Columns

As I have been traveling through Nebraska’s Third District during the August work period, I am reminded about the fiscal situation facing our country. I hear from Nebraskans concerned about the future of Medicare and whether it will continue to be effective in the future.

The controversial Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring employers to cover the full cost of contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs took effect on August 1, 2012. The requirement, a result of the President’s health care law, has caused strong opposition because it forces some religious organizations to violate their beliefs, infringing on their constitutional right to religious freedom. Furthermore, it limits consumer choice by mandating what services must be covered by insurance plans.

Current tax rates are set to expire at the end of the year, resulting in the largest tax increase in American history. This economic calamity, known as “Taxmegeddon” or the “Fiscal Cliff,” could not come at a worse time for taxpayers.

The latest economic data confirms unacceptably low levels of growth, and the national unemployment rate has remained above 8 percent for 42 months in a row. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found failing to prevent this fiscal cliff would result in a recession in early 2013.

America’s relationship with Russia is complex. Russia is currently the world’s ninth largest economy and growing. In 2011 alone, Nebraska exported $154 million worth of goods to Russia, which directly supported an estimated 560 jobs here at home. However, I and many others remain concerned regarding Russia’s recent behavior and trading policies.

America’s economy is stagnant and showing few signs of growth. The private sector is being strangled by government regulation, an overly-complex and uncompetitive tax code, and uncertainty generated by the threat of tax increases, an onerous health care law, and the ever expanding national debt.

As our economy struggles, the lack of bipartisan solutions from Congress only adds to our frustration. While House Republicans are working to reduce the burden of government, cut wasteful spending, and streamline government programs to encourage economic growth, not hinder it, more than thirty House-passed bills aimed at private sector job creation and growth have idled in the Democrat-led Senate. There have been, however, a few areas where both parties have found common ground and work together to pass meaningful legislation which benefits our economy.

The U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs in June and the national unemployment rate remained above 8 percent for the 41^st consecutive month. With millions of Americans out of work or underemployed, it is the latest indication the President’s policies of massive deficit spending, increased federal regulation and calling for added taxes on America’s small businesses are failing to create economic growth.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the President’s health care law, Nebraskans deserve to know what the decision means and what steps Congress will take to repeal the law in full to lower health care costs while increasing access to care.