Newly minted Republican Congressman Joe Walsh of the 8th Illinois District recently spoke to CBS News about the possibility of a government shut down due to the Democrat’s reticence to come up with their own budget policies.
It should be remembered that the Democrats never DID pass a budget in 2010 and the House of Representatives newly taken over by the GOP is playing catch up.
From the Office of Representative Peter Roskam (R, 6th District)…
38 Days Later: Senate Has Failed to Act:
“We’re 38 days away from when the House acted an d passed something over to the Senate and we haven’t seen any substantive Senate action in that entire time. So before the House is asked to come back and take another position, the Senate has to act, and we’ve seen absolutely nothing.”
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Roskam on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown: Senate Must Act”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Any more being on the left is little different than being a flat earther or a true believer in UFOs. One may as well accept that sprites infest the woodlands and leprechauns have cornered the gold market as believe in the fantastic conspiracies the left indulges in. The left’s latest flight of fantasy has been its anti-Koch brothers zealotry.
Matthew Continetti has done a great job in a recent issue of the Weekly Standard tearing apart the left’s edge-of-earth theories that the eeeevil Koch brothers are funding the entire right-wing smear machine across the country.
We can liken the left’s wild-eyed Koch conspiracies to the way the Old Media (and this time I mean really old media) reported the exploits of the western outlaw, Jesse James and his gang of bank robbers back in the late 1800s. If one were to believe newspaper reports of the 1870s, the James gang were seen in nearly every southern, midwestern, and near western state for a decade and usually all at the same time — which was a pretty good trick in the days when it took at least a week to get from Chicago to San Francisco.
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The Left’s Koch and Bull Story”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Hill newspaper has an interesting quote from Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown. He says the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), of the Card Check bill is a dead issue in the senate this year.
Senator Brown was being interviewed on WVIZ radio in Ohio when he was asked what he thought about the success of the EFCA in the Senate for the 112th Congressional session. “It’s not going to happen now,” the senator said.
If this is true then Big Labor should be extremely upset with President Obama and the Democrat leadership in congress. Will they take out their anger by withholding their enthusiastic support of Democrats in 2012?
One would think that this singular failure of the Democrats to get Big Labor’s most wished for legislation passed would be a deal breaker for labor. After all, labor has spent over $400 million in the last few years on getting Democrats elected and it seems that all that money went for no benefit to them. Labor’s loss of power has grown commensurately with its expenditure on Democrats, anyway.
Like old dogs that cant learn new tricks, though, it is likely that they will double down and try to pump more money than ever into the pockets of pliant Democrats. Like a beaten wife they keep coming back, it seems.
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Ohio Senator Brown: Card Check is Dead”
-By Warner Todd Huston
For decades I have been sick and tired unto death of the massive overspending, arrogance, and outright graft of Congress. Like many of you I felt the Tea Party movement was a bolt out of the blue, but a welcome one. I was also jazzed when the 2010 Republican wave overtook Washington and installed so many freshmen congressmen pledging to cut the federal budget. Also like many of you I am frustrated with the slow pace of cuts and would love to see them come faster.
One of the loudest voices decrying the slow pace of the cuts often comes from the radio talkers. Folks like Limbaugh and Levin, for instance, are heard to lament that the GOP is not being proactive enough with the budget cuts. They say the $10 billion that the House Republicans have been successful in cutting so far with the pair of short-term continuing budgets is a drop in the bucket, that it is almost a joke.
It’s easy to make the case, too, that saving $10 billion is the least of efforts especially when Obama has run us up to $2.5 trillion in debt… and here is where the “but” comes in (not to mention where I get hardcore conservatives mad at me).
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Let’s Have Some Patience on the Budget Cuts”
From the office of Peter Roskam (R, IL)…
Discusses economic development as part of African fact-finding mission
ACCRA, GHANA – Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) traveled to Ghana earlier this week, leading a fact-finding mission focused on trade, energy, and other economic and social issues in Africa. Monday in Accra, Roskam met with Oak Brook, Ill.-based Opportunity International, a leader in providing financial services to people living in extreme poverty in the developing world.
