The successor to politics will be propaganda. Propaganda, not in the sense of a message or ideology, but as the impact of the whole technology of the times.*
Weekly Republican Address Ron Johnson 11/16/13 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT VIDEO
Weekly Republican Address Bill Johnson 03/15/14 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT PODCAST VIDEO - WASHINGTON, DC – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) calls on President Obama to address the devastating impact his health care law is having on the nation’s seniors, who – despite his promises – are paying higher premiums and losing access to their doctors.
"Good morning. My name is Bill Johnson, and I’m proud to represent Eastern and Southeastern Ohio in the House of Representatives."
Republican Address to the Nation State of the Union LIVE VIDEO
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 Full Text and Analysis
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 Full Text and Analysis -
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that they have reached a two-year budget agreement in advance of the budget conference’s December 13th deadline.
“I’m proud of this agreement,” said Chairman Ryan. “It reduces the deficit—without raising taxes. And it cuts spending in a smarter way. It’s a firm step in the right direction, and I ask all my colleagues in the House to support it.”
WASHINGTON, DC – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) says President Obama and Senate Democrats should put politics aside and work with Republicans to prevent an immediate student loan interest rate hike on July 1st. Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, which prevents student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1st and helps students take advantage of low interest rates whenever available. Rep. Messer is president of the Republican freshman class and a member of the House Education & the Workforce Committee.
NOTE: The Weekly Republican Address is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, June 8, 2013. The audio is accessible now, and video of the address will be available to view and download once the embargo is lifted. A full transcript follows. “Fellow Americans: I’m Congressman Luke Messer from Indiana. It is my honor to speak to you today on behalf of my Republican colleagues. “This summer, more than nine million undergraduates will take out a federal student loan. That’s nine million Americans at the start of their journey toward the American Dream.
“As a young man growing up in a small town in Indiana, I was taught: if you want a great life, get a good education. So I did—but it wasn’t easy. When it came time to go to college, I received scholarships and Pell grants. I took out loans and worked my way through school with jobs ranging from collecting garbage and waiting tables to umpiring baseball games.
“What makes this country great is that my story is not exceptional. Every year, millions of American students see their career dreams begin with the help of federal student financial aid.
“Unfortunately, in just three weeks, on July 1st, interest rates on many federal student loans are set to double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. “No one wants this to happen, especially in a job market where millions of recent college grads are having a hard time finding full-time work.
“So the House of Representatives acted – not only to stop the immediate rate hike, but also to protect students over the long-term. Our proposal will reduce rates immediately for most borrowers and get Washington politicians out of the business of arbitrarily setting interest rates. “You see, in recent years, there have been times when interest rates on student loans have been higher than other loans in the marketplace. For example, you could get a used car loan cheaper than a student loan. That’s just not right.
“Taking the politics out of student loans is a common-sense fix. It’s a plan that mirrors a proposal in President Obama’s budget. As a matter of fact, one nonpartisan education expert said, and I quote, ‘the two proposals are really on the same page.’
“Unfortunately, rather than seize this common ground and move the ball forward, the president resorted to campaign-style tactics, stepped out into the Rose Garden, and denounced the plan. The President actually attacked a proposal similar to one he himself offered just weeks ago. His maneuvers are yet another example of the arrogance of power that has taken root in this administration, and it prevents us from addressing the people’s priorities.
“Making matters worse, this week Democratic leaders in the United States Senate tried to take the easy way out and maintain the status quo, which will only hurt students in the long-run. After the usual noise and bluster, they failed to pass any legislation that would help student borrowers.
“Our young people deserve better. The effective unemployment rate among young people in this country today is 16 percent. That is way too high. Too many young people have had to come home and tell their parents that they can’t find a job.
“Student loan relief is just one example of the solutions Republicans have put forward to get our economy back on track. Our plan for economic growth and jobs will make life work for families and expand opportunity for every American.
“We need to get our economy back on the right track and give our next generation their opportunity to live the American dream. Working together, we can. I hope the president and the Senate will join us to fix this problem and make life a little easier for millions of students and their families.
“Thank you for listening.”
Weekly Republican Address, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan 02/23/13 FULL TEXT and VIDEO TRANSCRIPT.
WASHINGTON, DC – In the Weekly Republican Address, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) touts Republicans’ plan to improve the lives of American families by balancing the budget in 10 years and invites President Obama to join us in this common-sense goal. In the address, he details how Republicans’ balanced budget means more economic security for workers and parents, a more secure retirement for the elderly, and more opportunities for younger Americans. “So today we invite President Obama to do what President Clinton did,” Ryan says, and “work with Republicans in Congress to balance the budget.”
NOTE: The Weekly Republican Address is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, March 16, 2013. A full transcript follows.
“Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on a plan to improve the lives of American families by balancing the budget in ten years.
“How do we do it? Well, it’s pretty simple: We stop spending money we don’t have. Historically, we’ve paid a little less than one-fifth of our income in taxes to the federal government each year. But the government has spent more—a lot more. And the results are plain to see: Despite the President’s promise, the stimulus didn’t work. Today, 46 million people are living in poverty, the highest in a generation. One in seven workers either can’t find a job or works only part time.
“Our plan lets Washington spend only what it takes in. This is how every family tries to live, in good times and in bad. Your government should do the same.
“But the crucial question isn’t how we balance the budget. It’s why. The budget is a means to an end. We’re not balancing the budget as an accounting exercise. We’re not trying to simply make numbers add up. We’re trying to improve people’s lives.
“For Americans worried about jobs and the cost of living, our plan protects them from tax hikes and calls for Congress to fix the tax code by lowering rates and closing loopholes. We’re also going to approve the Keystone pipeline and unlock our nation’s abundant domestic-energy resources.
“For Americans trying to keep up with the cost of health care, our plan repeals the president’s health-care law and clears the way for patient-centered reforms.
“For younger workers hoping for a secure retirement, we will protect and strengthen Medicare so that it’s there for them—just like it’s there for my mom today.
“And for taxpayers fed up with the status quo, we will cut wasteful spending. We will rein in red tape, and we will give states flexibility on how to implement their federal welfare programs.
“If we take these steps, our economy will grow. Our country will regain confidence. And we will reignite the American Dream. All we need is leadership. We owe the American people a responsible, balanced budget. It’s not fair to take more from families just to spend more in Washington.
“I wish the powers-that-be in Washington agreed. President Obama and Senate Democrats say they want a “balanced approach” to our fiscal issues. But their budgets never balance—ever. Instead, they want to raise taxes to fuel more spending.
