Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Posted by: Brown Staff (October 30, 2009, 01:14 PM)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is promising that new figures being released Friday will be a more accurate showing of progress in President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. It aggressively defended an earlier, faulty count that overstated by thousands the jobs created or saved so far.

Ed DeSeve, serving as Obama's stimulus overseer, said the administration has been working for weeks to correct mistakes in early counts that identified more than 30,000 jobs paid for with stimulus money. He said a new stimulus report Friday should correct many mistakes an Associated Press review found that showed the earlier report overstated thousands of stimulus jobs.

"I think you'll see a pretty good degree of accuracy," DeSeve said in an interview.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs downplayed errors in job counts identified by the AP's review, telling reporters, "We're talking about 4,000, or a 5,000 error."

Read more here.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (September 08, 2009, 02:10 PM)

200 days after signing the $1 trillion “stimulus,” President Obama and Democrat leaders continue to tout the virtues of a tax, borrow, and spend economic policy while Americans lose their jobs.  Recently, the Department of Labor announced that the August unemployment rate hit a staggering 9.7 percent—the highest level since June of 1983 and the largest one month jump since March.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Congressman Brown (August 27, 2009, 02:25 PM)

On August 17th, we reached the six-month anniversary of the signing of the President’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan. Since becoming law, over two million Americans have lost work and only 18 percent of Americans say that the trillion-dollar plan has helped the economy, and I would have to agree.

Since its signing on February 17, 2009, the American people have been waiting for the “jolt” to the economy and “immediate” creation of jobs that the Administration promised.  We have been waiting so long that my constituents in South Carolina are beginning to wonder if they will ever come.

The President insisted that to save or create up to four million jobs, Congress had to support this stimulus. Unfortunately, today, more than 2.8 million jobs have been lost and Congress continues to pass legislation that has added $869 billion in new debt, and will continue to further increase unemployment around the country.

We were told by the Administration that unemployment would rise as high as eight percent without the stimulus, but as we all know, national unemployment is now at nine and a half percent. In my home state of South Carolina it is 12 percent. 

It’s a shame that, while my constituents are desperately waiting for jobs, the Democratic leadership has made job creation a lower priority than growing government, increased borrowing and ever greater federal spending.

In fact, the runaway spending that has been forced through the Democrat Congress, since January, has finally added up to the unimaginable- One Trillion Dollars in a month. To put this number in perspective, One Trillion Dollars is enough money to:
•    Buy everyone in the First District their own 26-acre island in Panama.

•    Spend a dollar per second for 32,000 years.

•    Stack up $ 1,000 bills, $ 1 trillion would need a pile that is 80 miles high.

•    Buy the most expensive house on the market in Charleston ($13 Million) 77,000 times.

•    Pay the rent of every renter in the US for 3 years and the mortgage of every homeowner for 14 months.

This type of spending shows no sign of slowing and unless we get this spending surge in check, Americans will be indebted to the recklessness of this Congress for decades to come. We must make hard choices to halt this slide into fiscal disaster to protect our children and grandchildren from an overwhelming financial burden in the future.

Republicans offered a better solution for fast-acting tax relief for working families and small businesses that would have created twice the jobs at half the cost, but unfortunately our alternatives were and continue to be ignored.

Our nation deserves a strategy for prosperity, not more spending, more taxes and more unemployment. In the next six months, Democrats must join Republicans in making our number one priority getting Americans back to work.  My constituents are getting tired of waiting.

Note: A recent Gallup poll, of 1,010 adults nationwide, states that after six months, less than two in ten Americans say they have been helped by the supposedly timely “stimulus”, with 18 percent saying that the economic stimulus plan has made their financial situation better, 13 percent saying that it has made their financial situations worse and 68 percent saying that the economic stimulus has had no effect on their financial situation whatsoever.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (August 11, 2009, 12:02 PM)

 DEFICIT SOARS

The federal budget has gone from surplus to deficit during the past decade.

Fiscal year     Surplus or deficit
2000     $236 billion
2001     $128 billion
2002     -$158 billion
2003     -$378 billion
2004     -$413 billion
2005     -$318 billion
2006     -$248 billion
2007     -$161 billion
2008     -$459 billion
2009*     -$1,841 billion

* Estimate
Source: White House
        
Stagnant unemployment, shrinking tax revenue and a struggling economy threaten to quadruple the size of last year's federal budget deficit, raising more questions about the timing of costly proposals to overhaul health care. Read more here.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (July 29, 2009, 03:49 PM)

Georgetown, SC – The Port of Georgetown will soon welcome the first ship call as part of a new, 20-year contract that will bring business to the port while supporting local manufacturing and maritime jobs.
 
Carolina-Pacific, a South Carolina-based producer of wood briquettes used as a renewable energy source, will begin manufacturing and exporting product from the Port of Georgetown in October.  The first vessel is expected to handle 6,000 metric tons of product onto a ship for export to Europe.
 
Carolina-Pacific plans to move approximately 66,000 metric tons in its first year of operation at the port. Carolina-Pacific has signed a 20-year contract with the SCSPA with two, 5-year renewal options.
 
Local officials and business leaders joined company representatives, the maritime community and the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA) today at the port to announce the new business.
 
In addition to the business across the pier, Carolina-Pacific will initially occupy more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at the port to support manufacturing and exporting the wood briquettes, which are used in power generation as an eco-friendly substitute or supplement to coal.
 
