-- Randy’s Roundup --

A Weekly Newsletter from Congressman Randy Neugebauer

October 12, 2009

Washington’s Devastating Economic Policy

As the unemployment rate continues to climb to almost double digits and the federal deficit balloons, Speaker Pelosi is scrambling to find new ways to increase spending and raise taxes. She is desperate to defend the trillion-dollar stimulus that isn’t working. With a costly government takeover of health care and a national energy tax in the works, Speaker Pelosi and the liberal Congress show absolutely no sign of slowing down.  Just last week the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released data showing that the federal budget deficit for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2009 reached $1.4 trillion, which is three times the deficit from the previous year!  On top of that, there is even talk in Washington of yet another stimulus package.

In the hopes of reigning in these out-of-control policies and changing the direction our country is heading, I offered a series of five amendments to the annual government spending bills. My amendments would have saved the taxpayers $28.6 billion by preventing “double-dipping” from adding even more money to programs that haven’t spent the billions allocated by the Reid-Pelosi stimulus package. Most recently, I submitted another amendment that would hold all domestic spending at current levels for another year rather than increasing this spending by $43 billion in 2010, essentially implementing a spending freeze. 

Unfortunately, four of my amendments were blocked from coming up for a vote, and the two amendments voted on by the full House did not pass. While my amendments would not solve all of our spending problems, Congress has to start somewhere.  If we simply continue to increase spending when it is clear we can not afford to do so, we only add more deficits and more debt. 

The solution is clear: Congress cannot continue borrowing money and living beyond our means. It’s time Speaker Pelosi and the liberal Congress recognize their failed economic policies are not stimulating our economy but rather digging us into a deeper hole. Their entitlement agenda is failing miserably. It’s time we put this country back on track with common-sense solutions that reward productivity and create positive incentives. Moving forward, I will continue to search for ways to offer amendments and find opportunities to cut this out-of-control wasteful spending whenever I can.
 
Spending Survey

As your representative in Washington, I am always interested in hearing your opinions on important legislative issues impacting the 19th Congressional District. I want to hear from you about your views on government spending.  Please take a minute to visit my website and submit your opinions through a brief survey.  

Update on Afghanistan

Last week, I attended a classified briefing on Afghanistan to better understand our next steps in this ongoing fight.  Now more than ever, I believe General McChrystal should testify before Congress – and the American people – and personally deliver his assessment on how to effectively implement the counterinsurgency strategy President Obama announced in March. 

His testimony will help Congress make an informed decision about our mission in Afghanistan. It is imperative we get our next steps right. Everyday we watch the situation in this region worsen. The enemy is continuing to gain momentum and becoming more effective. It is obvious that the current level of troops in Afghanistan is not great enough to patrol these areas, much less make sound progress against the growing enemy forces.

We have come to a critical juncture. The President must put aside the political pandering, commit to Afghanistan and effectively implement the counter-insurgency strategy being requested by General McChrystal -- or present to the American people just what his strategy is to confront this enemy. We owe it to the men and women fighting on the ground to provide them with the resources they need to succeed.