“We know where this path leads—straight into a debt crisis, and along the way, fewer jobs, fewer opportunities, and less security. What would this look like? First, lenders will demand higher interest rates. And when they do, interest rates across the country will skyrocket—on credit cards, on mortgages, on car loans. And as interest rates rise, debt payments will overwhelm all other items in the budget. The debt will overwhelm our economy. Our finances will collapse. The safety net will unravel. And the most vulnerable will suffer. You think this can’t happen here? Just look at Europe.
“We don’t accept that future—not for our children, not for our country.
“So today we invite President Obama to do what President Clinton did—to work with Republicans in Congress to balance the budget. He can join in the effort, or he can choose the status quo. But he must choose.
“The American people deserve an honest account of our challenges—and what’s needed to confront them. We have an opportunity to face them with courage and resolve—as we have always done throughout history.
Rand Paul CPAC 2013 FULL VIDEO and TEXT TRANSCRIPT, CPAC 2013 - U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Published on Mar 14, 2013. Category: Nonprofits and Activism. License: Standard YouTube License.
I have a message for the President, a message that is loud and clear, a message that doesn’t mince words.
The message for the President is that no one person gets to decide the law, no one person gets to decide your guilt or innocence.
My question to the President was about more than just killing Americans on American soil.
My question was about whether Presidential power has limits.
Lincoln put it well when he wrote, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man, give
him power.”
President Obama who seemed, once upon a time, to respect civil liberties, has become the President who signed a law allowing for the indefinite detention of an American citizen. Indeed, a law that allows an American citizen to be sent to Guantanamo Bay without a trial. President Obama defends his signing of the bill by stating that he has no intention of detaining any American citizen without a trial.
Likewise, he defended his possible targeted Drone strikes against Americans on American soil by indicating that he has no intention of doing so.
Well, my thirteen hour filibuster was a message to the President.
Good intentions are not enough. The presidential oath of office states ‘I WILL protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution,’ NOT ‘I intend to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.’
Mr. President, good intentions are not enough. We want to know, will you or won’t you defend the Constitution?
Eisenhower wrote,
“How far can you go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?” If we destroy our enemy but lose what defines our freedom in the process, have we really won?
If we allow one man to charge Americans as enemy combatants and indefinitely detain or drone them, then what exactly is it our brave young men and women are fighting for?
Montesquieu wrote that there can be no liberty if you combine the Executive and the Legislative branches. Likewise, there can be no justice if you combine the Executive and Judicial branch into one.
We separated arrest and accusation from trial and verdict for a reason. When Lewis Carroll’s white queen shouts sentence first, verdict afterwards, the reader’s response is supposed to be ‘But that would be absurd!’
In our country, the police can arrest, but only your peers can convict. We prize our Bill of Rights like no other country. Our Bill of Rights is what defines us and makes us exceptional.
To those who would dismiss this debate as frivolous, I say tell that to the heroic young men and women who have sacrificed their limbs and lives, tell it to the 6,000 parents whose kids died as American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, tell them that the Bill of Rights is no big deal. FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT IN PDF FORMAT" VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Paul Addresses 40th Annual Conservative Political Action Conference
3/9/13 - Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) Delivers Weekly GOP Address On The 1st Democrat Budget In 4 Years.
Published on Mar 9, 2013 - In anticipation of next week's unveiling of Senate Democrats' first budget in four years, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) cautions that the tax gimmicks and new spending that will be included in their budget will grow the government, not our economy.
In the Weekly Republican Address, Sen. Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, says, Congress has a "moral duty" to balance the federal budget and bring the deficit down to zero. "But I fear the Democrat proposal will fail this defining test and will never achieve balance," he says. "I fear it will crush American workers and our economy with trillions in new taxes, spending and debt. I fear [Senate Budget] Chairman Murray will follow the President's lead: raising taxes to enrich the bureaucracy at the expense of the people." Senate Republicans, Senator Sessions says, are ready to reform Washington's spending to grow the economy, create American jobs, and balance the federal budget.
Category: News & Politics. License: Standard YouTube License
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Report to the Congress on the sequestration for fiscal year (FY) 2013 FULL TEXT
The Honorable John A. Boehner Speaker ofthe House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
Enclosed please find the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Report to the Congress on the sequestration for fiscal year (FY) 2013 required by section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended (the "Joint Committee sequestration"). This report provides calculations of the amounts and percentages by which various budgetary resources are required to be reduced, and a listing of the reductions required
for each non-exempt budget account.
In August 2011, as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), bipartisan majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate voted for sequestration as a mechanism to compel the Congress to act on deficit reduction. The threat of destructive across-the-board cuts under the BCA was intended to drive both sides to compromise. Yet, a year and a half has passed, and the Congress still has failed to enact balanced deficit reduction legislation that avoids sequestration.
As a result of the Congress's failure to act, the law requires the President to issue a sequestration order today canceling $85 billion in budgetary resources across the Federal Government for FY 2013. Specifically, OMB calculates that, over the course ofthe fiscal year, the sequestration requires a 7.8 percent reduction in non-exempt defense discretionary funding and a 5.0 percent reduction in non-exempt nondefense discretionary funding. The sequestration also requires reductions of 2.0 percent to Medicare, 5.1 percent to other non-exempt nondefense mandatory programs, and 7.9 percent to non-exempt defense mandatory programs.
Weekly Republican Address 3/2/13 Cathy McMorris Rodgers Calls on President to Tackle Nation's Spending Problem VIDEO PODCAST TEXT TRANSCRIPT
WASHINGTON, DC – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) calls on President Obama to replace his sequester – which took effect because he and the Democratic-run Senate failed to pass their own bill – with better spending cuts instead of more tax hikes. She says, “Instead of campaigning for higher taxes, the president should lead an effort to begin addressing our nation’s spending problem.
”
NOTE: The Weekly Republican Address is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, March 2, 2013. The audio is accessible now, and video of the address will be available to view and download once the embargo is lifted. A full transcript follows.
“Hello, I’m Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington State.
“Today I’d like to give you an update on the debate we’re having in Washington about spending. This debate is about more than just numbers and politics. It’s about the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren. Do we want to hand them a mountain of debt and all the worries that go with it, or do we want them to inherit a vibrant economy and a future full of opportunity? This is the debate we’ve been having for quite a while, and it’s time we resolve it and get something done.
“Yesterday, across-the-board spending cuts known as ‘the sequester’ took effect because President Obama and Senate Democrats failed to act. These devastating across-the-board cuts, first proposed by the president, will affect the lives of so many hardworking Americans. Yet, this week, the president traveled 180 miles to Newport News, Virginia, instead of traveling one and a half miles to Senator Harry Reid’s office on Capitol Hill to negotiate a replacement of smarter spending cuts. The president failed to act, and his Senate never passed a bill to replace the sequester.