Wood pellets and briquettes are quickly becoming a high-demand commodity overseas due to requirements that member countries of the European Union generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
 
“We are excited to welcome Carolina-Pacific and this new business to the Port of Georgetown,” said L. David Schronce, the SCSPA’s director of the Port of Georgetown and Veterans Terminal. “Each ship entering the port supports tugs, pilots, longshoreman and others within the local maritime community, which means more dollars in the local economy.”
 
“Georgetown is a vital part of the state port system, and the Ports Authority is dedicated to keeping it a viable port facility for this community,” said David J. Posek, chairman of the SCSPA. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Ports Authority’s commitment to aggressively pursue and grow business through Georgetown. Especially in this tough economic climate, we must focus on our core mission of serving as an economic engine for the State of South Carolina.”
 
“We appreciate and commend the Ports Authority’s flexibility and ingenuity in helping us launch this business,” said John B. Kern, chairman and CEO of Carolina-Pacific. “South Carolina is now staged to enter the renewable energy industry on a global scale.”
 
Kern noted that the operation has a direct connection to the state’s forestry and agricultural industries by utilizing South Carolina-sourced Southern Yellow Pine in the on-site production of the briquettes and in the transport of switchgrass grown in the I-95 corridor.
 
“I welcome today’s announcement and applaud Carolina-Pacific’s faith in the positive business climate of coastal South Carolina,” said Congressman Henry E. Brown. “This is also an important step forward for the Port of Georgetown, a significant economic development resource that I have long supported in Congress.  The key to addressing the Port’s maintenance needs is to increase the tonnage coming across the dock, and the aggressive work by the community and the Ports Authority should be commended,” said Congressman Brown.
 
“This announcement is another indication that Commerce’s close partnership with the state Ports Authority is a winning combination. Having Commerce project manager John Scarborough stationed at the port provides further evidence that strong leadership at the Ports Authority working hand-in-hand with an economic development professional is a team that is producing dividends for South Carolina,” said Joe Taylor, Secretary of Commerce. 
 
“Our state’s ports system continues to be an incredible asset for South Carolina and Carolina-Pacific’s commitment to the Port of Georgetown is another example of how export activity and the strength of our state’s ports are integral in attracting new jobs and growing our economy. Thanks to the team efforts of state and local leaders, Georgetown County will benefit from this announcement now and in the years ahead,” Secretary Taylor said.
 
Attention is being focused on maintenance dredging for Georgetown’s 27-foot authorized channel.  Thanks to the action of Congressman Brown, the Energy & Water Appropriations bill approved by the U.S. House earlier this month included another $1 million toward needed maintenance dredging in Georgetown.  With Sen. Lindsey Graham’s support, the Senate Appropriations committee adopted the same provision in its version of the bill.
 
ABOUT THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE PORTS AUTHORITY:
The South Carolina State Ports Authority, established by the state's General Assembly in 1942, owns and operates public seaport facilities in Charleston and Georgetown, handling international commerce valued at more than $62 billion annually and receiving no direct taxpayer subsidy. An economic development engine for the state, port operations facilitate 260,800 jobs across South Carolina and nearly $45 billion in economic activity each year.
 
For more information:
  Byron D. Miller
  Director, Public Relations
  S.C. State Ports Authority
  843-577-8197
www.scspa.com

Posted in Economy, Georgetown County, Transportation | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (July 20, 2009, 12:49 PM)

“Now most of the money that we're investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately and go directly to job creation, generating or saving three to four million new jobs."—President Barack Obama, January 28, 2009

The President promised Americans that the trillion dollar “stimulus” was going to be spent quickly, create 3 to 4 million jobs, and get the Nation’s economy back on track.   Now, while Democrats struggle to justify their spending spree with taxpayer dollars, families across the country continue to suffer from record unemployment.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (July 14, 2009, 05:17 PM)

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (July 09, 2009, 10:46 AM)

In a web video, released as it was reported that the US lost another 467,000 jobs in June, House Republicans shine a spotlight on several wasteful projects bankrolled by the taxpayer-funded trillion-dollar “stimulus” and underscore the lack of jobs created by the massive spending binge.
 
And according to CNN, Democrats are all over the map about what happened with the stimulus, and what to do next:

ACOSTA:  It’s an issue that dogged the President all the way to Russia where Mr. Obama clarified statements made by his own Vice President on the recession.

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN:  There was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited.

ACOSTA:  Not exactly, according to the President.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  I would actually, rather than say “misread,” we had incomplete information.

ACOSTA:  Who still believes the stimulus was the right call.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  There’s nothing that we would have done differently.

And just yesterday, as South Carolina's unemployment sits at a historic 12%, the Government Accountability Office issued a report showing that stimulus funds are not flowing to areas who are the hardest hit by the recession.  Republicans warned that this would happen when the stimulus was passed, and that is why we proposed a pro-growth stimulus of fast-acting tax cuts to help small business create jobs.  Instead of helping our country get back on its feet, all the Administration and the Democratic Congress has done is make Washington bigger, wasted taxpayer money, and piled more debt on the backs of our children. 

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (June 25, 2009, 11:22 AM)

WITH MILLIONS IN JOB LOSSES ALREADY THIS YEAR, IS A JOB-KILLING NATIONAL ENERGY TAX REALLY THE MESSAGE DEMOCRATS WANT TO SEND TO WORKERS, SMALL BUSINESSES?