The group met with Teresa Effie Cooke, head of human resources at Opportunity International Savings & Loan, Ghana. Roskam is leading the bipartisan fact-finding mission, including Congressman Bobby Rush (IL-01), which is being privately sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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Roskam Meets with IL-06 Based Company in Ghana”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Video of an interesting debate between a pro-Obamacare supporter and one against. This video was taken outside the office of newly minted GOP Congressman Randy Hultgren of the 14th District in Illinois.
Steve Tucker engages a young Obamacare supporter in a very interesting, informative conversation.
It’s a nice civil debate for a change.
VIDEO: Obamacare Debate at Randy Hultgren’s 14th District Office”
-By Warner Todd Huston
RedCounty.com recently re-launched with an enhanced platform and as part of the relaunch, Chip Hanlon has been featuring a multipart interview with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R, OH). Today’s part two segment features the Speaker adamantly refusing to allow any government shut down and saying he will work hard to keep government open. (Part one is here)
Some conservatives will lament this singular focus on preventing a government shut down and worry that Boehner is more interested in keeping government open at any costs than he is in budget cuts. But the Speaker says that furthering the budget cuts is exactly why he wants to be sure and keep government from shutting down.
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John Boehner Adamant About Not ‘Shutting Down Government’”
An Op Ed by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Last year, for the first time in nearly 40 years, the House of Representatives — under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — failed to pass, or even propose a budget for Fiscal Year 2011. This left Americans without a budget and Democrats without any restraints.
As a result, the American people sent a clear message to Washington last November– cut spending. I came to Washington to do exactly that.
In February, House Republicans passed a long-term CR with $100 billion in cuts. The Senate rejected this proposal, refusing to side with the taxpayers to get our fiscal house in order – leaving Congress to pass a short-term CR with another $4 billion in cuts over two weeks.
On March 15th, the House passed an additional $6 billion in cuts over the next three weeks. The Senate passed this short-term CR two days later for a total of $10 billion in spending cuts. This achievement of permanently cutting $10 billion is a good start, but the cuts will not stop here.
We cannot give up, shutdown and simply hope Senate Democrats will cave. The House only controls one stem of the legislative branch and it’s time for Senate Democrats to work together with the House on a long-term CR that contains significant spending cuts needed to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
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Fighting to Tighten Washington’s Belt”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Politico has a sad tale to tell about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (I just love that: former. Say it with me, FORMER House Speaker). The once powerful California Representative held a big one-year celebration of Obamacare to show off her keystone legislative victory and like the kid nobody likes, her invites to the party were ignored by all the top Democrats. Not just some of them, ALL of them!
This is a far cry from the power she wielded only months ago. Back in the old days when Pelosi sent out an invite to a press availability, like she did this week with her Obamacare celebration, the entire leadership would dutifully drop anything they were doing and they’d show up to Pelosi’s little show and they’d do it with bells on.
These days, not so much.
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For Nancy Pelosi It’s Lonely at the… Bottom”
From the office of Congressman Peter Roskam (R,IL)…
The American people gave House Republicans some very clear priorities last November, like focus on creating jobs, stop spending money we don’t have, and work to end the Democrats’ job-destroying health care law.
That is the message I heard from my district, and that is exactly what I am working on in Washington.
When the Democrats failed to pass a budget in the last Congress, House Republicans took the challenge of funding the government as an opportunity to begin our cost-cutting work. We voted to pass a long-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year – cutting $100 billion from the President’s budget request.
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Rep. Peter Roskam: Want a Fresh Start?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On Wednesday afternoon I had a chance to talk to Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R, IL) about the budget and these continuing resolutions (CRs) that the House is laboring to pass and he reminded me of a point that we are not discussing quite enough. The fact is that these CRs have become necessary because the Democrats spent all of last year not proposing and passing a budget at all!