“In the last year, the House of Representatives has passed two proposals to replace the president’s sequester with smarter spending cuts. Our plans cut government waste and make long-term reforms that put us on a path to a balanced budget. In addition, we are looking at ways to close tax loopholes and clean up our tax code so we can lower rates and help create jobs. These ideas get government out of the way so we can bring jobs home and preserve the American Dream.
“The president wants to take a different route. He wants to continue singling Americans out for tax increases, even after he raised taxes just last month to avert the fiscal cliff. The American people know full well that if they give this White House more tax revenue, it will be spent – on new ‘stimulus’ projects and government programs. The president must stop using this debate as an excuse to raise taxes and start seizing this opportunity to cut spending.
“Because we can’t let Washington continue spending money it doesn’t have, especially when it’s taking that money straight from your wallets. The problem here isn’t a lack of taxes. This year alone, the federal government will take in more revenue than ever before. Spending is the problem, which means cutting spending is the solution. It’s that simple.
“In the House, we’ve done the work and shown that these choices can be made in a responsible, thoughtful way. So we urge President Obama and Senate Democrats to put country ahead of party and pass a responsible plan to replace his sequester. Instead of campaigning for higher taxes, the president should lead an effort to begin addressing our nation’s spending problem.
“This debate hasn’t always been easy, but making Washington confront its spending problem after decades of inaction was never going to be simple. We were elected to confront the hard truths, come together and do the right thing. That’s the American way, and that’s how we’ll achieve the kind of future our children and grandchildren deserve. All it will take is for the president and his party to get serious and lead.
“Thank you for listening.”
John A. Boehner | Speaker of the House | Ohio’s 8th Congressional District Representative Office of the Speaker Contact H-232 The Capitol Washington D.C. 20515 P: (202) 225-0600 F: (202) 225-5117
Bob Woodward Says President Obama Canceling Aircraft Carrier’s Deployment Is “a Kind of Madness.”
WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s sequester scare tactics:
“President Obama has done nothing to replace the sequester cuts he proposed back in 2011—the same cuts he now claims to oppose. But he has launched a coordinated political campaign in a desperate attempt to scare Americans, belied by the fact that Washington will still spend more this year than it did last year. So far, his Administration has falsely claimed the sequester will impact an agency that doesn’t exist, wrongly said teachers will be laid off, hastily canceled the USS Harry S. Truman’s return to the Persian Gulf, and foolishly released hundreds of illegal immigrants from jail. While the President’s rhetoric is at fever-pitch, his questionable claims of catastrophe are quickly crumbling. Instead of deliberately undermining the government’s ability to provide critical services in order to score political points, President Obama should stop and consider the real people who will be forced to deal with the consequences of his irresponsible actions.”
The White House’s Questionable Claims Crumble:
1: White House Report Claims Sequestration Will Affect Federal Department That No Longer Exists. “[T]he OMB's September 2012 report says that under sequestration the National Drug Intelligence Center would lose $2 million of its $20 million budget…. [But] the National Drug Intelligence Center shuttered its doors on June 15, 2012[.]” (Reason, 2/25/13)
2: Teacher Pink Slips Claim by Duncan Not Backed by Evidence. “‘There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can’t come back this fall,’ Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Sunday on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.’ When he was pressed in a White House briefing Wednesday to come up with an example, Duncan named a single county in West Virginia and acknowledged, ‘whether it’s all sequester-related, I don’t know.’ And, as it turns out, it isn’t. Officials in Kanawha County, West Virginia say that the ‘transfer notices’ sent to at least 104 educators had more to do with a separate matter…. They don’t necessarily mean a teacher has been laid off…. [Only] about five to six teaching jobs…were likely to be cut regardless of the sequester.” (The Washington Post, 2/27/13)
3: Journalist Bob Woodward Says President Obama Canceling Aircraft Carrier’s Deployment Is “a Kind of Madness.” “The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward attacked President Barack Obama on Wednesday, saying the commander-in-chief’s decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier because of budget cuts is ‘a kind of madness.’” (Politico, 2/27/13)
4: Illegal Immigrants Released from Jail Due To Budget Cuts Yet to Occur. “The announcement that a few hundred illegal immigrants were being released was among the most significant and direct implications described so far by the Obama administration about the pending, automatic budget cuts that will take effect later this week under what is known as sequestration.” (Politico, 2/27/13)
Congressman Tim Griffin Washington, DC 1232 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2506 Fax: (202) 225-5903 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM-6:00PM Eastern Time
White House “Moving the Goal Posts,” Using “Distortion & Confusion” to Demand Tax Hikes to Replace Its Sequester
President Obama got more than $600 billion in tax hikes (with no spending cuts) just last month, and veteran journalist Bob Woodward says the president is “moving the goal posts” in his campaign to replace his sequester with even higher taxes.
“That was not the deal he made,” Woodward writes. And claiming otherwise is a “classic case of distortion and confusion.”
Here are a few more things to keep in mind this week:
This is President Obama’s sequester. “The idea for sequestration did come from the White House, as news accounts made clear at the time,” reports the New York Times. “Jacob J. Lew, then Mr. Obama’s budget director and now his nominee for Treasury secretary, was the main proponent.”
Republicans have passed two bills to replace the president’s sequester with smarter cuts and reforms. The House first passed its sequester replacement bill in May 2012 and then again last December. President Obama’s Senate hasn’t passed a thing. They haven’t passed a budget in nearly four years either.
The president’s “endless campaign” has left him “virtually absent” from the legislative process. The White House even waited until the last minute to lift its “gag order” on Cabinet officials. But lost in their campaign is the fact that the president got his tax hikes; it’s time to address Washington’s spending problem.
If the president were serious about replacing his sequester, he’d cancel his campaign events this week and devote his schedule to pressing his Democratic-controlled Senate to finally pass something.
John A. Boehner | Speaker of the House | Ohio’s 8th Congressional District Representative Office of the Speaker Contact H-232 The Capitol Washington D.C. 20515 P: (202) 225-0600 F: (202) 225-5117
“The Obama Sequester” VIDEO. WASHINGTON - The Republican National Committee (RNC) has released a new web video “The Obama Sequester,” showing President Obama’s hypocrisy with the upcoming sequester cuts. The sequester came from President Obama and now he has decided to place blame on Congress rather than provide a solution of his own. He was for sequestration before he was against it.
“In 2011, President Obama proposed the devastating sequestration cuts and stood by them,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Now the Democrats continue saying Washington doesn’t have a spending problem, showing just how out of touch the Democrats are with the American people.
