The Week Just Past:

Affordable Care Act will drive 2 million people from workforce

Why President Obama Needs Republicans to Increase Trade, Create Jobs

Saluting “ Monument Man” Harry Ettlinger of Rockaway Township

Rodney’s Tele-Town-Hall Meeting:  “I am listening!”

Salute to the Pompton Lakes Elks Club

Affordable Care Act will drive 2 million people from workforce

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a chilling report earlier this week on the affect of the Affordable Care Act on American workers.

As the Washington Post reported in a front page story: The CBO predicts that the economy will have the equivalent of 2.3 million fewer full-time workers by 2021 as a result of the law — nearly three times previous estimates.

As the disastrous roll-out of this program continues, it seems there is no end of bad news about the ramifications of this ill-conceived law. 

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended reading: Zachary Goldfarb and Amy Goldstein of theWashington Post analyze the CBO report here.

Why President Obama Needs Republicans to Increase Trade, Create Jobs

Increasing international trade creates jobs in New Jersey and across the country by opening overseas markets to U.S. goods and services. 

President Obama knows it, as do clear bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate.  But because the Senate Majority Leader opposes giving the President Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), it is going to be difficult to move this legislation through the Senate.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, William Galston of the Brookings Institution (and a former Clinton White House domestic policy staffer), makes the case for presidential leadership in forging a bipartisan majority to get this important legislation to the President’s desk for signature.

Currently, negotiations are underway for three new free trade agreements:

• The Trans Pacific Partnership with Pacific-Rim countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam);
• The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union (EU); and
• The Trade in Service Agreement, a service only agreement with 23 World Trade Organization signatories including the EU, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and Mexico to name a few.

You can find Galston’s piece here. 

For more information about free trade agreements visit:http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements

And for facts compiled by the Business Roundtable about how trade benefits New Jersey, click here.

Saluting “Monument Man” Harry Ettlinger of Rockaway Township

When the motion picture, “Monuments Men,” opens in theaters today, audiences will surely be inspired by the story of the Allied heroes who found and returned to their rightful owners many of the millions of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art and culture that had been stolen and hidden away by the Nazis during their brutal subjugation of Europe.

What moviegoers will not know, however, is that one of the men whose story is portrayed in the movie is alive and well and living in the 11^thCongressional District of New Jersey.  Harry Ettlinger of Rockaway Township is, at 88 years old, one of the few surviving members of what was officially known as U.S. Army’s Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section.  His incredible story is portrayed in what deserves to be a blockbuster hit.

Mr. Ettlinger is an old friend and advisor.  Here’s a link to a heartwarming article that tells his remarkable story. 

Rodney’s Tele-Town-Hall Meeting: “I am listening!”

This past Tuesday, thousands of constituents joined me for a Tele-Town-Hall meeting.  I was delighted to be able to speak directly with callers, answering their questions on such diverse topics as jobs, immigration, taxes, and food stamps and listening to their opinions and advice.

These Tele-Town-Halls are a great way for me to stay in touch with what the people in the 11^th District are thinking.  I also enjoy hearing from people through letters and email.  For information on how to contact me with your thoughts and concerns, please visit: Frelinghuysen.house.gov and click on “Contact Rodney”

Salute to the Pompton Lakes Elks Club

The members and supporters of the Pompton Lakes Elks Club regularly show their strong support for our nation’s veterans by inviting them to be their guests for breakfast and at other events.  They strongly support the residents of the Paramus Veterans Home and other veterans. 

The Pompton Lakes Elks Club underwrites a wide variety of worthy causes, benefitting children and adults.  I greatly admire their many contributions to the vitality of the community.