The Democrats fiddled around for the whole of last year never passing a full budget. Now the GOP led House is trying to play catch up with these few sort term CRs so that they can get the full budget written and passed.
“No one wants to vote on short term CRs,” Roskam told me, “but this is where the Senate Democrats must come up with a plan. We’ve done our part and it’s their turn. But they have offered nothing.”
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Rep. Roskam: Remember We’re Still Cleaning Up the Dems Failure to Pass Last Year’s Budget!”
-By Warner Todd Huston
… no really. Roll Call is reporting that the Democrats have finally figured out how to use Twitter and now they think it will win them the 2012 elections. I guess Al Gore, the inventor of the Internet, gave the DNC a call and let them in on that whole Internet tubes and when they went there they discovered this Twitter thingamajiggie. Crying eureka, the DNC then ran to the press to trumpet its new discovery.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Twitter will lead the Donkey Party to legislative majority once again.
Twitter.
That is their big solution, their grand plan, their hot item for the day.
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Democrats Discover How to Beat GOP… it’s… Twitter”
From the office of Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL, 11th District)…
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) today issued the following statement on the House passage of the three-week Continuing Resolution (CR) that will cut additional spending, while keeping the federal government running:
“Last November, the American people sent a clear message to Washington — cut spending. I came to Washington to do exactly that.
“House Republicans passed a long-term CR with $100 billion in cuts. The Senate rejected this proposal, refusing to side with the taxpayers to get our fiscal house in order – leaving Congress to pass a short-term CR with another $4 billion in cuts over two weeks. Today, we passed an additional $6 billion in cuts over the next three weeks. If the Senate passes this short-term CR, it will be a total of $10 billion in spending cuts. This achievement of permanently cutting $10 billion is a good start, but the cuts will not stop here.
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Kinzinger Statement on Three-Week Continuing Resolution Vote”
From the office of Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (KY)…
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell introduced an amendment Tuesday to the pending small business bill that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s back-door national energy tax from taking effect.
“Imposing a backdoor national energy tax through the EPA is a strange way to respond to rising gas prices,” McConnell said. “Fourteen million Americans are looking for work. Gas prices are approaching $4 a gallon. And the Obama administration wants unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to impose new regulations that will destroy even more jobs – and drive gas prices even higher.”
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Senate News: McConnell Introduces Amendment To Stop EPA’s Back-Door National Energy Tax”
From the office of Congressman Peter Roskam (Ill, 6th District)…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL), Chief Deputy Whip, previewed tomorrow’s Forum on Job Creation at today’s House Republican Leadership Stakeout. The video and transcript are below:
Roskam Previews Tomorrow’s Forum on Job Creation at House GOP Stakeout”
From Heritage Action for America…
Since yesterday, we’ve gained momentum. Among other conservatives, Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mike Pence announced their opposition to more short-term CRs. The Washington establishment is taking note. Push your Representative to oppose another three week spending bill now.
>> Call your Representative now: 202-224-3121.
When you call, urge a serious, long-term approach to spending cuts and policy riders. Not sure what to say? See our talking points here.
Every additional week means another lost opportunity to enact the full $61 billion in cuts and deliver the long-term reforms our country needs.
>> Make the call now and post your report to our website.
Thanks for your help on this important fight. Stay tuned,
Russ Vought
Political Director
Heritage Action for America
-By Warner Todd Huston
Newly minted Republican Representative Bobby Schilling from Illinois’ 17th district recently voted in favor of two pro-union amendments in Congress and the votes have caused some folks to go scratching their heads in trying to figure out why he did it.
Schilling ran as the business-oriented candidate against long-time Democrat incumbent Phil Hare, so his two pro-union votes are odd in light of his late campaign rhetoric. So, the Quad-City Times contacted Schilling’s office to find out what was going on.
Schilling’s office replied that one of the votes was simply a mistake. But the second vote Schilling stands up for unapologetically.