“House Republicans have passed two bills that provide common-sense solutions that would reduce spending and preserve and strengthen our safety net for future generations. Instead of admitting we have a problem, Obama and the Democrats would rather find more tax increases. Our nation’s problem is spending and it’s time the president realizes that.”
the Republican National Committee 310 First Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 202-863-8500 www.gop.com
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Cornyn Calls on Obama to Withdraw Hagel Nomination Feb 21 2013
DALLAS— Today in a new letter, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and 14 U.S. Senators are calling on the President to withdraw Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense:
“While we respect Senator Hagel's honorable military service, in the interest of national security, we respectfully request that you withdraw his nomination. It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position.
“Senator Hagel’s performance at his confirmation hearing was deeply concerning, leading to serious doubts about his basic competence to meet the substantial demands of the office. While Senator Hagel's erratic record and myriad conversions on key national security issues are troubling enough, his statements regarding Iran were disconcerting.”
The letter is signed by Sens. Cornyn, Inhofe (R-OK), Graham (R-SC), Wicker (R-MS), Vitter (R-LA), Cruz (R-TX), Lee (R-UT), Toomey (R-PA), Rubio (R-FL), Coats (R-IN), R. Johnson (R - WI), Risch (R-ID), Barrasso (R-WY), Coburn (R-OK), Scott (R-SC). The full text is attached and provided below.
February 21, 2013
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
Last Thursday, the Senate voted to continue its consideration of your nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to serve as our nation's next Secretary of Defense. While we respect Senator Hagel's honorable military service, in the interest of national security, we respectfully request that you withdraw his nomination.
It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position. Over the last half-century, no Secretary of Defense has been confirmed and taken office with more than three Senators voting against him. Further, in the history of this position, none has ever been confirmed with more than 11 opposing votes. The occupant of this critical office should be someone whose candidacy is neither controversial nor divisive.
In contrast, in 2011, you nominated Leon Panetta, who was confirmed by the Senate with unanimous support. His Pentagon tenure has been a huge success, due in part to the high degree of trust and confidence that Senators on both sides of the aisle have placed in him. The next Secretary of Defense should have a similar level of broad-based bipartisan support and confidence in order to succeed at a time when the Department of Defense faces monumental challenges, including Iran’s relentless drive to obtain nuclear weapons, a heightened threat of nuclear attack from North Korea, potentially deep budget cuts, a strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region, military operations in Afghanistan, the ongoing Global War on Terror, the continued slaughter of Syrian civilians at the hands of their own government, and other aftermath of the Arab Spring.
Likewise, Senator Hagel’s performance at his confirmation hearing was deeply concerning, leading to serious doubts about his basic competence to meet the substantial demands of the office. While Senator Hagel's erratic record and myriad conversions on key national security issues are troubling enough, his statements regarding Iran were disconcerting. More than once during the hearing, he proclaimed the legitimacy of the current regime in Tehran, which has violently repressed its own citizens, rigged recent elections, provided material support for terrorism, and denied the Holocaust.
Regarding U.S. policy on Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Senator Hagel displayed a seeming ambivalence about whether containment or prevention is the best approach, which gives us great concern. Any sound strategy on Iran must be underpinned by the highly credible threat of U.S. military force, and there is broad bipartisan agreement on that point. If Senator Hagel becomes Secretary of Defense, the military option will have near zero credibility. This sends a dangerous message to the regime in Tehran, as it seeks to obtain the means necessary to harm both the United States and Israel.
We have concluded that Senator Hagel is not the right candidate to hold the office of Secretary of Defense, and we respectfully request that you withdraw his nomination. Thank you for your consideration.
Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) calls on President Obama and Senate Democrats to join House-led efforts to replace his harmful sequester – not with more tax increases, but with better, responsible spending cuts that put our budget on a path to balance in 10 years. Rep. Roby, now in her second term representing Alabama’s Second Congressional District, serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
NOTE: The Weekly Republican Address is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, February 16, 2013. The audio is accessible now, and video of the address will be available to view and download once the embargo is lifted. A full transcript follows.
“Hello, I’m Martha Roby. It is my honor to represent Alabama’s Second Congressional District.
“As you may know, a series of deep, across-the-board military spending cuts known as ‘the sequester’ will go into effect in less than two weeks. In his State of the Union address, President Obama himself admitted that these cuts were a 'really bad idea.' What the President failed to mention was that the sequester was his idea, proposed by his administration during the debt limit negotiations in 2011. And now we in the House, on behalf of our constituents, are calling on the president to join us in replacing his sequester with better, more responsible spending cuts.
“Just this week, top military commanders testified on Capitol Hill and confirmed what I had feared from the beginning about how the president’s sequester will hurt military installations in Alabama and around the country.
“My district is home to Fort Rucker, the primary flight training base for Army Aviation. If the president’s sequester takes effect, Fort Rucker would lose 500 students training to be combat aviators and roughly 37,000 hours of aviation training. These numbers are astounding. And remember, this is just one set of cuts at one base.
“There is a smarter way to reduce the size of government than to slash defense spending, threaten national security and hurt military families. In fact, the Republican-led House has already voted twice to replace the president’s sequester with targeted spending cuts based on real budget priorities.
“No one in Washington should be talking about raising your taxes when the federal government is still spending billions of dollars on things like giving people free cell phones. And it is a shame that our Commander-in-Chief is using the military he leads as leverage in an ideological crusade for higher taxes. These games have got to stop.
“Our goal every day in Washington should be coming together on issues like creating jobs for hardworking American families, reining in our out-of-control debt, and ensuring America maintains a strong national defense. To meet these goals, we can come together now to replace the president’s sequester – not with more tax increases, but with better, more responsible spending cuts that put our budget on a path to balance in 10 years.
“Thank you for your time. May God bless the men and women of our Armed Forces and may God continue to bless the United States of America.”
Posted by Speaker Boehner Press OfficeFebruary 15, 2013 H-232 The Capitol Washington D.C. 20515 P: (202) 225-0600 F: (202) 225-5117
Rand Paul Delivers Tea Party Response to State of the Union Address 02/12/13 FULL VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT
TEXT TRANSCRIPT:
I speak to you tonight from Washington, D.C. The state of our economy is tenuous but our people remain the greatest example of freedom and prosperity the world has ever known.
People say America is exceptional. I agree, but it's not the complexion of our skin or the twists in our DNA that make us unique. America is exceptional because we were founded upon the notion that everyone should be free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
For the first time in history, men and women were guaranteed a chance to succeed based NOT on who your parents were but on your own initiative and desire to work.
We are in danger, though, of forgetting what made us great. The President seems to think the country can continue to borrow $50,000 per second. The President believes that we should just squeeze more money out of those who are working.
The path we are on is not sustainable, but few in Congress or in this Administration seem to recognize that their actions are endangering the prosperity of this great nation.
Ronald Reagan said, government is not the answer to the problem, government is the problem.
