Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) Delivers Weekly Republican Address

U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) delivers the weekly Republican address.

Transcript:

"Hello, I'm Judd Gregg, Senator from New Hampshire. We all know these are difficult times. People are worried about keeping their jobs, paying their bills, the value of their homes and the cost of sending their kids to college. It's hard.

"Thus I appreciate, as do all Americans, the efforts being made by our President and his seriousness about addressing these issues.

"But what concerns many of us are his proposals in the budget he recently sent to the Congress that dramatically grow the size and cost of government and move it to the left.

"It is our opinion that this plan spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much.

"You may have heard this before that the budget of the President spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much.

"What do we mean? Well, let me give you a few examples.

"In the next five years, President Obama's budget will double the national debt; in the next ten years it will triple the national debt.

"To say this another way, if you take all the debt of our country run up by all of our presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush, the total debt over all those 200-plus years since we started as a nation, it is President Obama's plan to double that debt in just the first five years that he is in office.

"He is also planning to spend more on the government as a percentage of our economy than at any time since World War II.

"His budget assumes the deficit will average $1 trillion dollars every year for the next 10 years and will add well over $9 trillion dollars in new debts to our children's backs.

"He also is proposing the largest tax increase in history, much of it aimed at taxing small business people who have been, over the years, the best job creators in our economy. And further, he is proposing a massive new national sales tax on your electric bill. So that every time you turn on a light switch in your house, you will be hit with a new tax -- and it averages over $3,000 per household.

"These are staggering numbers and represent an extraordinary move of our government to the left.

"The President to his credit is not trying to hide this; in fact he is very forthright in stating that he believes that by greatly expanding the spending, the taxing and the borrowing of our government, this will lead us to prosperity.

"Here of course is where we differ. We believe you create prosperity by having an affordable government that pursues its responsibilities without excessive costs, taxes or debt. That it is the individual American who creates prosperity and good jobs, not the government.

"We believe that you create energy independence not by sticking Americans with a brand new national sales tax on everyone's electric bill, but by expanding the production of American energy, such as environmentally sound off-shore drilling, nuclear power, wind, solar while also conserving more.

"We also believe you improve everyone's health care not by nationalizing the health care system and putting the government between you and your doctor, but by assuring that every American has access to quality health insurance and choices in health care.

"We believe that you run a sound and affordable government not by running up the national debt to historic levels and unsustainable levels while over-taxing working Americans and spending as if there is no tomorrow, but rather by working on limiting the growth of government in a manner that is affordable not only today but for the next generation through limiting spending and addressing core issues like the cost of entitlements.

"Our nation has an exceptional history of one generation passing on to the next generation a more prosperous and stronger country, but that tradition is being put at risk. The dramatic move to the left and the massive increase in the size and cost of the government, proposed by the budget of President Obama, will lead to an immense national debt that not only threatens the value of the dollar and puts at risk our ability to borrow money to run the government. But it will also place our children at a huge disadvantage as they inherit this debt which will make their chances of success less than those given to us by our parents. It is not right for one generation to do that to another generation.

"Rather, we believe that if you properly steward the responsibilities of the government, if you do not spend too much, if you do not tax too much, if you do not borrow too much, we can leave our children a better nation where they will have even greater opportunity for prosperity, peace and freedom.

"Thank you for taking the time to listen, and have a great weekend."

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Newt Gingrich to deliver SPIA’s Getzen lecture

Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich will deliver the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs’ annual Getzen Lecture on Government Accountability. His lecture, entitled “Effective American Policy in a Dangerous World” will be given on April 7 at 3 p.m. in the UGA Chapel. The event is open to the public.

Gingrich, who has been in the headlines recently for criticizing federal bailouts, said that his prescription for the current economic crisis would be, “Replace the bailouts with bankruptcy, for all of them.” In recent media interviews, Gingrich has been critical of both the Bush and Obama administrations for their handling of the economic crisis.

“You may or may not agree with former Speaker Gingrich on public policy issues, but you must take him seriously because he is smart, well-informed and innovative in his thinking,” said Thomas P. Lauth, dean of UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs.

