Jobs

A recession is the worst time to raise taxes, yet here we are again – fighting against a tax-and-spend agenda. Last week, new government data show what American families have been feeling for months now: we are officially in a recession. The U.S. economy shrank by .9 percent in the second quarter of the year, the second consecutive quarter of negative growth.

According to a new Bloomberg Economics analysis, the average American family will spend an additional $5,200 this year because of our record-high inflation rate. Polling data show that a majority of Americans are seriously concerned about inflation, a sign Americans already burdened with higher costs at the grocery store and gas pump are bracing for additional financial pressures.

This week President Biden delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

I always look forward to reconnecting at Christmas with family and friends in one of America's most beautiful places – the Nebraska panhandle. Although 2021 has ended, many of the same challenges Democrats failed to address last year as they pursued their extreme economic and social agendas await when the House reconvenes next week.

Defeating COVID-19 includes reconnecting unemployed Americans. Before the pandemic, America's economy was thriving. Workers at the bottom of the income ladder were seeing the largest wage gains in recent history. Two principle achievements from the last 25 years - the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 1996 Welfare Reform Act - ensured Americans benefitted from hard work.

Nebraska is a biofuels powerhouse - the second and third largest producer of ethanol and corn, respectively, in the country. With 25 active ethanol plants and a capacity of more than 2.5 billion gallons, the importance of biofuels to our state economy cannot be understated. Biodiesel production in Nebraska has seen exponential growth as well.