Tonight, the President told the nation he disagrees. President Obama believes government is the solution: More government, more taxes, more debt.
What the President fails to grasp is that the American system that rewards hard work is what made America so prosperous.
What America needs is not Robin Hood but Adam Smith. In the year we won our independence, Adam Smith described what creates the Wealth of Nations.
He described a limited government that largely did not interfere with individuals and their pursuit of happiness.
All that we are, all that we wish to be is now threatened by the notion that you can have something for nothing, that you can have your cake and eat it too, that you can spend a trillion dollars every year that you don't have.
I was elected to the Senate in 2010 by people worried about our country, worried about our kids and their future. I thought I knew how bad it was in Washington. But it is worse than I ever imagined.
Congress is debating the wrong things.
Every debate in Washington is about how much to increase spending - a little or a lot.
About how much to increase taxes - a little or a lot.
The President does a big "woe is me" over the $1.2 trillion sequester that he endorsed and signed into law. Some Republicans are joining him. Few people understand that the sequester doesn't even cut any spending. It just slows the rate of growth. Even with the sequester, government will grow over $7 trillion over the next decade.
Only in Washington could an increase of $7 trillion in spending over a decade be called a cut.
So, what is the President's answer? Over the past four years he has added over $6 trillion in new debt and may well do the same in a second term. What solutions does he offer? He takes entitlement reform off the table and seeks to squeeze more money out of the private sector.
He says he wants a balanced approach.
What the country really needs is a balanced budget.
Washington acts in a way that your family never could - they spend money they do not have, they borrow from future generations, and then they blame each other for never fixing the problem.
Tonight I urge you to demand a new course.
Demand Washington change their ways, or be sent home.
To begin with, we absolutely must pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution!
The amendment must include strict tax and spending limitations.
Liberals complain that the budget can't be balanced but if you cut just one penny from each dollar we currently spend, the budget would balance within six or seven years.
The Penny Plan has been crafted into a bill that millions of conservatives across the country support.
It is often said that there is not enough bipartisanship up here.
That is not true.
In fact, there is plenty.
Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of backroom deals in which everyone up here wins, but every taxpayer loses.
It is time for a new bipartisan consensus.
It is time Democrats admit that not every dollar spent on domestic programs is sacred. And it is time Republicans realize that military spending is not immune to waste and fraud.
Where would we cut spending; well, we could start with ending all foreign aid to countries that are burning our flag and chanting death to America.
The President could begin by stopping the F-16s and Abrams tanks being given to the radical Islamic government of Egypt.
Not only should the sequester stand, many pundits say the sequester really needs to be at least $4 trillion to avoid another downgrade of America's credit rating.
Both parties will have to agree to cut, or we will never fix our fiscal mess.
Bipartisanship is not what is missing in Washington. Common sense is.
Trillion-dollar deficits hurt us all.
Printing more money to feed the never-ending appetite for spending hurts us all.
We pay higher prices every time we go to the supermarket or the gas pump. The value of the dollar shrinks with each new day.
Contrary to what the President claims, big government and debt are not a friend to the poor and the elderly. Big-government debt keeps the poor poor and saps the savings of the elderly.
This massive expansion of the debt destroys savings and steals the value of your wages.
Big government makes it more expensive to put food on the table. Big government is not your friend. The President offers you free stuff but his policies keep you poor.
Under President Obama, the ranks of America's poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work.
The cycle must be broken.
The willpower to do this will not come from Congress. It must come from the American people.
Next month, I will propose a five-year balanced budget, a budget that last year was endorsed by taxpayer groups across the country for its boldness, and for actually solving the problem.
I will work with anyone on either side of the aisle who wants to cut spending.
But in recent years, there has been no one to work with.
The President's massive tax hikes and spending increases have caused his budgets to get ZERO votes in both houses of Congress. Not a single Democrat voted for the President's budget!
But at least he tried.
Senate Democrats have not even produced a budget in the time I have been in office, a shameful display of incompetence that illustrates their lack of seriousness.
This year, they say they will have a budget, but after just recently imposing hundreds of billions in new taxes, they now say they will include more tax hikes in their budget.
We must stand firm. We must say NO to any MORE tax hikes!
Only through lower taxes, less regulation and more freedom will the economy begin to grow again.
Our party is the party of growth, jobs and prosperity, and we will boldly lead on these issues.
Under the Obama economy, 12 million people are out of work. During the President's first term 800,000 construction workers lost their jobs and another 800,000 simply gave up on looking for work.
With my five-year budget, millions of jobs would be created by cutting the corporate income tax in half, by creating a flat personal income tax of 17%, and by cutting the regulations that are strangling American businesses.
The only stimulus ever proven to work is leaving more money in the hands of those who earned it!
For those who are struggling we want to you to have something infinitely more valuable than a free phone, we want you to have a job and pathway to success.
We are the party that embraces hard work and ingenuity, therefore we must be the party that embraces the immigrant who wants to come to America for a better future.
We must be the party who sees immigrants as assets, not liabilities.
We must be the party that says, "If you want to work, if you want to become an American, we welcome you."
For those striving to climb the ladder of success we must fix our schools.
America's educational system is leaving behind anyone who starts with disadvantages.
We have cut classroom size in half and tripled spending on education and still we lag behind much of the world.
A great education needs to be available for everyone, whether you live on country club lane or in government housing.
This will only happen when we allow school choice for everyone, rich or poor, white, brown, or black.
Let the taxes you pay for education follow each and every student to the school of your choice.
Competition has made America the richest nation in history. Competition can make our educational system the envy of the world.
The status quo traps poor children in a crumbling system of hopelessness.
When every child can, like the President's kids, go to the school of their choice, then will the dreams of our children come true!
Washington could also use a good dose of transparency, which is why we should fight back against middle of the night deals that end with massive bills no one has read.
We must continue to fight for legislation that forces Congress to read the bills!
We must continue to object when Congress sticks special interest riders on bills in the dead of night!
And if Congress refuses to obey its own rules, if Congress refuses to pass a budget, if Congress refuses to read the bills, then I say:
Sweep the place clean. Limit their terms and send them home!
I have seen the inner sanctum of Congress and believe me there is no monopoly on knowledge there.
If they will not listen, if they will not balance the budget, then we should limit their terms.
We are the party that adheres to the Constitution. We will not let the liberals tread on the Second Amendment!
We will fight to defend the entire Bill of Rights from the right to trial by jury to the right to be free from unlawful searches.
We will stand up against excessive government power wherever we see it.
We cannot and will not allow any President to act as if he were a king.
We will not let any President use executive orders to impinge on the Second Amendment.
We will not tolerate secret lists of American citizens who can be killed without trial.
