E-Newsletters
I want to take a minute to update you on an important event that takes place each year in Congress, and that's adopting the federal budget for the upcoming year – or in this case, the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Resolution.
A budget is a statement of priorities; it is a fiscal blueprint that is fundamental to our service as elected representatives. People in Missouri's Sixth District must live within their own budgets, and Washington must do the same.
Growing up as a student who passed through Tarkio schools, of course I didn't realize it at the time, but educating the young is a passion that called many to go the extra mile for me and my future.
Lately, there has been a strong push to reform our nation's immigration system. Many of the proposals amount to nothing more than amnesty. Rather than award those who broke the law, I believe we need to start enforcing the laws already in the books.
During my time spent traveling around northern Missouri, there is one thing I continuously hear from constituents: people are frustrated that Washington acts as if it always knows what's best for them.
President Obama has made it clear that he will regularly sidestep both Congress and the law and take action unilaterally. This is contrary to our founding fathers' system of checks and balances.
A budget is a fiscal blueprint of the future. It is an outline of one's priorities that tells you what an individual or group considers important, and also what they view as unimportant.
President Obama's budget proposal for next year – which was delivered late once again, for the fifth time in six years – demonstrates that his priorities remain both higher taxes – to the tune of $1.8 trillion – and bigger government in the form of new spending.
Last week, I wrote that the House would be pursuing measures designed to reform our federal regulatory system. As part of "Stop Government Abuse Week," we cast a number of votes this week to do just that.
Small business owners I talk to in North Missouri and across the country nearly unanimously say they need a break from all the red tape. A recent study found that the annual cost of federal regulations stands at more than $1.75 trillion, with small businesses paying a cost that is 36 percent higher on average than larger counterparts.
Once again, Congress was faced with a debt limit increase last week that did not contain a single measure to help get our spending under control. That's simply the wrong prescription when it comes to ensuring a strong economic future. After the last five years of big-government ideas from the White House and the Senate, it is clearer than ever that simply spending money is not going to fix our problems.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi are now underway. There have been numerous reports about just how ill-prepared the region was to accommodate the spectators and athletes at the games. Hotels where the water is unclean and rooms lack doorknobs seem to be commonplace, and many manhole covers hadn't even been set in place before crowds began arriving.