A college history professor, political leader, and author, Gingrich won a seat in the U.S. House in 1978. He was re-elected 10 times, and his activism as a member of the House’s Republican minority eventually enabled him to succeed Dick Cheney as House minority whip in 1989. As a co-author of the 1994 Contract with America, Gingrich was in the forefront of the Republican Party’s dramatic success in the 1994 Congressional elections and subsequently was elected speaker, serving from 1995-1999.

Republicans lost five seats in the House in the 1998 elections, and shortly after, Gingrich resigned from his House seat and as speaker. Since that time, Gingrich has maintained a career as a political analyst, consultant and author. He serves as chairman of the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm with offices in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Gingrich is teaching a course on judicial review this spring in the UGA School of Law as the Carl E. Sanders Political Leadership Scholar.

The Getzen Lecture is co-hosted by the School of Public and International Affairs and the department of public administration and policy.

SPIA prepares students for careers in public service in Georgia, the nation and the world and is fast becoming recognized as a national and international leader in public affairs research and education. The school’s master of public administration program is one of the nation’s best for public service education and is ranked 4th in the nation among hundreds of public affairs programs (U.S. News & World Report, 2009).

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Boehner: With Housing Proposal, Republicans Continue Offering Better Solutions

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Members of the House GOP’s Economic Recovery Solutions Group announced Republicans’ plan for revitalizing the housing market:

“While some continue to repeat the falsehood that Republicans are not offering alternatives to the President’s plans that spend, tax, and borrow too much, Republicans are proving that we are the party of better solutions. This year, we have offered better solutions on the economy, jobs, the budget, college and retirement savings, and now housing. Rep. Cantor and his colleagues on the Economic Recovery Solutions Group have crafted a proposal to revitalize our housing market without rewarding speculators, scam artists, and those who knowingly made bad decisions. I hope the Administration and Democratic leaders in Congress finally abandon their go-it-alone approach and give this proposal and all of our Republican solutions the consideration they deserve.”

NOTE: Earlier this year, Boehner tapped Cantor to head the House GOP’s Economic Recovery Solutions Group. Other Members of the group include Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, (R-IN), Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Republican Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rules Committee Ranking Member David Dreier (R-CA), Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), and Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY).

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Boehner Announces GOP Leader’s Website Will Live-Blog Budget Debate Wednesday

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today announced that Wednesday’s House Budget Committee debate on President Obama’s proposed budget will be live-blogged on the Republican Leader’s website. The Committee is expected to begin consideration of the budget at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, and the Leader’s blog will provide regular updates on its progress, including votes on key amendments, throughout the day. The up-to-the-minute budget coverage will be available beginning Wednesday morning at http://gopleader.gov/Blog. Boehner released the following statement:

“The President’s budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids - and that’s going to do further harm to our economy at a time when it desperately needs our help. Republicans are offering better solutions on the budget. This live-blog will give Americans a front-row seat for this important debate so they can hold their leaders in Washington accountable for their votes on some of the most important issues of the day.”

NOTE: The President’s budget calls for $1.4 trillion in new taxes that will affect every American. There’s a $646 billion national energy tax; tax increases on income and small businesses; new taxes on investors by raising capital gains and dividend rates; a resurrection of the death tax; and a reduction in charitable deductions. Moreover, the Budget relies on misleading assumptions. According to a Congressional Budget Office report released on Friday, the President’s budget is actually $2.3 trillion more costly than the White House initially claimed. In fact, over the next 10 years, the budget will produce an incredible $9.3 trillion in total deficits.

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House Republicans' AIG Bill Will Recover 100 Percent of the AIG Bonuses Immediately; Democrats' Bill? Some of It ... and Maybe In a Year

Prior to today’s debate on the Democrats’ half-hearted attempt to recover some of the AIG executive bonuses a year or more from now, House Republicans will move to force a debate and vote on legislation to get 100 PERCENT of taxpayers’ money back IMMEDIATELY.
Let’s be honest. The legislation House Democrats are bringing to the floor today, which they claim is the best way to recover the AIG bonuses, is a sham. In a perfect world, it would lead to partial recovery of the bonuses a year or more from now – when the executives get around to paying their income taxes. And because the legislation is so riddled with loopholes, it wouldn’t even lead to the recovery of all of the bonus dollars.

How is that a fair deal for taxpayers?

Don’t taxpayers deserve to get 100 percent of their money back?