Democrat’s national energy tax is a massive job-killer.  According to a National Black Chamber of Commerce study, the devastating plan will cost 2.5 million American jobs thanks to the higher energy costs it will force consumers, small businesses, and other employers to pay.  The impact will be felt from coast to coast – literally.  The following chart shows the projected job loss in every single region, with especially large job losses in areas of the country already hit hard by the recession:  

 

Posted in Economy, Energy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (June 08, 2009, 02:30 PM)

With the President promising 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days, we hope any measure of reported success will not rely on the same fuzzy math he has used in the past.

Fiction:  When he signed the stimulus, President Obama said that the legislation “will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.”
Reality:  According to the Administration, $112 billion from the stimulus has been spent or obligated so far.  Assuming that the President’s unsubstantiated claim that the legislation has saved 150,000 is correct, each job saved by the first $112 billion in stimulus spending cost $746,600.  At that rate, the entire stimulus would “save” 1 million jobs—far less than the 1.6 million lost since the stimulus was signed.  At a total cost of $787 billion, that is a net loss of at least 600,000 jobs.

Fiction:  The stimulus has already created 150,000 jobs, as President Obama has stated repeatedly.
Reality:  The country has lost 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus was passed into law, and unemployment has increased from 8.1 percent in February to 8.9 percent in April.

Fiction:  $45.6 billion of the stimulus has been spent and is helping struggling Americans.
Reality:  The Administration is exaggerating the amount of stimulus money that has actually been spent.  For instance, the White House reported on May 5, 2009, that the Department of Labor had made $11.5 billion in payments to the unemployment trust fund.  It was later revealed that the Department had only been given $1.1 billion.   In reality, about $36 billion of the stimulus has been spent — less than five percent of the stimulus.

Fiction:  As President Obama has proclaimed, the stimulus is “what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs, to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month’s bills.”
Reality:  According to analysis conducted by the Associated Press (AP), those Americans hardest hit by the economic downturn have received the least stimulus money.  The AP stated that their study revealed that “states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than in communities with the highest.”

Fiction:  The stimulus funds are being spent on hundreds of important projects, which are closely tracked and specifically reported by the White House.
Reality:  The Administration has reported misleading and false information about how the stimulus money is being spent.  In Vice President Biden’s report, “100 Days, 100 Projects,” the White House falsely claims that the very first project highlighted in the report had received $27 million for a public housing development in Washington, D.C.  However, it was later revealed that the Administration’s report was false and the project had only received $59,000.

Fiction:  The President is committed to “transparency and accountability” and has created Recovery.org so the American people can “see how the money is being spent.”
Reality:  According to a Washington Post report titled, “Tracking Stimulus Spending May Not Be as Easy as Promised,” it was revealed that Recovery.org offers “little beyond news releases, general breakdowns of spending, and acronym-laden spreadsheets and timelines.”  Even House Education and Labor Committee Chairman, Brad Miller (D-CA), admitted the Administration “may not achieve the transparency they set out to.”

 
 
 
 

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 28, 2009, 12:43 PM)

Even the liberal media admits the facts...

Less Than 6% of Stimulus Funds Have Been Paid Out:
NY TIMES: "Nearly three months after President Obama approved a $787 billion economic stimulus package… the federal government has paid out less than 6 percent of the money …The intent of the stimulus program was to pump money into the economy quickly, and many members of Congress said at the time of its passage that speed was of the essence. But the huge program has been a challenge to administer for both a new administration and for states and local governments grappling with their own fiscal problems.” (“Stimulus Aid Trickles Out, but States Seek Quicker Relief,” New York Times, 05/12/2009)

“Unemployment Will Likely Keep Rising Through 2010 to Peak Over 10 Percent”:
Reuters: “The U.S. economy will likely start growing again in the second half of this year but unemployment will likely keep rising through 2010 to peak over 10 percent, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday…It will likely take several years for the unemployment rate to fall back to levels seen before the recession hit, in the neighborhood of 5 percent, he said in the prepared remarks.” (“U.S. unemployment likely to peak above 10 percent: CBO,” Reuters, 05/21/2009)
 
“Counties Suffering Most” Will “Receive the Least Help” From The Stimulus:
AP: “Counties suffering the most from job losses stand to receive the least help from President Barack Obama's plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars on roads and bridges, an Associated Press analysis has found…Although the intent of the money is to put people back to work, AP's review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide reveals that states are planning to spend the stimulus in communities where jobless rates are already lower.” (“STIMULUS WATCH: Early road aid leaves out neediest,” Associated Press, 05/11/2009)

Most Agencies Haven’t “Reported More Than 3% of Funds Allocated”
Wall Street Journal: “With the exception of two agencies, none have reported more than 3% of the funds allocated to them as having been used by recipients. The slow speed reflects the often complex procedures set out by the program for both government agencies dispensing money and the governors, municipal authorities, nonprofits and private companies getting it.” (“Economic-Stimulus Cash Is Moving Slowly,” Wall Street Journal, 05/13/2009)
 
There “May Be No Way to Spend So Much Money Quickly And Effectively”:
Washington Post: “They are being told that the stimulus package must be huge to work, but there may be no way to spend so much money quickly and effectively. Given the limitations, Congress and the administration would be well advised to trim the stimulus bill's more dubious spending, or reallocate it and focus on a definitive financial sector cleanup. Fiscal stimulus can be a part of the solution, but only if it is "targeted, timely and temporary." The efforts so far don't quite match that description.”
“Priming the Pump: The stimulus plan has something for everyone -- and a lot that's not stimulus.” (Editorial, “Priming the Pump,” Washington Post, 1/25/2009)
 
