Jim's Blog
-
March 22, 2010
DeMint Discusses America's Unsustainable Federal Deficits
In an interview with AIM.org (Accuracy in Media), Sen. DeMInt explains why excessive federal deficits coupled with government expansion are a recipe for disaster. He addresses earmarks and how abstaining from earmarks is a step toward responsible government.
-
March 11, 2010
DeMint: Democrats Are Weaseling Out on Earmarks
[Cross-posted earlier this morning at RedState.com]
It was good news to hear that House Democrats had adopted a ban on earmarks to for-profit companies. The bad news is their version of a ban wouldn’t apply to 90 percent of all earmarks.
Instead of adopting an all-out ban on earmarks House Democrats have decided to ban earmarks for for-profit entities, while continuing to green light funding for the next Bridge to Nowhere, ACORN or to clear the way for the Napa Valley Wine train.
House Appropriations Chairman Rep. David Obey told reporters Wednesday the ban would have stripped 1,000 earmarks from the last budget. What he didn’t say is that President Obama signed 11,320 earmarks, worth nearly $32 billion, into law last year.
Citizens Against Government Waste found that Mr. Obey nabbed 64 earmarks worth more than $115 million in 2009. Among them was $335,000 to relocate endangered mussels, $125,000 for a scenic trail and $5 million for lighthouse reconstruction. None of those earmarks would be touched by his ban.
Neither would the $1,750,000 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, secured for the Presidio Heritage Center or the $500,000 earmarked by House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, for oyster research.
The truth is that Democrats want the public to believe they’re committed to ending the culture of corruption without actually doing it.
Nothing less than an all-out ban on earmarks will suffice. A partial ban on earmarks will only produce partial reform...
-
March 10, 2010
FOX: DeMint Discusses Obama Administration Plans for Land Grab
Sen. DeMint discusses a memo revealing that the Obama Administration is considering plans to seize over 10 million acres of land in nine Western states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington by designating 14 sites as national monuments without congressional approval or local input.
-
March 8, 2010
Obama, Dems Going After Student Loans?
That's what the Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning. Sounding the alarm in an editorial today, WSJ's editors write:Everyone knows Democrats are planning to use the budget reconciliation process to get ObamaCare through the Senate. Less well known is that Democrats are plotting add-ons to that bill to get other liberal priorities enacted -- programs that could never attract 60 votes.
To make matters worse, it's likely the details of the legislation won't be made public till it has already become law. And if President Obama gets his wish Pell Grants would not only be expanded but they'd also become a mandatory entitlement, driving the nation deeper into debt at an even more alarming rate and allowing higher education costs to continue sky rocketing...
One of these controversial measures rewrites the Higher Education Act to ban private companies from offering federally guaranteed student loans as of this July. Congress has already passed laws in recent years discouraging private lenders from making loans without a federal guarantee. But most college financial-aid departments still want private companies to originate and service the guaranteed loans. That's because the alternative -- a public option run by the Department of Education -- has been distinguished by its Soviet-style customer service.
-
February 24, 2010
A New Low: 71% of Voters Give Congress 'Poor' Rating
The American people's confidence in Congress continues to plummet, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports.
Seventy-one percent of voters say that Congress is doing a poor job. This is the highest number ever recorded, breaking last month's previous high of 61 percent. The poll found that only 10 percent of voters think Washington is doing a good or excellent job.
This isn't surprising when the majority party continues to push policies that are bad for America's families and businesses. People across the U.S. are suffering as a result and hopefully they will hold their senators and representatives responsible for their actions.
-
February 2, 2010
10 Things Every American Should Know About Obama’s Budget
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has listed the "Top 10 Things Every American Should Know About President Obama’s Budget" over on his blog:
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: OBAMA'S SPENDS TOO MUCH, TAXES TOO MUCH, AND BORROWS TOO MUCH
1. President Obama’s budget spends too much. Under President Obama’s budget, the federal government would spend a record $3.8 trillion in the fiscal year beginning October 1. This represents a nearly 30 percent increase in outlays since 2008. The President’s budget would also maintain the size of government for a second year in a row at 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), well above historical levels of 20 percent.
2. President Obama’s budget taxes too much. The President’s budget includes more than $2 trillion in tax hikes, with a nearly 20 percent jump in the first year alone. This includes tax increases on small businesses, investors, and families earning less than $250,000 per year -- a violation of the President’s campaign pledge. The last thing American families and small businesses need right now are new taxes that make it harder to save, invest, and hire.
3. President Obama’s budget borrows too much from our kids and grandkids. Under the President’s budget, the federal government will run up a record budget deficit of $1.6 trillion in fiscal year 2011. Deficits never fall below $700 billion, never fall below 3.6 percent of GDP, and end the decade at more than $1 trillion. The national debt would double over five years and triple by FY2019 from FY2008 levels. Paying the interest on this debt would set American taxpayers back roughly $6 trillion over the next decade...
-
February 1, 2010
Obama's Trillion-Dollar, Budget-Busting Proposal
This week President Obama presented his budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 to Congress. Coming off last year's record-high $1.4 trillion deficit, one would think Obama would choose to be a bit more fiscally responsible. Not so. His proposal spends $3.8 trillion, doubles the national debt within five years, and increases taxes by $2 trillion on American families and businesses.
During tough times, most families and businesses have to difficult budgetary decisions, cutting out unnecessary wants and oftentimes very real needs in order to make a tight budget work. When President Obama announced a spending freeze last week, Americans hoped he was finally ready to get serious about the nation's fiscal woes. Unfortunately, that is not the case...
-
January 28, 2010
DeMint Opposes Bernanke's Renomination, Calls for Full Fed Audit
Sen. DeMint speaks again about his opposition to the renomination of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve and calls for a full audit of the Federal Reserve.
-
January 27, 2010
FOX: DeMint Shares Expectations for State of the Union
Sen. DeMint shares his expectations for President Obama's first State of the Union with Neil Cavuto on FOX Business:
-
January 25, 2010
Senate Continues Work on Debt Limit; Bernanke Vote This Week
This week the Senate will continue work on a bill that would raise the debt limit by $1.9 TRILLION, up to $14.3 TRILLION. Several amendments will be debated during the process, including one from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that would postpone raising the debt limit by cutting spending by at least $120 billion. In an op-ed in the Washington Examiner last week, Coburn explained his amendment and suggested that members who refuse to set priorities have abandoned their duties.
Today the Wall Street Journal endorses Coburn's proposal and points out that it's as much a test for Coburn's fellow Republican colleagues as it is for the few Democrats left who claim to be fiscally responsible: "The debate is also a test for the Republican Old Guard, some of whom dislike spending cuts nearly as much as Democrats do. If Republicans want to give voters a fiscal choice this autumn, they'll rally behind Mr. Coburn's amendment."
Also on the schedule this week: a vote on the renomination of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve. So far 17 senators have declared their opposition to Bernanke's reinstatement, including Sen. DeMInt...