After all, they aren’t responsible for the AIG executives getting the $165 million; Democrats in Congress and the Administration are. They’re the ones who rushed through the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill that allowed the bonuses to be paid in the first place.

House Republicans are committed to being the party of better solutions, and the Democrats’ AIG mess is no exception. That’s why Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and the rest of their freshman GOP colleagues have introduced a better – and quicker – way to recover 100 percent of the AIG bonuses. Their bill would allow taxpayers to recover 100 PERCENT of the AIG bonuses IMMEDIATELY – not some of the money a year or more from now.

Will House Democrats allow a vote on the GOP bill to get 100 PERCENT of taxpayers’ money back IMMEDIATELY? Or will they continue to provide political cover for their fatally-flawed “stimulus” bill that allowed the AIG bonuses to be paid?

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Gingrich Calls on Obama to End Bailouts

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich today called on the Obama administration to abandon the strategy of bailing out failing companies, and instead insist that companies choose bankruptcy or receivership as the only way to restore a sense of order and fairness to the economic system.

This includes AIG, who recent reports suggest is going to need another bailout even while rewarding its executives $165 million in bonuses.

In his weekly newsletter for HumanEvents.com, The Newt Gingrich Letter, Gingrich writes about the outrage over the bonuses being paid to AIG executives:

"The cure for our outrage is not merely, as President Obama is demanding, that AIG be prevented from paying its executives... Nor is it acceptable to ask Americans to keep throwing their tax dollars at failed companies and their leaders.

The answer is an old fashioned one: AIG should choose between receivership or bankruptcy. It should not be allowed to choose more bailouts from the taxpayer."

Gingrich continues:

"Thanks to the Bush-Obama-Geithner policy of bailing out failing companies, we now have the worst of all possible scenarios: A taxpayer subsidized, government supervised private company; an unsustainable public/private hybrid that is too public to make its own decisions and too private to be responsible to the taxpayers that are keeping it alive.

"Outrages like the fat cat bonuses currently dominating the headlines will only continue as long as the rule of politicians supplants the rule of law on Wall Street.

"Bankruptcy would replace the rule of politicians over U.S. financial institutions with the rule of law."

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Isakson Co-Sponsors Legislation to Force SEC to Reinstate Uptick Rule

Says Bill Will Impose Discipline, Allow Stock Market to Restore Itself

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today announced that he is co-sponsoring legislation by Senator Ted Kaufman, D-Del., to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to reinstate the “uptick rule” in order to stabilize the financial markets and protect the American consumer from traders forcing down the price of a stock. Isakson has been calling for the SEC to reinstate the rule since last fall.

“Senator Kaufman has introduced a piece of legislation that is right for America, it is right for America's investors, and it is right for our stock market as it still languishes today somewhere down near what we hope is the bottom,” Isakson said during a speech on the Senate floor. “One way to ensure that bottom exists is to stop rewarding those who would feed off of it and instead reinstate good discipline that ensures good practices and allows the market to restore itself back to a good equilibrium.”

In his remarks, Isakson argued that the market deterioration was impacted by short sellers rushing to the market, shorting financial stocks and accelerating the decline of those values. Isakson believes the uptick rule should be reinstated to ensure that traders are not coming into the market to take advantage of these difficult economic times.

Last fall, Isakson contacted Chris Cox, then-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, urging him to reinstate the uptick rule. Isakson has since spoken on the floor of the Senate calling for the SEC to reinstate the rule. On March 13, 2009, the SEC announced it will meet on April 8 to consider whether to propose short sale price test rules.

The legislation Isakson is co-sponsoring directs the SEC to write regulations within 60 days to end abusive short selling. These regulations must reinstate the substance of the uptick rule that prohibited short sales that are not made on an increase in the price of the stock as well as require exchanges and other trading venues to execute the trades of long sellers ahead of short sellers, all other things being equal.

With the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the bill also directs the SEC to prohibit short sales of the securities of any financial institution unless that trade is affected at a price (in minimum lots specified by the Commission) at least 5 cents higher than the immediately preceding transaction in such securities.

Additionally, the legislation directs the SEC to prohibit any person from selling securities short unless that person has at the time of the short sale a demonstrable legally enforceable right to deliver the securities at the required delivery date and require that all short sales settle on the same time frame employed for long sales of the same securities.
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