“Range Of Respected Economists” Believe Stimulus “Won’t Stimulate Economic Activity”:
McClatchy: “The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won't stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists. ‘I think (doing) nothing would have been better,’ said Ed Yardeni, an investment analyst who's usually an optimist, in an interview with McClatchy. He argued that the plan fails to provide the right incentives to spur spending.” (“Will the stimulus actually stimulate? Economists say no,” McClatchy, 2/12/2009)
 
While Biden Tries To “Paint A Glowing Picture” On The Economy, The “Picture Is Incomplete And The Colors Are Far More Muted”:
AP:  “It is not disputed that Washington is spending historic amounts of money at a rate far faster than normal…But the effect of that spending is less clear. Many of the claims the White House is making are based on anecdotes selected to fit the Obama administration's message. For instance, the report cites a newspaper article about workers being rehired at a factory in Chicago. That account is true, but is no more an accurate snapshot of the nation's economy than a story, not cited in the report, about a Roanoke, Va., railcar factory closing.” (“FACT CHECK: Data belie Biden stimulus anecdotes,” Associated Press, 05/13/2009)

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 20, 2009, 12:04 PM)

A Detailed Analysis of President Obama's Budget Prepared by U.S. House Committee Republicans

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 20, 2009, 11:57 AM)

According to reports, President Obama will hold a cabinet meeting today in which he will order the departments to identify a total of $100 MILLION in budget cuts over the next 3 months. Note that – according to CBO – under Obama’s budget, the Federal Government will spend  more than $4 TRILLION this year alone (FY 2009).   

• That works out to $7.6 million in spending-- per minute.
• It will take about 13 minutes for the Federal Government to spend $100 million. 
• During this 90 day review, the Federal Government will spend nearly $1 trillion ($987.3 billion). 

• $100 million is .002% of total spending.
• $100 million is .02% of omnibus spending.
• $100 million is .01% of total stimulus cost.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 16, 2009, 02:33 PM)

The Office of the Republican Whip presents the House Republican's Economic Solutions Center
This online tool focuses on real life answers to the following everyday questions common during these trying economic times:

• How will I keep my job?
• How should we use tax payer money?
• How will I grow my savings?
• How will I keep my house?

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 03, 2009, 10:52 AM)

Last night the President's Budget passed the House and Senate with NO Republican votes in either chamber.
Read about my support of the alternative GOP budget plans that offered reasonable solutions for middle class families, focused directly on creating jobs, tax relief and empowering small businesses to survive and grow.

Posted in Defense, Economy, Energy, Environment and Wildlife, Health Care, Homeland Security, Retirement, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 31, 2009, 10:13 AM)

Susan from Little River writes:
I think a lot could be done with the resources the government already has on its payroll.

Anthony from Charleston writes:
This guy is a pure socialist; we need to block any and all efforts to his idea of socialism. His whole party thinks government is the answer to our current problems. I myself have served this country for over 30 years so we the people can have a free and democratic form of government. I support your efforts and the Republican Party in not standing by and letting our nation fall into a socialist state. Remember we the people run the government; the government need not rule us.

Linda from Townsend writes:
I think my grandchildren will be paying for this.

Marjorie writes:
It’s CRAP!

George from Little River writes:
Rep. Brown, it’s hard for me to comprehend the size of this proposed budget. There is so much pork and waste in it that it would choke a horse and then some. When do we ever see a savings for the tax payers? When does the government reduce their operating budget...I see a great deal of overhead and little progress. When do we evaluate their purpose and is it worthwhile to continue to fund them… We need to reduce and eliminate all the pork projects from the budget.

Russ writes:
Porculus!!

Karen from Pawley’s Island writes:
The President does not understand what he is doing to the Americans who work and have worked to get ahead!! He is punishing anyone with a business or anyone who makes more than $250,000! You cannot tax your way out of this. I was just recently laid off due to the President’s proposals. Increasing entitlements to those that have been on the dole for years is not the answer! … We are taxing our children and our grandchildren to death… By electing Obama-others feel the government will buy their groceries, pay their taxes, buy their house, put gas in their tank and give them spending money! This is incredible-we need oversight on the spending bill and the Budget. Obama is pushing this agenda down our throat.

Glen writes:
The President’s budget is very bad for our country, everything he has done takes us further away from capitalism.

Richard writes:
I am concerned about the budget…The economy needs tax relief. I am ready to give the feds less control.

Marsha writes:
I am definitely against the proposed budget. It will help to destroy America.

William from Summerville writes:
The Budget is not good; spending money to get out of debt is not the answer. The government needs to do less and let the people take care of people we have far too much government spending as it is and this will only help to bring down what has made the USA a great nation.

Stan writes:
The budget is a joke. Why and 8% increase and why 9000 earmark pork projects?

Janet from Mt. Pleasant writes:
This is a disaster. What is happening to our country and what can we do to stop it?

Wendy from Moncks Corner writes:
I think that President Obama’s budget is going to do more harm than good.

Johnny from Goose Creek writes:
Dear Congressman, I hope you stand firm against this President’s agenda, or we will most likely end us as a Third World Society. The Democratic Party has gone completely insane with these Socialist spending policies. I believe our very Liberty and Freedom are at stake. I am a history buff and we are headed in the wrong direction.

Frances writes:
The budget is way over the top. You guys need to shut him down, keep up the good fight!

Rosemary writes:
This is very bad for our country.

Gail writes:
Obscenely irresponsible and socialist in nature.

Stan writes:
I do not believe in entitlements at any time, but with the economy where it is today, they definitely must be eliminated. The non-defense spending should be reduced at least in half. Now is not the time to raise taxes.

