will come from.  Official government websites for the TTC assure that public-private partnerships will shield the taxpayer from bearing too much of the cost burden, but a careful reading shows the door is definitely open to public funding sources, while at the same time there is no doubt of the intention to charge tolls on the road.

Taxpayers already pay for their transportation system through hefty gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and other fees.  They have every right to expect the roads they have already paid for to be properly maintained and toll-free.

However, private foreign corporations have flocked to this country eager to participate in toll collection on our poorly managed toll roads, and they make a lot of money doing so.  Taking over the management and maintenance of an existing toll road is one thing.  Converting taxpayer built roads into cash cows for big corporations is quite another.  Using eminent domain to take privately owned land, and taxpayer funding to build a highway that is designed to bring in private revenue is nothing short of highway robbery.

Cintra/Zachry, a private Spanish firm, is poised to make billions from TTC tolls.  Yet my fear is that as planning progresses, more and more public burden will creep into the process, and more profit will be pledged to the private corporation.  The costs will be socialized and the profits will be privatized.

And to add insult to injury – private lands will be taken for this road which will be, for all intents and purposes, a private business.  The government should not use the power of eminent domain to seize and redistribute land for the benefit of a private company.  This is wrong and unconstitutional.  Cintra Zachry should negotiate with each individual land owner and go through the normal private land acquisition process to start its new business.  If mutual agreements can be reached, fine.  If not, government force is not appropriate.  Our government should protect property rights, not facilitate theft.

Toll roads should not be paid for with taxpayer dollars, or even bond funding that pledge future tax dollars.  Taxpayers should not have to pay additional fees for something they have already paid for.  Eminent domain should absolutely not be used for private businesses.  This public-private partnership has all the makings of the worst of both worlds.  I am doing my part at the Federal level in Congress to limit the damage to the taxpayer.  I introduced a bill in that prohibits the use of federal funding for any part of the TTC and I will continue to push for this bill, and other bills protecting property rights, taxpayers rights and our national sovereignty.  The government should not fund and enforce private efforts like this and thumb their nose at land owners and taxpayers.

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