Today, an article from The Washington Post highlights that despite the recent drop in the unemployment rate, Americans without a high school education continue to be at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to reemployment.  The article notes, “The news is worse for high school dropouts. One in five of them have lost their jobs since 2007, with about half of those losses occurring… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Charles Boustany Jr., M.D. (R-LA) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Ranking Member Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius regarding an independent audit conducted by Ernst & Young, which reveals continued shortcomings and weaknesses… Read more

Today the Committee will consider H.R. 3864, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Financing Act of 2012.”  This legislation would reauthorize through September 30, 2016 expenditure authority for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and extend through September 30, 2018 the current Federal excise taxes that fund the Highway Trust Fund.   H.R. 3864 also would restructure the… Read more

Social Security has always collected death information so it can stop benefits to those who have died and start benefits for their survivors.  Today about 2.5 million death reports are received from many sources, including families, funeral homes, hospitals, financial institutions, States and Federal agencies.  Social Security shares death records with other Federal benefit… Read more

Today, the Obama Administration released a “report” claiming that the Democrats’ health care law will “save the average Medicare beneficiary $4,200 by 2021.”  While their savings figure is highly suspect, perhaps they attribute the savings to: Medicare spending going down because hospitals and nursing homes where seniors are currently treated may be forced to close. … Read more

On February 1, 2009, President Obama said when speaking on the economy, “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.”   Three years later, the results couldn’t be clearer.  The failed policies and broken promises of the President’s trillion dollar stimulus have made things worse than if he had simply done nothing at all. … Read more

Today, groups representing thousands of employers across the nation wrote a letter in support of the unemployment insurance reforms Republicans included in H.R. 3630, “The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act,” that help the unemployed get back into the workforce, promote state flexibility and avoid tax increases on employers.  Currently, H.R. 3630 is pending in a conference… Read more

 "Businesses create jobs if the business is doing well and customers are walking in the door, not because the federal government provides a tax credit."   … Read more

In today’s meeting of the Conferees for H.R. 3630, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act,” Democrat Conferees spoke in opposition to the education provision in the House-passed bill.  The provision requires those receiving unemployment insurance to make progress toward a GED if they have not graduated from high school, with appropriate exceptions like for older… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) made the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1173 to repeal the CLASS program.   "Today, the House took steps to repeal yet another poorly-designed and unworkable piece of the Democrats' health care law.  Opposition to the CLASS program is bipartisan and includes employers, seniors… Read more