Kenneth from Aynor writes:
I feel that both the budget and the stimulus package are more about welfare than progress. Too many of Obama’s proposals wreak of socialism. It is very unnerving to think about the direction we are headed as a nation. The stimulus pack and bailout programs are nothing more than blank welfare checks.

Michael from Goose Creek writes:
It’s back to tax and spend, which has never worked. It is a killer to small business. The private sector will suffer, job loss will continue, it’s an awful budget, and Obama's plan is socialism and will further deteriorate America.

Gretchen from Summerville writes:
The budget is out of control…just like everything else in Washington.

Craig from Summerville writes:
Disaster for the people who have followed the rules.

William from Hilton Head writes:
My family and employer have had to tighten our financial belt, so should our federal government regarding entitlements spending and earmarks.

Bill Bleakley writes:      
Again'st! Please support the Govenors stance on stimulus.

Harry Dawson writes: 
I think it is the height of stupidity and arrogance...The people who are in charge have no clue as to what they are doing...The change that is happening shouldnt happen to a third world country....Unless Republicans unite and take back control of the Congress, this is only a sample of the woes yet to befall America...Stand tall and defend us against these attackers of freedom and the free enterprise system...

Unanimous writes:  
It is outrageous. My Grandchildren will be paying for it for many years. That is if it hasn't seriously eroded our currency before then.

James Kirk writes:    
OVER the MAX.
   
Donald Goldsmith writes:     
Stinks like every thing he proposes

Dennis Space writes:     
We are very selfish as we continue to spend and pass these massive debts on to future generations. we would not do this to our family why do we let our government do it for us? we definitely have our values confused, especially the party and administration proposing this latest budget.

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 25, 2009, 02:01 PM)

Today, the House passed the Omnibus Lands Package, yet another far reaching Democrat bill, created by stacking more than 170 separate bills together into one 1,200 page, 10 billion dollar piece of legislation.

While the bill contained some worthwhile provisions, piling so many separate pieces of legislation into one bill, 100 of which have never been voted on in the House, unnecessarily creates extremely expensive and convoluted legislation.

One would think that recent experiences with TARP and the stimulus would have taught Congress that forcing such convoluted pieces of legislation through, without the necessary deliberations and revisions, may have large and negative consequences.

Democrats have passed up yet another opportunity to create effective legislation that could uphold our priorities and desires as Americans. My Republican colleagues and I continue to voice the opinion of the American people and look forward to sensible, straight forward legislation in the future.

Posted in Economy, Energy, Environment and Wildlife | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 16, 2009, 05:38 PM)

From the Office of the Republican Leader, John Boehner

Get a state by state analysis on the following aspect of President Obama's Budget:

•  Job-Killing Tax Increases
•  Health Care Cuts
• Record Borrowing

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 13, 2009, 09:29 AM)

As the Congressional leadership continues to force their huge spending packages through Congress, my Republican colleagues and I are working to show the American people the repercussions of the Democrat's actions. Check out these graphs on continued Republican efforts to hold Democrats accountable.

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (March 06, 2009, 02:00 PM)

The President's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal includes some $1.4 billion in tax increases - tax increases that will hit every single family in the country at a time when our economy is in the middle of a painful recession.  The Republican Staff of the Budget Committee broke down the tax increases in this handy chart:

You can read the Budget Committee's full analysis of the President's Budget Proposal here.

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (March 06, 2009, 01:36 PM)

At a time when the American people are hurting and calling on Congress and the White House to take action to get this economy moving, higher taxes and massive increases in federal spending are not the cures for what ails this economy.  Unfortunately, the President's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget offers us just that - even though the American people know we cannot tax, spend, and bail our way back into economic growth.

The President's budget will raise taxes on almost every American during a time when we all are feeling the impact of this recession.  While small businesses are the engine of our nation's economy, this Budget will directly target them with tax increases.  Given continued slump in the job market, we should providing incentives for small business to grow - not throwing a tax increase at them.  

While families are struggling to make ends meet, the President's budget calls for increasing utility rates on every single household in America. While charities such as higher education, health research foundations, and religious organizations are struggling under reduced support and higher demand for their services, the President's budget calls for cutting the tax deduction on donations to these important parts of our community.  While middle class families saving for retirement have seen their 401(k) significantly reduced by the challenges facing the stock market, the President's budget means a tax increase for them as well. 

I am proud to stand on the side of American people and of the First District in support of a responsible budget that  helps get our economy back on track without piling more debt on future generations and increasing taxes on American families and small businesses.  With family budgets tightening, nest eggs shrinking, and job security weakening for far too many across the country, the last thing Congress should be considering is a budget that combines a trillion-dollar tax hike with a historic increase in government spending.  

Posted in Economy, Taxes | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (February 19, 2009, 11:29 AM)

In an article in today’s edition of The Post & Courier, Glenn Smith focuses on the extra $13 dollars a week tax payers will be receiving as a tax credit thanks to the so called trillion dollar stimulus plan passed almost solely by Congressional Democrats last week. Smith lists, in all seriousness, seven seemingly trivial things you can buy with $13 because as he puts it, “$13 isn't chump change.” However, the question remains, is this the real stimulus that most struggling American taxpayers were hoping for?

Read The Post & Courier’s article What will YOU do with $13?

Posted in Economy | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (February 13, 2009, 01:33 PM)

As Congress debates the "stimulus" bill today, I thought you might want to see exactally what is in this bill.

