Offering Solutions

One other thing that I saw yesterday while perusing the Sunday chat fests (besides the ongoing obsession with Sarah Palin) was the democrats talking point mantra that the Republicans are "just saying no" to President Obama. Besides being just a tiny bit disingenuous (remember the Democrats said "NO" to President Bush plenty of times - especially on judicial nominees) it is also horribly untrue. I have mentioned before some of the solutions that are coming out of the House GOP caucus in the past, and there is a new one that came out yesterday that needs to be highlighted. This time it is from my dear friend and former representative John Kline (MN2).

For those of us in Washington concerned about job creation, the first Friday of each month has always been a notable occasion. That’s when the U.S. Department of Labor issues its monthly employment report detailing how many jobs were gained or lost in the previous month, along with the current unemployment rate. When I first came to Congress, these reports generally brought good news. In fact, from 2003 through the end of 2007, we saw a record 52 consecutive months of job growth. Unfortunately, that all changed in early 2008, when we saw the first job losses in more than four years. Since that time, the U.S. economy has steadily shed more jobs as the recession has deepened. Just last week, we learned that an additional 467,000 jobs were lost in June of this year, and the unemployment rate has reached 9.5 percent, its highest level in more than a quarter-century.

From the moment we saw those first 17,000 jobs lost in January of 2008, it was clear to me that we needed to embrace pro-growth policies. Now, about a year and a half later, more than 6.5 million jobs have been lost and evidence is mounting that the tax-and-spend policies advanced by congressional Democrats are not only failing to stem the tide of unemployment, they are actually making our economic problems far worse.

The Democrats love to yammer about the "failed policies of the past" but remember, they controlled Congress for the last two years of the Bush Administration and policies that they enacted (and to be fair President Bush signed) in 2006 lead to those early job losses in 2008 so when they talk about "failed policies" we need to remember THEIR culpability in the failed policy generation.

I serve as the Senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. It’s ground zero for legislation that impacts American workers and employers, and under the control of Democrats, I believe it has failed to project jobs and promote economic growth. From legislation that will increase litigation in the workplace to the notoriously anti-worker card check scheme, Democrats in Washington have put special interests ahead of the people’s interests. Add to that a failed “stimulus” that cost close to $1 trillion yet still hasn’t produced the jobs it promised; a national energy tax in the form of cap-and-trade; and the impending government takeover of our health care system, and a future of permanent economic stagnation seems almost inevitable.

OK you say - where are these solutions you talk about? Here they are....

It doesn’t have to be this way. Republicans are committed to pro-growth policies that will get our economy back on track without saddling future generations with unmanageable debt. We offered a stimulus plan that would have created twice the jobs for half the price. We have developed a health care proposal that will make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and increase quality – all at a price our country can afford. And we plan to continue acting as the party of better solutions, rejecting Democrats’ plans to expand government at the expense of individuals and pushing for commonsense, bipartisan solutions to the many challenges we face. With the right policies, I’m confident we can return the first Friday of each month into an occasion worth celebrating once again.

Whether the topic is job creation, restoring savings, cutting government spending, stimulating the economy, health care reform, solving the housing crisis, energy or any other issue that this country is facing, the House Republican Caucus HAS been putting forward solutions - not just saying "NO" to the President. Anyone who propogates this talking point is flat out lying to the American people. Haven't we had enough of that?

Doin' Work

One of the true pleasures of my move to Utah has been the opportunity to meet this wonderful gentleman.

In his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost paints the perfect picture of today’s debate on America’s energy future. Here, Frost describes two paths leading in two different directions, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Much like the subject of Frost’s poem, America today finds itself at a crossroads. There are two diverging paths we can choose with regard to this nation’s energy policy. The road we ultimately choose will indeed make all the difference.

I have had the extreme pleasure of speaking with the Congressman a couple of times and I can not begin to express how impressed I am by his gentle manner and his keen intellect. He reminds me of a dear friend back in the Minnesota Legislature. Another way where Congressman Bishop reminds me of that dear friend is his grasp of energy policy.

Despite growing job losses, some in Washington, D.C. have decided a recession is the ideal time to impose a massive new cap and trade energy scheme. Cap and trade is Washington-lingo where the federal government imposes a federal ceiling on carbon emissions and then sets up a complicated market for entities to buy and sell the right to emit carbon at levels under the cap.

Going down this road leads to a regressive national energy tax that intentionally increases energy prices on every American consumer, restricts economic growth, and aims to dictate and regulate Americans into a new “green” energy future. To put this in more concrete terms, some studies indicate the Democrats cap and trade proposal will raise electricity prices by 90% and gasoline prices by 74%. Now for some folks, energy price hikes of this nature may be more of an inconvenience than a hardship, but for low-income families already spending one out every five dollars on energy bills, these increases will have a devastating impact on already struggling family finances.

Emphasis mine. Now my friend Representative Beard and I have had more than a few discussions about using the "R" word when discussing the Democrats inclination to raise the so-called "sin" taxes but in this case Congressman Bishop is correct. Cap and Trade will have a devastating impact on the people that the Democrats claim they care the most about - the poor and the elderly. Anyone who is already dealing with a tight budget will have to make the life and death choice between food and heat their home when it is 20 below zero and cooling in it when the temperature is over 100 degrees with 95% humidity!

However (and this is what I love the most about Congressman Bishop) the critique is not the only thing that Congressman Bishop brings to the table - he also highlights some of the solutions that the "party of no" has brought forward that the "Democratic" leadership of the House has said no hearings to.

Representing just one of the thousand-plus bills the so-called “Party of No” has introduced so far this Congress, the Congressional Western Caucus and the Republican Study Committee recently introduced the American Energy Innovation Act (H.R. 2300). This bill provides a competing energy vision for the country; one we believe is shared by the majority of the American people.

Our proposal provides a comprehensive, forward-thinking approach to how we address today’s energy and job creation needs, and one that goes in an entirely different direction than the Democrat’s approach. The path we believe we should travel looks to innovation, conservation, and production as the means to greater economic prosperity, a cleaner environment, real job creation and realistic environmental achievements in the near future.

This alternate energy vision is premised on the idea that tax increases never lead to job creation and that arbitrary government mandates only stifle American ingenuity. It is based on historical evidence that progress in the environmental arena follows economic prosperity, not the other way around.

Congressman Bishop has said before, that solutions are needed - that the Republican Party can not just be about "no" and they can not just be about attacking their opponents (gee now where have I heard THAT before????)...they have to provide solutions. The American Energy Innovation Act is an option for a solution that you will never hear about from the "traditional" media sources which is one reason why the internet has taken off as a source of information. The Republican Party needs to get on the solutions train fast. The American people want answers - they want SHARED sacrifices - not sacrifice for the voters but none for the politicians.

The voters are willing - is DC?