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Why Did 17th District’s Schilling Vote For 2 Pro-Union Amendments?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Traitors to the right of them, traitors to the left of them, traitors in front of them… behind them, around them within them… in the they-just-can’t-win department, unions held a soiree for the traitor Republicans that voted in favor of some of the pro-union provisions in last week’s temporary budget and their pals in the donkey party were heehawing in rage to beat the band over the whole thing. The news is quite revealing in a number of ways, really.
On March 10 Politico reported that 15 labor groups held a little “thank you” party on Capitol Hill for those Republicans that voted in favor of the few pro-union amendments to the CR. Only those Republicans that voted in favor of the unions were invited.
Of the pro-union amendments, one would have repealed the Davis Bacon prevailing wage law and the second would have prohibited the federal government from observing project labor agreements (PLAs). The latter failed by a 210 to 210 tie vote. Some Republicans claimed that they voted in favor of the PLA amendment by accident due to the flurry of amendments offered in a short space of time before the votes came due.
Democrats on the Hill were not amused by the union’s reaching out to the GOP, though.
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Just Can’t Win Dept: Unions Honor Traitor Republicans, Dems Call Unions Traitors”
From the office of Ill. Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger (11th District)…
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11), a pilot in the Air National Guard with tours in the Middle East, sent a letter to President Obama urging the institution of a no-fly zone over Libya.
Kinzinger Urges President Obama to Institute No-Fly Zone Over Libya”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam (R, 6th District) has really climbed the ladder of leadership since the 2010 elections. He went from Congressman in the minority party in DC to the Chief Deputy Whip of the majority Republican Party riding the GOP wave that overtook the Hill last November.
Roskam is the go-to man for the budget debate. He handles this like an expert and, with his role of Chief Dep. Whip, is part of the leadership team. But I peg him as one of the best guys on that team where it concerns the budget.
Some of the things he’s talking about here are already in play, but the one thing I’d like to focus on are his comments on regulations and the idea of states trying to file for bankruptcy.
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VIDEO: Interview With Chief Dep. Whip, Congressman Peter Roskam”
From the Illinois GOP…
The State Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party amended their bylaws yesterday to resolve a long-standing issue with regard to voting open precincts in the election of State Central Committeemen.
The amendment addressed the issue of allocation of votes from precincts that do not have elected Republican Precinct Committeemen. Prior to the amendment, Republican Party County Chairmen had the ability to cast the votes of the vacant precincts however they pleased. The amendment changed this rule by mandating that upon the election of State Central Committeemen, the weighted vote of the vacant precincts “shall be allocated to each candidate based on the proportion of weighted votes they received from the elected Precinct Committeemen.”
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Illinois GOP Amends Bylaws on SCC Elections”
From the Office of Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam (R, 6th District)…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL), Chief Deputy Whip, issued the following statement after the two Senate votes on the Continuing Resolution:
“Today’s votes show a great contrast between those willing to do something meaningful for long-term job creation and those committed to Washington’s status-quo. House Republicans have already passed a serious proposal to responsibly fund the government while cutting back spending to pre-stimulus, pre-2008 levels. In contrast, Senate Democrats created a status-quo spending bill and then ‘drew a line in the sand’ against negotiating any more cuts. We need to find common ground to keep the government running while meaningfully cutting spending – it’s long past time Democrats settle their internal divisions and join the discussion with a serious proposal.”
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Roskam: Senate Continues The Status-Quo”
This video was shown at the GOP Senator’s luncheon on March 8, 2011. The video focuses on Republican efforts to put our nation on a path of fiscal responsibility and create an environment in which job creation can flourish. The video highlights the lack of leadership by the president on deficit reduction as well as the GAO report on duplicative programs and the harm gas prices are causing to our economy.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Wisconsin’s Republican Representative Paul Ryan is one of the most well known budget hawks in Congress today. Yet seeming to defy that reputation last week Ryan voted against putting a halt to a budget bloating union giveaway. So what happened?
