CapitolWatch News

• 1,000 Days and Still No Budget from the Senate

  January 27, 2012

  The President delivered his annual State of the Union address this week, but another annual tradition will soon come and go that Americans may not realize – the passage of a federal budget. It’s been over 1,000 days since the U.S. Senate has passed a budget. While the budget is not a binding resolution, it sets the tone for how our government manages its finances. American families understand that if you don’t have a budget and stick to it, the consequences are overspending and little to no accountability. Unfortunately, we have learned the same rule applies to our government.

  

• Keystone XL Pipeline – A Missed Opportunity for Jobs and American Energy Independence

  January 26, 2012

  This month President Obama passed on development of Keystone XL, a proposed 1,700-mile pipeline that would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast. Proponents of the pipeline have stated that the project would create 20,000 jobs in the U.S., including 13,000 positions in construction and 7,000 in manufacturing. In addition the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims it could create 250,000 permanent U.S. jobs. At a time of high unemployment and increasing dependence on oil from hostile foreign nations like Venezuela, isn’t it time our nation undertake all efforts to develop oil here in North America?

  

• President Obama's Recess Appointments Defy our System of Checks and Balances

  January 09, 2012

  On January 4, 2012, President Obama announced a recess appointment of Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Additionally, the President announced recess appointments to install Sharon Block, Richard Griffin and Terence Flynn as National Labor Relations Board members. Block and Griffin are Democrats, while Flynn is a Republican. Interestingly, the first of these series of appointments was announced at a campaign rally for the President’s reelection campaign in the swing state of Ohio. Cordray was a Democrat Attorney General of the State. What makes these appointments all the more noteworthy is that the Senate was not in recess, making the these appointments highly questionable.

  

• Senator Releases Report on Government Waste

  January 07, 2012

  The year for Americans as well as for our Government has ended. One in December and the other in September. This fiscal year our government almost out did itself and posted the second largest deficit in our history – a whopping $1.299 trillion. Just where did all of that money go though? Certainly half went towards paying entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Another portion went towards paying just the interest on our debt. Our government also funded vital programs mandated by the Constitution like Defense.