In recent days, the Obama administration has increasingly walked back promises that the Democrat health care plan will not force Americans out of the coverage they currently enjoy.
Yesterday at a House committee hearing on the Democrat plan, Christina Romer, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House, found herself unable to ease American concerns that they will be forced into a government-run health care system.
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:
As the House prepares to vote on Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax as soon as this Friday, are Democrats representing these regions of the country really prepared to vote for even more job loss? Is that a message they want to bring home to middle-class families and small businesses in their districts heading into the Independence Day recess?
House Republicans don’t think so – and in an op-ed published in Tuesday’s Washington Examiner, House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted the job-killing nature of Speaker Pelosi’s national energy taxes and House Republicans’ “all of the above” plan for more jobs, lower energy prices, and a cleaner environment.
All year long, Democrats have been promising more and more jobs, but nearly three million have been lost since January. After a record spending binge on the trillion-dollar “stimulus,” the $400 billion omnibus loaded with 9,000 earmarks, a $3.6 trillion budget that spends, taxes, and borrows too much, and endless bailouts, American workers are asking, “Where are the jobs?” If House Democrats get their way and pass Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax, those jobs will be leaving America and headed to competitors like China and India, who won’t enact a national energy tax of their own. During this time of economic crisis, is this really a policy Washington Democrats want to pursue?
Boy with heart defect speaks out for sick kids The Post and Courier Monday, June 22, 2009
Christine Chase, a North Charleston mother of two, was 18 weeks pregnant when she found out her son would be born with a congenital heart defect.
"Scary. That's the closest word I can use to describe how I felt all the time," said Chase, who quit her job as a pharmacy technician to care for her son. "It was devastating in the hospital. There was constant anxiety because we didn't know if he'd survive or not."
Matthew Chase was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect meaning only his right two heart chambers formed, resulting in three open-heart surgeries by age 3, all performed at the Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital.
Five years later, Matthew spent the past week as an MUSC representative in Washington for the 2009 National Association of Children's Hospitals Family Advocacy Day. He met with South Carolina's U.S. Reps. Jim Clyburn and John Spratt Jr., both Democrats, Republican Henry Brown and Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint to discuss both affordable health insurance coverage and specialized, quality care for children.
You Can Keep Your Coverage – Unless You’re One of the Millions Who Can’t White House Officials admit “president's rhetoric shouldn't be taken literally”
President Obama and congressional Democrats are working overtime to sell the American people on a costly government takeover of our health care system.
Unfortunately for Democrats – and for the millions of Americans who like their current coverage – the Congressional Budget Office says that claim is just not true.
“Once the proposal was fully implemented, about 39 million individuals would obtain coverage through the new insurance exchanges. At the same time, the number of people who had coverage through an employer would decline by about 15 million (or roughly 10 percent), and coverage from other sources would fall by about 8 million, so the net decrease in the number of people uninsured would be about 16 million.” (Preliminary Analysis of Major Provisions Related to Health Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Health Choices Act, June 15, 2009)
That’s 23 million Americans who will lose their current coverage under one partial plan being considered in the U.S. Senate.
“Dallas Salisbury, head of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, called Obama's promise ‘an aspirational statement. If he was a king, he would deliver that, but he’s not king,’ said Salisbury. His group is a nonpartisan information clearinghouse on health and pension benefits.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Promises, Promises: Obama's health plan guarantee,” The Associated Press, June 19, 2009)
In the same article, White House officials agree and, “suggest the president's rhetoric shouldn't be taken literally.” That’s a startling statement from the same people who argued so fiercely during a campaign stop in Wisconsin last year that words matter. Guess now they’re, “just words.”
Americans who like their current coverage should be able to keep it, and no one should be forced into a government-run plan that puts bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. That’s why the GOP Health Care Solutions Group unveiled a plan earlier this week that promotes commonsense reforms that make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and increase quality at a price our country can afford—while making sure that Americans who like their health care coverage can keep it by stopping the government takeover Democrats are championing.
Congressman Brown is an original cosponsor of H.RES.430, legislation which expresses condolences to the citizens of Italy and support for the Government of Italy in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck the Abruzzo region of central Italy. Following the passage of the resolution today, Brown, a member of the bicameral and bipartisan Italian American Congressional Delegation, made the following statement:
“As I represent an area that has many close personal ties to Italy, I was extremely saddened, back in April, at the news of this devastating earthquake.
Charleston is proud to be home to the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, an art festival and American counterpart of the Festival of Two Worlds held annually in Spoleto, Italy. Additionally, North Charleston enjoys the presence of Global Aeronautica LLC, a joint venture between Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica and Vought Aircraft Industries responsible for assembling the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Italy is a major political and commercial ally of the United States and we value our relationship with them greatly. I, along with all of my Congressional colleagues, send our sincerest condolences to the victims and families affected by this massive natural disaster and reinforce the notion that we remain in full support of the Italian Government during this trying time.”
Note: On April 6, 2009 the L'Aquila earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, killed at least 297 people and severely damaged the infrastructure of the central Italian region of Abruzzo.
I received the support of The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation and more than 30 other organizations representing millions of American hunter conservationists when they sent a letter yesterday to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, urging them to support H.R. 1454, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act, legislation introduced by Congressman Brown and previously championed by Jack Hanna, the Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Read more of my release here. Read the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation's release here.
Posted in Environment and Wildlife, In Case You Missed It | View Full Posting
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.”
This morning, the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health passed legislation aimed at improving health care services for female veterans, particularly those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the Ranking Republican on the subcommittee, and a cosponsor of the bill, I was proud to speak in support of The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1211) as I believe it will reinforce the necessity of providing health care for female veterans that focuses on their unique needs.
Women make up about 8 percent of the total veterans population. Therefore, it is essential for us to make sure that the VA is providing specialized programs and services to meet their unique physical and mental health needs.
Some of the main objectives of the bill are to provide more extensive care to newborns of female veterans, greater child care assistance, and to allow both minority and female veterans to serve on federal advisory committees on veterans’ affairs. The bill also looks to provide better heath care training programs for those caring for female veterans.
As the representative for 75 percent of the South Carolina coast and many of my state’s recreational and commercial boaters, I spoke during today’s Transportation and Infrastructure Full Committee Markup in strong support of legislation which recognizes the numerous national contributions of the recreational boating community and the boating industry.
I was proud to introduce H. Res. 410 along with Representative Kline and my other committee counterparts, Representatives Gene Taylor and Candice Miller, and I further encourage the rest of my colleagues on the Committee to support this resolution.
To read more on my efforts for the recreational boaters of South Carolina and the nation, read my original press release on H. Res. 410 here.
Posted in Environment and Wildlife, Transportation | View Full Posting
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