Weekly Columns and Op-Eds
Think for a moment about all the financial products you use on a regular basis: credit cards, a mortgage, an auto loan, perhaps short-term consumer credit. Now imagine a single unelected bureaucrat dictating the terms of all of those products. Imagine if that bureaucrat could cancel any financial agreement they didn't like, for any reason. If one bureaucrat had that much power, then banks and mortgage institutions would write, and rewrite, the terms of their products to that bureaucrat’s preferences, not for the best interest of the consumer.
Hot summers, several years of low snowpack, and the severity of recent drought across the West illustrate the extent to which water is truly the lifeblood of Central Washington and our economy. Unlike the west side of the Cascades, the “rain shadow” effect caused by the mountain ranges keeps Eastern Washington dry, with less than 10 inches of rainfall on average. Communities throughout Central Washington, including employers, manufacturers, agriculture producers, and tribes depend on access to water supplies through irrigation and water infrastructure projects.
President Teddy Roosevelt—an avid hunter and outdoorsman—summed up the general feeling about public lands best: “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” In the mind of President Roosevelt, natural resources owned by the public were to be conserved and enjoyed by the many, not the few.
Last week, the president announced his plan to close the U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where terrorist detainees are being held. The president’s plan is to shut down Guantánamo Bay by transferring some of the 91 detainees to other countries and moving the rest to the U.S. mainland. Closing Guantánamo has been a campaign pledge of the president since 2008, and he is attempting to close the facility in his waning months in office.
“I don't worry about my legacy,” Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once said. “Just do your job right, and who cares?” Last week, with the sudden passing of Justice Scalia at the age of 79, our country lost a jurist and legal scholar of the highest order. Justice Scalia may not have worried about how history would remember him, but he leaves a legacy as an ardent defender of the Constitution, individual rights, and the principle of limited government.
Last week, the Administration released the final budget under this President – a record-breaking $4.1 trillion budget for FY 2017.
The proposed lame duck budget would add nearly $2.6 trillion to our national debt over the next five years. It would increase taxes by $3.4 trillion and includes a $10.25 per-barrel oil tax. Such a tax would be passed down to consumers in the form of higher prices at the pump, averaging 24 cents per gallon, as well as increasing the price of transportation for other products.
What do you call it when the federal government targets legitimate businesses and causes them to be shut down, not for illegal activity, but because they are deemed undesirable by the Administration? Answer: federal regulatory intimidation. Last week, I voted to effectively stop one such effort: “Operation Choke Point.” We must ensure federal regulators are held accountable to stay on the right side of the line between enforcement of the law and regulatory intimidation.
The question of how to restore a confident America is key for our future as a nation. In terms of governing, the year ahead must be about more than allowing the president to control the national debate through executive actions during his presidency’s lame duck period. Conservatives must unite around a common vision. Instead of simply reacting to the president’s agenda of top-down rules. Congress must lay out a positive national agenda that allows individual freedom to flourish and creates opportunity.
If you listened to President Obama’s final State of the Union speech earlier this month, you would think that the President was focused on reducing burdensome federal regulations that stymie private economic growth. In his address, the President said something I, along with many Americans, can agree with: “I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed.
Last week, Americans were subjected to a stunning sight: Iran’s official state television released staged photos of detained U.S. service members on their knees with their hands on their heads. One U.S. sailor—appearing to be coached by Iranians—even apologized on camera for the Americans’ supposed incursion into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. The detainment of U.S. sailors had taken place just hours before President Obama’s final State of the Union address.