Montesquieu wrote that there can be no liberty when the executive branch and the legislative branch are combined. Separation of powers is a bedrock principle of our Constitution.
We took the President to court over his unconstitutional recess appointments and won.
If necessary, we will take him to court again if he attempts to legislate by executive order.
Congress must reassert its authority as the protector of these rights, and stand up for them, no matter which party is in power.
Congress must stand as a check to the power of the executive, and it must stand as it was intended, as the voice of the people.
The people are crying out for change. They are asking for us to hear their voices, to fix our broken system, to right our economy and to restore their liberty.
Let us tonight let them know that we hear their voices. That we can and must work together, that we can and must re-chart our course toward a better future.
America has much greatness left in her. We will begin to thrive again when we begin to believe in ourselves again, when we regain our respect for our founding documents, when we balance our budget, when we understand that capitalism and free markets and free individuals are what creates our nation's prosperity.
Marco Rubio Delivers Republican Address to the Nation 02/12/13 FULL VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT
Full text of the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address as prepared for delivery and given by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.):
Good evening. I'm Marco Rubio. I'm blessed to represent Florida in the United States Senate. Let me begin by congratulating President Obama on the start of his second term. Tonight, I have the honor of responding to his State of the Union address on behalf of my fellow Republicans. And I am especially honored to be addressing our brave men and women serving in the armed forces and in diplomatic posts around the world. You may be thousands of miles away, but you are always in our prayers.
The State of the Union address is always a reminder of how unique America is. For much of human history, most people were trapped in stagnant societies, where a tiny minority always stayed on top, and no one else even had a chance.
But America is exceptional because we believe that every life, at every stage, is precious, and that everyone everywhere has a God-given right to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them.
Like most Americans, for me this ideal is personal. My parents immigrated here in pursuit of the opportunity to improve their life and give their children the chance at an even better one. They made it to the middle class, my dad working as a bartender and my mother as a cashier and a maid. I didn't inherit any money from them. But I inherited something far better – the real opportunity to accomplish my dreams.
This opportunity – to make it to the middle class or beyond no matter where you start out in life – it isn't bestowed on us from Washington. It comes from a vibrant free economy where people can risk their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who in turn invest or spend the money they make, helping others start a business and create jobs.
Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity.
But President Obama? He believes it's the cause of our problems. That the economic downturn happened because our government didn't tax enough, spend enough and control enough. And, therefore, as you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.
This idea – that our problems were caused by a government that was too small – it's just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies.
And the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that's an old idea that's failed every time it's been tried.
More government isn't going to help you get ahead. It's going to hold you back.
More government isn't going to create more opportunities. It's going to limit them.
And more government isn't going to inspire new ideas, new businesses and new private sector jobs. It's going to create uncertainty.
Because more government breeds complicated rules and laws that a small business can't afford to follow.
Because more government raises taxes on employers who then pass the costs on to their employees through fewer hours, lower pay and even layoffs.
And because many government programs that claim to help the middle class, often end up hurting them instead.
For example, Obamacare was supposed to help middle class Americans afford health insurance. But now, some people are losing the health insurance they were happy with. And because Obamacare created expensive requirements for companies with more than 50 employees, now many of these businesses aren't hiring. Not only that; they're being forced to lay people off and switch from full-time employees to part-time workers.
Now does this mean there's no role for government? Of course not. It plays a crucial part in keeping us safe, enforcing rules, and providing some security against the risks of modern life. But government's role is wisely limited by the Constitution. And it can't play its essential role when it ignores those limits.
There are valid reasons to be concerned about the President's plan to grow our government. But any time anyone opposes the President's agenda, he and his allies usually respond by falsely attacking their motives.
When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can't control the weather – he accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air.
When we suggest we strengthen our safety net programs by giving states more flexibility to manage them – he accuses us of wanting to leave the elderly and disabled to fend for themselves.
And tonight, he even criticized us for refusing to raise taxes to delay military cuts – cuts that were his idea in the first place.
But his favorite attack of all is that those who don't agree with him – they only care about rich people.
Mr. President, I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in. My neighbors aren't millionaires. They're retirees who depend on Social Security and Medicare. They're workers who have to get up early tomorrow morning and go to work to pay the bills. They're immigrants, who came here because they were stuck in poverty in countries where the government dominated the economy.
The tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle class families. It will cost them their raises. It will cost them their benefits. It may even cost some of them their jobs.
And it will hurt seniors because it does nothing to save Medicare and Social Security.
So Mr. President, I don't oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors.
Hard-working middle class Americans who don't need us to come up with a plan to grow the government. They want a plan to grow the middle class.
Economic growth is the best way to help the middle class. Unfortunately, our economy actually shrank during the last three months of 2012.
But if we can get the economy to grow at just 4 percent a year, it would create millions of middle class jobs. And it could reduce our deficits by almost $4 trillion dollars over the next decade.
Tax increases can't do this. Raising taxes won't create private sector jobs. And there's no realistic tax increase that could lower our deficits by almost $4 trillion. That's why I hope the President will abandon his obsession with raising taxes and instead work with us to achieve real growth in our economy.
One of the best ways to encourage growth is through our energy industry. Of course solar and wind energy should be a part of our energy portfolio. But God also blessed America with abundant coal, oil and natural gas. Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called "clean energy" companies like Solyndra, let's open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration. And let's reform our energy regulations so that they're reasonable and based on common sense. If we can grow our energy industry, it will make us energy independent, it will create middle class jobs and it will help bring manufacturing back from places like China.
Simplifying our tax code will also help the middle class, because it will make it easier for small businesses to hire and grow.
And we agree with the President that we should lower our corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the world, so that companies will start bringing their money and their jobs back here from overseas.
We can also help our economy grow if we have a legal immigration system that allows us to attract and assimilate the world's best and brightest. We need a responsible, permanent solution to the problem of those who are here illegally. But first, we must follow through on the broken promises of the past to secure our borders and enforce our laws.
Helping the middle class grow will also require an education system that gives people the skills today's jobs entail and the knowledge that tomorrow's world will require.
We need to incentivize local school districts to offer more advanced placement courses and more vocational and career training.
We need to give all parents, especially the parents of children with special needs, the opportunity to send their children to the school of their choice.
And because tuition costs have grown so fast, we need to change the way we pay for higher education.
I believe in federal financial aid. I couldn't have gone to college without it. But it's not just about spending more money on these programs; it's also about strengthening and modernizing them.
A 21st century workforce should not be forced to accept 20th century education solutions. Today's students aren't only 18 year olds. They're returning veterans. They're single parents who decide to get the education they need to earn a decent wage. And they're workers who have lost jobs that are never coming back and need to be retrained.