The amendment was an effort to end project labor agreements on federal construction projects in 2011. This is the sort of thing one would think that every Republican would naturally vote for. Yet the final vote left the tally standing at a tie which meant the measure failed to pass. Twenty-six Republicans voted against this good amendment, Ryan being one of them.
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Why Did Rep. Paul Ryan Vote for Destructive Union Giveaway?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Last year 1,000 high schools competed to win the chance to have President Obama attend their graduation exercises. But this year, the White House is scrambling to understand why only 68 schools have applied for the honor.
The Political Hotsheet blog at CBSNews tells us that internal memos are flummoxed as to why so few schools have applied for the competition for this year’s graduation.
The competition was extended from the February 25 deadline until Friday, March 11 after few schools met the original application deadline. CBS News has learned a White House Communications Office internal memo dated February 22 noted “a major issue with the Commencement Challenge.”
“As of yesterday we had received 14 applications and the deadline is Friday,” the memo said. The memo also urged recipients to, “please keep the application number close hold.”
A follow-up memo on February 28 reported receipt of 68 applications. Noting the competition among more than 1,000 schools last year, the memo said, “Something isn’t working.” It called on staffers to ask “friendly congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral offices” to encourage schools to apply.
After the news of the White House struggling to get applicants got out, the White House would not respond to further questions on just how many applications had been received by Monday, March 7.
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Schools Snub Obama’s Speaking Contest”
From the office of Republican Congressman Peter Roskam (IL, 6th District)…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL), Chief Deputy Whip, issued the following statement after the Department of Labor released their February jobs report:
“Today’s jobs numbers indicate that our economy is showing slight signs of recovery from the failed policies of the last few years, but there are far too many Americans still out of work. Unemployment is still well above eight percent over two years after the failed ‘stimulus’ – due to the trillions in wasteful spending and debt and the constant threat of higher taxes under Democrats’ rule.
“From day one of our Majority, Republicans’ number one focus has been to remove the barriers to job creation and today’s report shows that our efforts are starting to work. From preventing job-crushing tax increases this past December, to voting to cut Washington’s spending in a meaningful way, to just yesterday passing the repeal of an onerous mandate on small businesses, Republicans are working to restore certainty to the marketplace.
“Yet millions of Americans are still struggling to find a job. And unfortunately for the millions that remain out of work, Washington can’t get out of the private-sector’s way fast enough. We need to continue to focus on cutting Washington’s spending and debt and restoring certainty to the marketplace through initiatives like reforming our tax code and passing the stalled free trade agreements. These reforms will create a better environment for the private sector to create jobs.”
-By Warner Todd Huston
“Well, this is all about removing the barriers of job creation – that’s the theme of this Congress. That’s where the over whelming amount of energy is going.
“If you think about it, the Democrats made a mistake last Congress didn’t they? They decided to rush a bill through, they decided that they were going to truncate hearings, they decided that they were going to write a bill in the Speaker’s office; and ultimately a bad process yielded a bad result because, low and behold, a draconian requirement was placed on small business.
“Everybody seemed shocked, and appalled, and surprised when they woke up and found that it was in there, with the exception of the small business community that said, ‘if you do this, it’s going to have an adverse impact on job creation.’
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Roskam Celebrates Repeal of 1099 ‘Mistake’”
From the Independent Women’s Voice…
The Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) announces its “ObamaCare Anniversary Video Contest!” We want your one-minute or less video explaining how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — popularly known as ObamaCare — will hurt our medical system and our freedoms.
At IWV, we believe the health care law passed last year takes our country in the wrong direction by putting government bureaucrats in charge of health decisions instead of empowering patients. We worry that ObamaCare will drive medical costs higher, reduce the quality of care, and ultimately lead to rationing.
If you share these concerns, we want you to put together a video of one minute or less that dramatizes the problems with ObamaCare. The video can be clever, personal, funny or touching – however you can make the most compelling case. So grab your camera, invite your friends and family, and tell your story!
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Videos Wanted: $5,000 Prize for Your ObamaCare Horror Stories Video”