Fiscal and Economic

March 27, 2012

The House is about to consider a budget in a dangerous hour in the life of our country. Last year, we barreled past several urgent warning signals: the loss of our nation's triple-A credit rating; the size of the national debt surpassing our entire economy; a record third year of trillion dollar-plus annual deficits.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

RSC 2013 Budget

March 26, 2012

Speeches

This nation is on a collision course with a sovereign debt crisis the magnitude of which we have never experienced. This is not some moonless night on the Atlantic. We are spending full speed ahead toward that iceberg of debt in the full light of day and we can all see it plainly.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

Budget: Congressional Progressive Caucus Budget Debate

March 26, 2012

Speeches

The reason these times are so impassioned is because we have arrived at a moment when two very different visions of society are competing for our nation’s future, and they are very much reflected in the budgets put forward by the two parties in this House.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

HR 3521 - Line Item Veto

February 8, 2012

Speeches

This bill presents us with a simple question: "It is possible - just possible - that from time to time Congress has passed a spending bill or two that ought to have had greater scrutiny?" The answer to this question might elude some members of the House, but I assure them it is self-evident to everybody else.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

HR 3581 (Garrett) Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2011

February 7, 2012

Speeches

A family that excludes from its budget the mortgage payments it knows it must make is deluding itself and sabotaging its own finances. That's precisely what the federal government is doing right now with respect to billions of dollars of liabilities because of its ill-fated sponsorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

Pro-Growth Budgeting Act HR 3582 (Price)

February 2, 2012

Speeches

The simple question now before us is whether it is better for Congress to have more information or less information when it is deliberating on matters that directly affect the economy of this nation. The answer should be self-evident, but apparently, some members of this house prefer blissful ignorance than having to go to the fuss and bother of actually assessing the full ramifications of the policies they are enacting.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

We've Heard this Song Before

January 25, 2012

Press Release

After President Clinton took a drubbing from voters in the 1994 Congressional election, he realized his policies weren't working. He promptly declared, "The era of big government is over," and he then went about making good on that declaration:
• He reduced spending by a miraculous 3 1/2 percent of GDP.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

Vote Note HR 2055 - Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012: NO

December 16, 2011

Press Release

Viewed in isolation, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 reduces total discretionary spending authority (those expenditures that don’t require statutory changes, including war and emergency spending) from $1.209 trillion in FY 2011 to $1.181 trillion in FY 2012), or $28 billion (2.3 percent).

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

Fixing the Payroll Tax

December 15, 2011

Speeches

One of the items of unfinished business remaining before this session is extending the payroll tax cut of last year that funds Social Security.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

Vote Note HR 3630 - Payroll Tax Cut Extension

December 13, 2011

Press Release

HR 3630 – Payroll Tax Cut Extension: NO. Although the temporary payroll tax cut doesn’t produce lasting economic growth, I support its continuation because it allows working families to keep more of their earnings at a time of declining incomes, shriveling assets and rising prices.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

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