Here is the actual text of the bill.  It's more than 1,000 pages, filled with hand-written edits and changes.  My good friend Tom Price of Georgia took Americans on a tour of the stimulus bill earlier today, and you can view his web-video below.

House Republicans only got the bill at 11 am last night - just over 12 hours from when we are going to vote on the legislation.  During that time, staff went through the legislation and produced this summary, which points out how Democrats reduced job-creating tax cuts to add more wasteful Washington spending.  Despite all this, the way this bill was put together means that few, if anyone, in Washington knows what is actually in H.R. 1.  As you look through the bill, I urge you to email me your concerns about specific provisions. 

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Posted by: Brown Staff (February 13, 2009, 11:41 AM)

Yesterday, I joined several of my House Republican colleagues in a press conference held by Americans for Prosperity against the so-called stimulus the Democrats are forcing through this week. Over 500,000 people have signed AFP' s petition against a stimulus of this nature and Republicans are in complete agreement that this not the stimulation that the America public so desperately needs.

Republicans have come up with a better and swifter way to create the necessary jobs, improve infrastructure and give the necessary jolt to our economy, all the while providing essential tax cuts for the American working class. The Democrat spending plan comes nowhere close to including these necessary provisions and may even make our economy weaker in the future.

• Learn more about Americans for Prosperity’s efforts and add your name to their petition against this wasteful spending plan.
• Learn more about the GOP alternative to the Democrat spending package.
• Read more on my position on the Democrat’s wasteful and unstimulating plan.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (February 12, 2009, 08:17 PM)

The Washington, DC publication Politico is reporting that jobs numbers being touted by the White House as the reason why American's should support the Democrats' trillion dollar spending bill apparently don't add up.  According to the report, in some cases the discrepency between estimates of jobs created in a state versus those created in each of that state's congressional districts over state the estimated job creation by thousands.  You can read more of this report, which includes links to the origional WH documents, here.

Jobs aren't rounding errors.  House Republicans have a plan to create twice as many jobs at half the cost. Find more information at http://gopleader.gov. 

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Posted by: Brown Staff (February 12, 2009, 07:22 PM)

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) admits to not knowing what is in the Democrats' trillion-dollar spending package, or whether or not it will work. House Republicans have a plan to create twice as many jobs at half the cost. Find more information at http://gopleader.gov. 

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Posted by: Brown Staff (February 06, 2009, 03:10 PM)

The breakdown below provides a great side by side contrast of jobs created by the Republican and Democrat plans as it highlights the number of jobs that could be created in South Carolina under the House Republican substitute to H.R. 1.  These estimates are derived from the results of applying Dr. Christina Romer’s economic analysis to the House Republican substitute which shows that the substitute could create 6.2 million jobs over the next two years. Unlike the House-passed bill, H.R. 1, the substitute contains broadly applicable tax cuts for families and business and does not pick and choose favorites among the states or particular industry sectors through various spending programs.

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Posted by: Katie McKinney (February 03, 2009, 04:14 PM)

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Posted by: Brown Staff (January 30, 2009, 09:53 AM)

Despite promises to the contrary, the Democratic "stimulus" bill passed by the House this week will do little to create jobs for Americans.  The Democrat plan is full of wasteful spending and does not contain the infrastructure and job creating provisions that will help get our economic up and rolling again.  Instead of following the urgings of President Obama, House Democrats locked the door on Republican ideas for the stimulus legislation and turned a bill that could have created real jobs into a bill filled with wasteful spending on Democrat priorities that will do little to create real jobs.  Here are some links to information put out by House Republicans on the Democratic stimulus bill and job creating Republican alternatives:

Congressional Budget Office: Dems' Spending Plan Won't Lead to a Rapid Economic Recovery

House GOP Economic Recovery Alternative Will Create 6.2 Million New American Jobs

Non-Partisan CBO Confirms House Democrats’ Bill Tops $1.1 Trillion     

Transportation Committee Republicans on Stimulus: Where’s the Jobs?

Democrat Stimulus: Actual Job Creation is “Doubtful”

The American People Deserve Better than House Democrats’ Trillion-Dollar Spending Plan

Read the Text of the Republican Motion to Recommit, a plan to create jobs by investing an additional $36 billion in highways and an additional $24 billion in the Army Corps of Engineers while and reducing the overall costs of the bill by almost $104 billion.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (January 28, 2009, 06:35 PM)

“With unemployment rising and our economy falling into recession, House Democrats have proposed a stimulus plan that is full of wasteful spending and contains only a small amount of the necessary infrastructure and job creation provisions that would stimulate our failing economy and get hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans back on their feet."

Read more... 

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown (December 22, 2008, 12:00 PM)

Back in October, I led a number of my colleagues in calling for the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be opened up so that Americans could see how actions by executives at the two mortgage giants set the ground work for today's financial crisis.  House Republicans also called on the House Democratic leadership to hold hearings on actions by these two companies.  While the Democrats waited until other news took Fannie and Freddie out of the spot light, a recent hearing and the release of internal documents spells out just what I and my Republican colleagues have been saying all along: the leadership of these two institutions were warned about how risky their actions were, yet they ignored these warnings because any change would slow down profits and upset politicians who were pushing them to make loans that would never be repaid. 