We need student aid that does not discriminate against programs that non-traditional students rely on – like online courses, or degree programs that give you credit for work experience.
When I finished school, I owed over 100,000 dollars in student loans, a debt I paid off just a few months ago. Today, many graduates face massive student debt. We must give students more information on the costs and benefits of the student loans they're taking out.
All these measures are key to helping the economy grow. But we won't be able to sustain a vibrant middle class unless we solve our debt problem.
Every dollar our government borrows is money that isn't being invested to create jobs. And the uncertainty created by the debt is one reason why many businesses aren't hiring.
The President loves to blame the debt on President Bush. But President Obama created more debt in four years than his predecessor did in eight.
The real cause of our debt is that our government has been spending 1 trillion dollars more than it takes in every year. That's why we need a balanced budget amendment.
The biggest obstacles to balancing the budget are programs where spending is already locked in. One of these programs, Medicare, is especially important to me. It provided my father the care he needed to battle cancer and ultimately die with dignity. And it pays for the care my mother receives now.
I would never support any changes to Medicare that would hurt seniors like my mother. But anyone who is in favor of leaving Medicare exactly the way it is right now, is in favor of bankrupting it.
Republicans have offered a detailed and credible plan that helps save Medicare without hurting today's retirees. Instead of playing politics with Medicare, when is the President going to offer his plan to save it? Tonight would have been a good time for him to do it.
Of course, we face other challenges as well. We were all heart broken by the recent tragedy in Connecticut. We must effectively deal with the rise of violence in our country. But unconstitutionally undermining the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans is not the way to do it.
On foreign policy, America continues to be indispensable to the goal of global liberty, prosperity and safeguarding human rights. The world is a better place when America is the strongest nation on earth. But we can't remain powerful if we don't have an economy that can afford it.
In the short time I've been here in Washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the ones the President laid out tonight.
The choice isn't just between big government or big business. What we need is an accountable, efficient and effective government that allows small and new businesses to create middle class jobs.
We don't have to raise taxes to avoid the President's devastating cuts to our military. Republicans have passed a plan that replaces these cuts with responsible spending reforms.
In order to balance our budget, the choice doesn't have to be either higher taxes or dramatic benefit cuts for those in need. Instead we should grow our economy so that we create new taxpayers, not new taxes, and so our government can afford to help those who truly cannot help themselves.
And the truth is every problem can't be solved by government. Many are caused by the moral breakdown in our society. And the answers to those challenges lie primarily in our families and our faiths, not our politicians.
Despite our differences, I know that both Republicans and Democrats love America. I pray we can come together to solve our problems, because the choices before us could not be more important.
If we can get our economy healthy again, our children will be the most prosperous Americans ever.
And if we do not, we will forever be known as the generation responsible for America's decline.
At a time when one showdown after another ends in short-term deals that do little or nothing about our real problems, some are starting to believe that our government leaders just can't or won't make the right choices anymore.
But our strength has never come from the White House or the Capitol. It's always come from our people. A people united by the American idea that, if you have a dream and you are willing to work hard, nothing should be impossible.
Americans have always celebrated and been inspired by those who succeed. But it's the dreams of those who are still trying to make it that sets our nation apart.
Tonight, all across this land, parents will hold their newborn children in their arms for the first time. For many of these parents, life has not gone the way they had planned.
Maybe they were born into circumstances they've found difficult to escape. Maybe they've made some mistakes along the way. Maybe they're young mothers, all alone, the father of their child long gone.
But tonight, when they look into the eyes of their child for the first time, their lives will change forever. Because in those eyes, they will see what my parents saw in me, and what your parents saw in you. They will see all the hopes and dreams they once had for themselves.
This dream – of a better life for their children – it's the hope of parents everywhere. Politicians here and throughout the world have long promised that more government can make those dreams come true.
But we Americans have always known better. From our earliest days, we embraced economic liberty instead. And because we did, America remains one of the few places on earth where dreams like these even have a chance.
Each time our nation has faced great challenges, what has kept us together was our shared hope for a better life.
Now, let that hope bring us together again. To solve the challenges of our time and write the next chapter in the amazing story of the greatest nation man has ever known.
Thank you for listening. May God bless all of you. May God bless our President. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
2/9/13 - Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Delivers Weekly GOP Address On "America's Energy Future"
Thanks to new technologies, the era of energy scarcity is giving way to one of abundance, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, says in the Weekly Republican Address. Yet despite the brightening energy picture, there are still too many burdensome government regulations, permit delays and overzealous litigation.
To take full advantage of these new energy opportunities, as well as face up to our energy challenges, including job-killing government regulations and red tape, Murkowski this week unveiled a ground-breaking blueprint that charts a path to make energy more abundant, affordable, clean, diverse and secure. "The ideas in my blueprint would create new jobs, generate new revenues, and slash our dependence on foreign energy.
They would shore up our security and strengthen our economy. They would help us minimize the impacts of energy development and reduce the emissions that are blamed for climate change," Murkowski says.
Category: News & Politics. License: Standard YouTube License
Karl Rove Speaks at Ripon College - February 6, 2013 FULL VIDEO. Published on Feb 7, 2013 Ripon College Republicans and Pre-Law Society, with support from the Young Americans Foundation, presented Karl Rove at Ripon College on Wednesday, February 6 in Harwood Memorial Union's Great Hall.
Ripon College is a liberal arts college of around 1,000 students founded in Ripon Wisconsin in 1851. To find out more, visit www.ripon.edu
Category: Education. License: Standard YouTube License
Senator Marco Rubio to Deliver Republican Address to the Nation on February 12
Washington, D.C. – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today that they have selected U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to deliver the Republican Address to the Nation following the President’s State of the Union address on February 12, 2013. Sen. Rubio, now in his third year in the U.S. Senate, has been a champion of growing the American middle class through limited government and free enterprise policies, making him a natural choice to outline why the Republican vision can help Americans rise above their current circumstances in the Obama economy.
The address will be delivered in both English and Spanish.
During his first two years in office, Sen. Rubio has been a strong advocate of conservative principles:
He has consistently opposed job-destroying tax increases and spending proposals that fail to stop Washington’s runaway spending.
He has advocated in favor of a strong U.S. role in the world, given voice to the powerless by highlighting human rights abuses around the world, led the fight to protect global Internet freedom, and fought to eradicate the modern day slavery of human trafficking.
He has been a proud defender of religious liberty and the unborn, while stressing the negative impact growing up in unstable and broken homes has on people trying to achieve greater prosperity and stability.
