This Week in Washington – Thursday, August 12, 2010
The House came back into session for several hours Tuesday to pass an additional $26 billion worth of spending. You'll find more information on that legislation below. I continue to be amazed that many in Washington still do not seem to understand we cannot continue to spend money we do not have.
I understand people are hurting right now. With unemployment hovering near 10%, just about everyone knows someone who has lost their job. But businesses – especially the small ones that create seven out of every ten jobs in America – react to every dollar supposedly injected into the economy by the federal government with fear that it will eventually be taken out of the economy through higher personal and corporate taxes somewhere down the line. That, combined with possible increased health care costs or penalties and over-regulation, creates uncertainty that leaves companies unwilling to expand or hire new employees.
Washington should be working to make it easier for small businesses to hire, for entrepreneurs and innovators to start their own company and for our economy to grow. You do that by using the exact opposite approach than the one Washington has been employing. Let people keep more of their own money, instead of shipping it to Washington to be spent by bureaucrats. Reduce burdensome regulations that make no sense and impede growth.
Continuing massive amounts of deficit spending is actually harming our economy and pushing down on the recovery.
This Week
Tuesday, the House passed H.R. 6080 by voice vote. The bill provides a total of $600 million in emergency funding to provide for various operations of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. To pay for the cost of the additional funding, the bill increases the filing fee and the fraud prevention fee associated with certain H-1B and L-1 visas for foreign workers. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill is almost entirely paid for through increased revenue from visa fee increases. The net effect of the bill, according to CBO, would be a $52 million deficit reduction.
Also Tuesday, the House passed the Senate Amendments to H.R. 1586. The bill contained $26.1 billion in new "emergency" spending for temporary state bailouts paid for with permanent tax increases and spending reductions, mainly from unpaid-for "stimulus" funding. The bill provided $10 billion for a state education bailout. Initially, some might see this education spending as a proper use of taxpayer dollars. However, in order to receive the money, states would be prohibited from reducing their education budgets below 2009 levels and the federal money could not be used to reduce the state's debt. Thus, the bill not only shields states from making tough budget choices, it prohibits them from doing so.
In addition, the bill extends the increased federal Medicaid matching rate of 6.2 percent through 2010 and then begins to phase out the increased rate by June 2011. This provision will cost $16.1 billion. The bill is partially offset by $9.7 billion in permanent tax increases which would impact U.S. multinational companies. The permanent enactment of these tax hikes to pay for temporary programs is a reckless step that will put jobs at risk and American companies at a competitive disadvantage when operating in foreign markets. CBO estimates that this bill will actually increase the deficit by $12.6 billion. Therefore, I was unable to support it.
The House will not be in session next week. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Sincerely,
