Washington, D.C.- Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI ) today made the following statement regarding Senator Baucus's draft health care bill: “It is clear the arbitrary time limits imposed by the Senate Democrat Leadership hindered Senator Baucus’ ability to produce a bipartisan bill that the American people could support.  That is unfortunate.  The Chairman should have been… Read more

Analysis by the Treasury Department shows that the Democrats’ National Energy Tax would likely cut U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) significantly: “Economic costs will likely be on order of 1% of GDP, making them equal in scale to all existing environmental regulation.”  Using the analytical methodology developed by Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Jared… Read more

Today's hearing reviews the implementation of the Fostering Connections law approved last fall.  That law made important changes we all hope will benefit young people in foster care.  The changes include stepped up efforts to place children with relatives instead of strangers and improved incentives for adopting children out of foster care.  I am especially interested in provisions… Read more

Washington, DC— Republican Leaders, all Ways & Means Republicans, and other Republican Members today sent U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk letters in response to the Administration’s request for comments on the pending Colombia and South Korea trade agreements.  Attached to these letters is an analysis showing the significant economic harm to American exports of continued delay,… Read more

Washington, D.C.- Committee on Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) today made the following comment on the President’s decision to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese tires:  "In bowing to the pressure of the special interest unions, the President has imposed a new tire tax on working Americans  – many whom can barely afford to replace a tire as it… Read more

Democrats have repeatedly pledged H.R. 3200 will expand insurance options and preserve Americans’ ability to keep the insurance they have and like.  However, the language in H.R. 3200 doesn’t support this empty rhetoric. Today, 11 million seniors, or 22% of all Medicare beneficiaries, are enrolled in a Medicare health plan, called Medicare Advantage.  Under current law, the… Read more

  As Speaker Pelosi tries to cobble together 218 votes to ram through a government takeover of America’s health care system, we thought you’d find this article, written earlier this summer, of interest.The Roll Call story details a meeting between the Speaker and the 24 member strong Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a formidable voting bloc, whose support the Speaker needs to pass H.R.… Read more

Today, the White House issued an updated release of the number of jobs “created or saved” as a result of the Democrats' so-called stimulus bill.  Contrary to the Administration’s continued claims of jobs “created or saved” by stimulus, former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich broke the code when he said last week of such estimates that, “It… Read more

Washington, D.C.- Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today made the following statement on President Obama's joint address to Congress on health care: "As Yogi Berra said, 'I feel like this is déjà vu all over again.' We have a well-delivered speech from the President that sounds good on the surface, but doesn’t match the policy he and the Democrats are putting forward.  "Instead of… Read more

    The Labor Department announced this morning that employers eliminated another 216,000 American jobs last month, driving the unemployment rate to 9.7%.  However, just yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden stated that, “the recovery act is doing more, faster, more efficiently and more effectively than we had hoped.”   “The so-called stimulus bill has disastrously failed to meet… Read more