If something is too big to swallow, you cut it into bite-sized pieces. But that won’t improve the taste—unless you jettison any stinky stuff. Likewise, the notion of splitting-up President Obama’s Senate-rejected 326-page “jobs bill” won’t improve any of the proposals. It’s good that the break-up would prevent the classic congressional strategy of blending the good and the bad together into one piece of legislation. That strategy expects that Congressmen will hold their noses and vote for a package when they’re not given a choice to remove the worst parts. …
Give two U.S. Senators credit for trying to do something about the smoke-and-mirrors games in Washington. The “Honest Budget Act” by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) goes to the heart of public distrust of Congress, namely the dishonest budget gimmicks and accounting tricks. The public is rebelling because too many “budget cuts” have turned out to be spending increases or, at best, promises that a future Congress will curtail spending. By no means does the senators’ legislation fix all the problems, but it’s definitely a good start. They …
The U.S. Postal Service faces a bleak future without reform. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), a successful businessman before coming to Congress, has just the plan to save it from financial collapse. Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, spoke at Heritage yesterday about the Postal Service’s problems and the changes he would make to keep it operating for future generations. He sat down for a short interview after his speech. Issa’s plan is the most comprehensive proposal put forward—and also more politically palatable than the plan offered …
This is a guest post by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for our special blog series on 9/11. A decade has passed, but the memories of those lost remains strong today. It also is a time to remember the many Americans who showed extraordinary bravery in the face of adversity: the firefighters, police officers, emergency responders, and everyday citizens who stepped forward and risked their lives for others. Many of us know someone affected directly by the cowardly terrorist attacks ten years ago, and my thoughts and prayers go out to …
Yesterday, the White House announced that President Obama would once again be giving a “major jobs speech” in September after his Martha’s Vineyard vacation. If spending three years delivering identical speeches created jobs, President Obama would be taking credit for 4% unemployment today. Alas, they do not. In fact, President Obama has given many “major“ speeches and addresses on jobs since taking office. While some news organizations treated this announcement as “breaking news” yesterday, it is unfortunately more of the same from a President who is long on speeches and short …
Various news outlets are reporting that Rod Beckstrom, chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), intends to leave the organization next July. For those who are not familiar with ICANN, the organization is a nonprofit corporation charged with regulating and managing the Domain Name System under which Internet Protocol addresses and registration of top-level domains (such as .org and .com) are assigned. “Governance” of the medium has been historically minimal—led by nongovernmental entities and overseen by the U.S. government, which has exercised a light regulatory …
The newly formed Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has its 12 members, but beyond that there’s little known about how exactly it will operate. Congressional leaders have promised transparency of its deliberations. And as of now, though, only the first meeting and final report are required to be publicly accessible. Two weeks ago a handful of Republican senators proposed legislation to make the so-called super committee’s work more transparent. The Sunlight Foundation offered a list of five recommendations. And today at Heritage, former Speaker Newt Gingrich outlined why putting …
Newt Gingrich knows a thing or two about how Congress operates. The former lawmaker represented a Georgia district for 20 years and spent four of them leading the U.S. House as speaker. So when Congress approved the Budget Control Act, creating the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Gingrich didn’t hold back his criticism. “I think this super committee is about as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with in my lifetime,” Gingrich said last week. “I used to run the House of Representatives. I have some …
Congress’ job approval ratings have sunk to around 20 percent, while their disapproval is up to an average of 73.4 percent. Yet for all of America’s dissatisfaction—and Congress’ failure to combat the nation’s fiscal crisis—Members of Congress are earning salaries and fringe benefits that far exceed those of the average American, according to a new report by Our Generation and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. The report details how Members of Congress earn a salary of $174,000—that’s 3.4 times higher than the average full-time American worker, who earns $50,875 per year. Even if …