You can read the Washington Post article on the story here, and view the documents for yourself here (note, this is a large pdf document).  The Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have also put together some information that is of interest.  I found this quote a prime example of how the leadership of Fannie and Freddie failed the American taxpayers and put our financial system in the situation it faces:

Edward Pinto, former chief credit officer for Fannie Mae and now a real estate finance consultant, estimates that 1 million of the GSEs’ Alt-A loans had no down payment. Pinto said one in six home mortgages could fail over the next four years and that, before the crisis tends, 40 percent of all the loans on Fannie and Freddie’s books that originated in 2007 will default. "Fannie and Freddie have subprimed America," Pinto said. "Without their actions, we would not have this unprecedented housing crisis."

While I am pleased that the Democrats on the Oversight Committee held the hearing, the fact that the leaders at these companies were warned about risky loans at the same time they were under political pressure to make these loans demands a more through investigation.  Congress needs to get to the bottom of this situation and find out not only why the executives of Fannie and Freddie were permitted to ignore repeated warnings, and what role Congress itself may have played. 

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown (December 04, 2008, 05:04 PM)

The Senate's decision before Thanksgiving to not take up legislation on the auto bailout clearly signals that the corporate leadership of GM, Ford, and Chrysler must move forward with a significant restructuring of their companies and product lines.  The three U.S. manufacturers, currently burdened with top heavy management, exorbitant and unrealistic employee salaries and benefits at all levels, and union monopolization, are unable to adjust  their product lines to meet the needs of today's consumers and were in financial crisis long before our economy took a turn for the worse.

I do not believe that it is the nation's responsibility to fix them as it was their own bad decision to continue agreeing to the labor unions' demands for exorbitant benefits and retirement packages and to rely on gas guzzlers to make their profit during a time when cost conscious foreign automakers were building cars here in the United States that people want to buy.

Locally, it would be hard for me to go to back to BMW, a company that announced earlier this year that, in a $750 million investment, the volume of cars exported through the Port of Charleston is expected to increase 50 percent to about 150,000 vehicles year, and tell them that I supported giving money to their competitors who made poor business decisions to begin with.

The CEO's of the three manufacturers were sent home after being told that they must come up with an alternate plan, as the original $700 billion bailout money was not allotted for this purpose.  This week they submitted their new plans, and Congress is currently conducting hearings on them.  Below are links to the plans.  Please let me know your thoughts at http://brown.house.gov/Contact/writebrown.html.      

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Posted by: Brown Staff (November 16, 2008, 01:33 PM)

Targeting Your 401(k)
Congress has an eye on the tax break for your retirement.
The Wall Street Journal

November 14, 2008

You may have heard about Argentina's plan to nationalize private retirement accounts. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are inspired, and with their big election victory they may get the chance to test Peronist ideas in America.

Meet Congressmen George Miller and Jim McDermott, who are eager to change the way Americans save for their golden years. They'll also be powerbrokers in the next Congress. Mr. Miller, who came in with the Class of 1974 from California, chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Mr. McDermott, who has represented Seattle the past two decades, runs a House Ways and Means subcommittee on income security and family support.

Before Election Day, the Congressmen began to target the $3 trillion in 401(k) accounts held by about 60% 0f Americans. Mr. Miller called the system "an inadequate vehicle" that "has not been terribly successful" in encouraging retirement savings. He wants a "wholesale re-examination" of pensions.

Just what alternative these Democrats support is unclear, and nothing has been formally proposed beyond Mr. Miller's plan to make the system "more transparent," reduce fees charged by the money managers, and suspend the tax penalty for seniors over 70 who don't take the "required minimum" withdrawal from their account, regardless of the market situation.

But the Chairman has also signalled greater ambitions. At a hearing last month, Mr. Miller put the 401(k) system into play. Under the current system, employers match employee contributions that aren't taxed until redeemed, an indirect subsidy worth some $80 billion today. "We have to start to think about in Congress . . . whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should," Mr. Miller said. "For a taxpayer investment of this size, we must ensure that the structure of 401(k)s adequately protects the nest eggs of participating workers."

His committee listened to possible reform proposals. Most eye-catching was an idea from Teresa Ghilarducci at New York's New School for Social Research. Her plan would end the tax breaks for 401(k)s; she proposes instead to give all workers an annual $600 inflation-adjusted tax credit for retirement and force them to invest 5% of their pay into a government-run retirement account managed by the Social Security Administration. She called the 401(k) "a failed experiment." A McDermott spokesman called her proposals "intriguing" and "part of the discussion." Mr. Miller hasn't so far endorsed the plan.

The main liberal objection to 401(k)s seems to be that they let average Americans control their own investment decisions for retirement. As Shlomo Benartzi, a professor at UCLA's Anderson business school, told Mr. Miller's committee, "Individuals have a tendency to buy at the peak, and then panic when the markets drop and sell at the bottom." Better to have the government do this instead.

It is certainly true that retirement plans have lost, on paper, some $4 trillion in the past 15 months -- half in 401(k) and IRAs and half in company defined-benefit plans. Average 401(k)s are down a quarter this year. But assuming sensible policies and a normal economic recovery, those asset values should rise again over time. In any case, investment returns on stocks and bonds over extended periods far exceed the paltry returns on Social Security that for some workers are a mere 1% to 2%

Tax breaks alone hardly explain the popularity of 401(k)s. Over the past 30 years, the number of individuals covered by them nearly trebled, up to 65 million accounts, while the number under defined-benefit pension fell 30%.  People are attached to their 401(k)s because it is their property, which they can carry with them to new jobs (unlike traditional pensions), manage as they see fit and bequeath to heirs.