“Marco Rubio is one of our party’s most dynamic and inspiring leaders. He carries our party’s banner of freedom, opportunity and prosperity in a way few others can. His family’s story is a testament to the promise and greatness of America,” said Speaker Boehner. “He’ll deliver a GOP address that speaks from the heart to the hopes and dreams of the middle class; to our party’s commitment to life and liberty; and to the unlimited potential of America when government is limited and effective.”
“Marco Rubio embodies the optimism that lies at the heart of the Republican vision for America. On Tuesday, he will contrast the Republican approach to the challenges we face with President Obama’s vision of an ever-bigger government and the higher taxes that would be needed to pay for it,” said Senator McConnell. “Marco’s own experience as the child of immigrants has always informed his belief in limited government and free enterprise, which is why he has helped lead the fight against out-of-control spending and job-destroying tax hikes that continue to hold our economy back and stifle opportunity for millions. He was a natural choice to deliver the Republicans’ alternative to the administration’s reliance on government and debt.”
“I’m honored to have this opportunity to discuss how limited government and free enterprise have helped make my family’s dreams come true in America,” said Senator Rubio. “Limited government and free enterprise are the very foundation of what makes America special and separates us from the world, particularly through our strong middle class. I look forward to laying out the Republican case of how our ideas can help people close the gap between their dreams and the opportunities to realize them.”
In his U.S. Senate campaign in 2010, Marco Rubio prevailed on a pledge to stand up to Washington’s reckless spending and its assault on the free enterprise system. Today, Rubio proudly represents Florida in the U.S. Senate where he’s working to fulfill his promise to restore fiscal discipline and give job creators more certainty and confidence to open new businesses or expand existing ones. Rubio and his wife, Jeanette, have four young children and live in West Miami. More information on Senator Rubio can be found here.
Senator Marco Rubio 317 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-3041
Greg Walden: Fostering Innovation and Job Creation Among Top Priorities at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting
Walden to Highlight Subcommittee's 2013 Agenda Tuesday at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting Fostering Innovation and Job Creation Among Top Priorities
WASHINGTON, DC – Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) will address the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at 8:00 a.m. at the Renaissance Washington Hotel. Walden will outline the subcommittee’s 2013 agenda and discuss how Congress can use the communications and technology sector’s success to spur economic growth and job creation.
WHO: Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden
WHAT: National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting
WHEN: February 5, 2013 @ 8 a.m.
WHERE: Renaissance Washington Hotel-Ballroom South
999 Ninth St NW
HOW: Members of the media must contact Rob Thormeyer for registration details at rthormeyer@naruc.org
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February 4, 2013 Committee on Energy and Commerce 2125 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2927 tel (202) 225-1919 fax
WASHINGTON—Today, President Obama is required by law to submit his budget request for Fiscal Year 2014. For the fourth time in five years, however, he will miss the statutory deadline. In response, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin issued the following statement:
"I’m disappointed the President has missed his deadline. But I’m not surprised. In four of the last five years, he’s failed to submit his budget on time. We still don’t know when we’ll receive the president’s request. And for nearly four years, Senate Democrats haven’t passed a budget at all. We deserve better.
"We spend $1 trillion more than we take in each year. In fact, we spend $3 for every $2 we take in. And we can’t keep that up. If we stay on this path, our finances will collapse. The economy will stall. And the most vulnerable will suffer. We need a budget that reflects our priorities—that expands opportunity. The fact is, we cannot achieve those goals unless we budget responsibly.
"Every time the President and Senate Democrats shirk their duty, they delay choices we need to make. We’ve still got time, but it’s dwindling. Every missed deadline is a missed opportunity. We need to get serious about spending now.
"The House Budget Committee will do its job. We’ll write a budget—and submit it on time. In the past two years, we’ve offered our solutions to the country’s fiscal challenges. Now the President must do the same."
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February 4, 2013. Contact: William Allison 202-226-6100 Committee on the Budget: U.S. House of Representatives 207 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
Sen. Paul Statement on Sandy Supplemental Bill Jan 29, 2013
This evening, the U.S. Senate voted on a series of amendments to H.R.152, the Sandy Supplemental Appropriations Bill, to fund disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. While the H.R.152 passed, with a vote of 62-36; the Lee Amendment No. 4 failed.
Following the votes, Sen. Paul issued the following statement.
"When Hurricane Sandy struck the eastern coast of the U.S., I agreed that we needed to assist those in the affected areas. However, this bill lacked any fiscal restraint or responsibility. The bill was completely unpaid for, adding billions to the debt with money being used for programs known to fund cultural festivals and public art exhibits. In addition, of the $60 billion in total disaster funding provided, only a small fraction will be spent this year; more than half will be spent after 2015. Furthermore, while the cost of this bill will never be offset, the government will still just have spent every dollar of this year's tax hike. We can help those in need, but we should do so providing them with only the resources they need today and prioritizing this funding by reducing spending elsewhere."
President exceeds constitutional authority naming members of the National Labor Relations Board federal appeals court rules FULL TEXT
"To adopt the Board’s proffered intrasession interpretation of “the Recess” would wholly defeat the purpose of the Framers in the careful separation of powers structure"
Argued December 5, 2012 Decided January 25, 2013 No. 12-1115 NOEL CANNING, A DIVISION OF THE NOEL CORPORATION, PETITIONER v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, RESPONDENT INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL 760, INTERVENOR Consolidated with 12-1153
On Petition for Review and Cross-Application for Enforcement of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board. Noel Canning v. NLRB FULL TEXT PDF
I. INTRODUCTION
At its inception, this appears to be a routine review of a decision of the National Labor Relations Board over which we have jurisdiction under 29 U.S.C. § 160(e) and (f), providing that petitions for review of Board orders may be filed in this
court. The Board issued its order on February 8, 2012. On February 24, 2012, the company filed a petition for review in this court, and the Board filed its cross-application for enforcement on March 20, 2012.
While the posture of the petition is routine, as it developed, our review is not. In its brief before us, Noel Canning (along with a movant for status as intervenor whose motion we will dismiss for reasons set forth hereinafter) questions the authority of the Board to issue the order on two constitutional grounds. First, petitioner asserts that the Board lacked authority to act for want of a quorum, as three members of the five-member Board were never validly appointed because they took office under putative recess appointments which were made when the Senate was not in recess.
Second, it asserts that the vacancies these three members purportedly filled did not “happen during the Recess of the Senate,” as required for recess appointments by the Constitution. U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 3. Because the Board must have a quorum in order to lawfully take action, if petitioner is correct in either of these assertions, then the order under review is void ab initio. See New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB, 130 S. Ct. 2635 (2010). Noel Canning v. NLRB FULL TEXT PDF
WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released the following statement on the low ObamaCare enrollment numbers released today.
“The 27,000 enrollments through federally facilitated exchange pale in comparison to the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance under ObamaCare,” Issa stated.
