E-Newsletters
In a tradition that dates back to its earliest years – a time without air conditioning, to be specific – Congress has left Washington, D.C. for the annual August recess period.
This year's deficit is projected to be about $1.5 trillion dollars. In the past, I've talked about how big "just" $1 trillion is. Here are a couple ways to think about it: If you spent $1 million a day, every day since Jesus was born you'd still have about $250 billion left over.
This week, I sent a letter to President Barack Obama in support of Governor Jay Nixon's request for a Federal disaster declaration for the state of Missouri. The request is in response to recent severe weather and flooding across the state.
Washington is racking up debt at an astounding and frightening rate. Some have proposed tax increases as a way to pay for all the irrational projects and initiatives the federal government now funds. Increasing taxes during a recession is irresponsible and dangerous for the economy. It's also extremely unpopular.
It's no secret illegal immigration is an ongoing problem in the United States and that the federal government has thus far failed to stem the tide of illegal aliens entering our country. It is now clearer than ever that we cannot hope to stop individuals from entering this country illegally until we finish building a physical fence on our southern border.
Our current tax system is extremely inefficient. There are too many loopholes and too many regulations. Often times it hurts the very entrepreneurs and small businesses we need to help bring us out of the current economic downturn.
Earlier this week, I signed an amicus curiae, or "friend of the court," brief in defense of Arizona's efforts to enforce federal immigration law.
There is no escaping the fact that Washington has a spending problem. The national debt recently passed $13 trillion, and yearly trillion dollar deficits are predicted for at least the next decade at current spending levels. However, Washington also has a taxation problem.
"No taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant." George Washington, 1796
There are very few occasions when I disagree with our first president. This, however, is one of them. While I agree that all taxes are "inconvenient and unpleasant," General Washington didn't live long enough to see the sorry state of our current tax code.
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate dropped slightly to 9.5 percent – still well above the 8 percent limit the Administration promised when it helped ram an ill-advised, trillion dollar stimulus package through Congress – while payrolls fell by 125,000 as short-term Census jobs ended.