Columns
While pranks are common on such a day, it was no joke when on April 1st the United States’ 35 percent corporate tax rate became the highest in the world. Our current system is a relic of the Post-War era, when the U.S. reigned as the unchallenged industrial leader, and government efficiently regulated the market. Now the marketplace is global and capital has become increasingly mobile. It is time our tax code modernizes as well.
America’s looming debt crisis is the most predictable – and avoidable – economic calamity in our nation’s history. Make no mistake: empty promises from both political parties have gotten us where we are today. This explosion of debt is threatening to cripple our nation and rob our children and grandchildren of their future.
This past Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the enactment of President Obama’s health care law, formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Nebraskans often remind me of their displeasure of the process used by Congress to pass the bill. Two years later, health care costs are soaring and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is forecasting as many as 20 million Americans could lose the health care coverage they were promised they could keep.
America’s energy policy is broken. In Nebraska, the average price per gallon of gasoline stands at $3.83, while diesel stands at more than $4 per gallon. At a time when costs of living are steadily inching upward and people across the country are struggling to make ends meet, higher fuel prices are a headache middle class families in Nebraska do not deserve.
The most fulfilling aspect about representing the people of Nebraska’s Third District is the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of my constituents. Through casework and timely constituent services, my staff in Nebraska and Washington assist individuals on a daily basis who are trying to maneuver through the federal bureaucracy.
Our nation faces unprecedented economic challenges, and rural communities are certainly not immune. Agriculture plays a critical role in the economic outlook of Nebraska, and certainly our country and the entire world. In fact, the typical Nebraska farmer feeds 155 people per year, a great source of pride for our state. So, it goes without saying the next Farm Bill is critically important to Nebraska’s agriculture economy, and we must get it right.
Religious liberty is America’s first and founding principle. Our nation was built and settled by generations of people who fled the tyranny and religious oppression of their homelands. Our Founders sought to preserve religious liberty by ensuring this nation protected against the establishment of any law impeding the free exercise of one's religious beliefs. This principle is enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution which reads in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the “stimulus,” turned three years old on Friday. When properly accounted, the price tag for this historic spending law is more than $1.1 trillion. To put this figure in perspective, the stimulus is more than twice the size of the New Deal and more than the entire value of Australia’s economy.
As a former chairman of the House Budget Committee once said, “If you can’t budget, you can’t govern.” Budgeting is one of the most basic things people do. Families and businesses in Nebraska budget every day, figuring out what their needs are and how they are to be met.
When talking to residents in the Third District, issues of access are often discussed: access to health care, veteran services, and, certainly, transportation. One important initiative which facilitates transportation access is the Essential Air Service (EAS). This program provides airline service to smaller, rural areas and ensures access to the national transportation system. Most importantly, EAS provides businesses throughout Nebraska access to dependable air service, a necessary component of economic opportunity and rural job creation.