Before entertaining dreams of state-managed retirement accounts, Congressional Democrats might ask why Europe and Latin America have tried so hard in recent years to move in the opposite direction. Their pension systems are debt-ridden, can't easily adjust for demographic shifts and show a historically lower return.

If Democrats want to improve the prospects for American retirees, their first priority should be removing barriers to economic growth. Anger over the drop in 401(k) balances is one reason that voters who belong to the "investor class" swung to Democrats in greater than usual numbers this year. Their mandate is for policies that improve those returns, not strip them of tax benefits.

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown (November 07, 2008, 07:02 PM)

As news broke that U.S. companies cut 240,000 jobs in October and unemployment has spiked to 6.5 percent, the highest since March 1994, I urge Congress that we must resist steps that would only deepen the economic pain felt by famlies and small businesses.

As a long-time supporter of an ‘all of the above’ energy solution, I believe that committing ourselves to addressing our nation’s energy crisis is a major step towards correcting our economic woes.

I was proud to have worked with my Republican colleagues to force the Democratic Congress to open the door to more American energy by allowing the outdated ban on energy production on the Outer Continental Shefl to expire.  By opening up domestic energy sources off our coasts and on our soil we can begin providing Americans with American energy. In addition, we will not only keep billions of dollars that we are currently paying, often, enemy nations for their resources, but we will be able to create thousands of jobs for the American people and begin rebuilding our economy with the resulting infrastructure.

While allowing the bans to expire was a significant first step, there are many Democrats in Congress who are already talking about renewing them once the 111th Congress comes into session.  Not only will I stand against those efforts, but I will work to ensure that those who want us to be dependent upon foreign sources of energy do not use the court system to block energy production with endless lawsits. 

Addressing our domestic energy deficit will result in the ultimate strengthening of our economy however, we must also ensure that we get to the root of our economic problems. 

Despite Democrat efforts to cover up the facts, hearings over the month of October showed that the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were at the root of the financial crisis.  I, along with my Republican colleagues in the House are demanding a complete review of these two institutions. The American people deserve the opportunity to do their own investigation into the decisions made by the executives at these two companies – decisions that have imperiled our nation’s economy.  Once we find that out, we need to fix what is broken in the system.

What we must resist are efforts by Congressional Democrats to use the economic challenges facing our nation to raise taxes.  Their tax increases would cost the average South Carolina taxpayer some $2,000, and would target married couples, small businesses,and seniors.  Instead, we need to enact tax relief that is focused on working families and small businesses.

Reducing our energy deficit, addressing our infrastructure challenges, attacking the root causes behind the crisis, and enacting tax relief are essential steps to return our economy to the path of prosperity and growth.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (October 16, 2008, 02:49 PM)

Congressman Brown and 33 House Republicans sent the following letter to the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac asking that the books of the two failed mortgage giants be opened up for the American public to examine.

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Posted by: Henry E. Brown (October 15, 2008, 06:00 PM)

As our country faces historic economic challenge, I believe it is essential that the Democratic Congress closely examine the facts of history and not ignore the role of the largest players at the center of the economic debacle: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Republican’s have been scrutinizing these mortgage giants since 2004, when they called hearings after reports of fraudulent accounting activities at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  These reports showed that Fannie was reporting false earnings in a way that triggered extra bonuses to company executives and also brought to light significant problems with the portfolios maintained by both Fannie and Freddie – especially the fact that they held trillions of dollars in risky mortgage backed securities.

During the House Financial Services Committee hearings, Committee Republicans made their initial call for reform and increased oversight of Fannie and Freddie, asked the tough questions and successfully passed H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005. All the while, Committee Democrats claimed there was “no crisis”, called the regulator “incompetent” and were viscerally angry at the idea that problems could be occurring at Fannie and Freddie.

I strongly supported H.R 1461, and had its consideration not been blocked by liberal Democrats in the Senate, it would have restructured both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, created massive oversight and inevitably prevented Fannie and Freddie’s $1 trillion buying binge of risky subprime and mortgage backed securities between 2005 and 2007. 

From 1990 to 2005, Fannie and Freddie grew more than 944% to $1.64 trillion, while their liabilities grew by 980% to $1.51 trillion. The two gambled with taxpayer dollars and lost. Between 1998 and 2008, they spent nearly $175 million combined lobbying Congress, and between 2000 and 2008, Fannie and Freddie employees contributed nearly $15 million to the campaign coffers of congressional candidates and party committees.

Republicans have been trying for years to reform the two mortgage giants, but because of liberal Democrats Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to continue with their unethical policies and dangerous predatory lending that has laid the foundation for the economic troubles that is having an impact on every single taxpayer in America.

In yet another effort to reform Fannie and Freddie, I, along with many of my Republican colleagues will be sending a letter urging the current regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bring increased transparency to their past financial dealings and decision making. I believe that providing open access to the documents and financial paperwork of these two massive organizations would go far towards helping Congress and the nation not only understand what failed, but also make the necessary changes to prevent us from going down this road again.

My Republican colleagues and I continue to demand a bipartisan committee hearing to expose the root of the issue and create a necessary and complete review of Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac. In order to bring the key facts to the American people, the hearing must include testimony from former executive Frank Raines and other former Fannie and Freddie executives.  There have been serious problems with Fannie and Freddie since 2004, and these problems, having grown, are some of the key causes of our current economic crisis.

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Posted by: Brown Staff (October 06, 2008, 10:39 AM)

Some shocking video from 2004 where Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee defend the misdeeds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while attacking the government regulator who uncovered the common practices of inflating earnings and papering over risky investments at the two companies:

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