The Massachusetts treasurer said Tuesday that Congress will "threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years" if it adopts a health care overhaul modeled after the Bay State's Treasurer Timothy Cahill -- a former Democrat running as an independent for governor -- said the 2006 law has succeeded only because of huge subsidies and favorable regulatory changes from the federal… Read more

Washington, DC - Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today made the following statement on the preliminary cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office on the Democrats' government takeover of health care:  “Democrats have failed to listen to the American people and are plowing forward with a bill that still spends $1 trillion, raises roughly one-half trillion dollars… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Republicans released a new report detailing how the Democrats’ health care bill vastly expands the responsibilities of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and strengthens the heavy hand of the IRS in dealing with taxpayers.“If the Democrats’ health care bill becomes law, the IRS could have to hire more than 16,000 additional agents, auditors and other… Read more

Mr. Chairman, thank you and let me take this opportunity to publicly congratulate you on your new rank within this Committee.  We have always had a good working relationship, and I look forward to this continuing.  You have said your approach will be “collegial but tough.”  I think that is exactly what we will have here today as we consider the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs… Read more

Over the last week, a growing number House Democrats have been echoing the concerns of the American people, namely that Obamacare will bankrupt the country, will fail to reduce the cost of health insurance and will cut Medicare benefits.   Some House Democrats have spoken out against Obamacare, despite the lure of secret kickbacks to members who vote “yes" and despite ominous threats… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Mr. Chairman, thank you for yielding time.   And Ms. Olson, thank you once again for appearing before the Subcommittee to represent the interests of one of the groups most in need of Washington representation – average American taxpayers.  You do a great service to our country and I thank you for your tireless advocacy on behalf of those taxpayers.  We are… Read more

The Democrats' Senate-passed health overhaul includes a $400 billion expansion of the Medicaid program.  In fact, according to the independent and non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) almost half of all the newly insured individuals (15 million) will be dumped into Medicaid. Entitlement expansion is not reform and adding more people and costs to a faltering program will only… Read more

PRESIDENT OBAMA wants to double U.S. exports between now and 2015, and it's a worthy goal. It won't be easy: Exports fell from $1.8 trillion in 2008 to $1.5 trillion in 2009, due to the global recession. But, as the president suggested in a speech Thursday, a big boost in sales of U.S. goods and services abroad would support 2 million American jobs. And some of his ideas could help that… Read more

The White House has made no secret about its war on profits.  From the banking sector to the health care field, the Administration has sought to tax and regulate virtually anyone with a positive balance sheet.  There is, however, one notable exception – the big pharmaceutical companies and their trade association, PhRMA.  As Politico’s Ben Smith reports, “while insurance industry… Read more

Americans rightly believe the goal of any health care reform bill should be make health insurance more affordable.  This would certainly help Ms. Natoma Canfield, whose experience was discussed by President Obama in his visit to Ohio today.The problem, which has been widely reported, is that Obamacare will not reduce the cost of health insurance premiums.  Instead, according to the… Read more