By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
House GOP lawmakers seemed to have forged a greater sense of unity emerging from a three-day retreat in Virginia last week, after party leaders rolled out their plan to avoid a showdown with President Obama by temporarily raising the federal debt limit.
The United States looks increasingly likely to lose its gold-plated AAA credit rating in the next few months amid warnings by Wall Street rating agencies that last week's $650 billion "fiscal cliff" deal did not go far enough to reduce $1 trillion deficits and stabilize the debt.
Rep. John A. Boehner is a bloodied House speaker after the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Obama.
House Speaker John A. Boehner is facing increasing pressure as several rebellious Republicans hinted that they won't vote to re-elect him to run the chamber, and a conservative interest group announced a bid to recruit someone else to run against him for the speakership.
Washington is abuzz over whether House Speaker John A. Boehner is purging conservatives from positions of power within his caucus. In a closed-door meeting Monday, Republican leaders stripped plum committee assignments from four outspoken advocates of limited government.
House Republicans voiced displeasure with their leaders in a closed-door meeting Wednesday after some conservatives were kicked off plum committees this week in retaliation for bucking party leadership on big votes — and were met with warnings that others still could be punished.
Last year, farmer Marlin Stutzman collected $30,813 in direct federal subsidies for his Stuzman Farms in Indiana and southern Michigan.
Despite public vilification, those who champion traditional values remain stalwart on their issues. The Values Voter Summit, which begins Friday in the nation's capital, embraces subjects that rivet many Americans but often get short shrift.
As America rings up another $3 tril- lion-plus budget - almost a historic peacetime 25 percent of gross national product (GDP) - and borrows another $1.3 trillion to pay for it, one should not be surprised that the usual mob of special pleaders is fuming at anyone who has the temerity to suggest a sane alternative. These are the new Democrats, and they do not mind putting us on the road to Greece.
Democrat Libby T. Garvey won a special election Tuesday to fill the Arlington County Board seat of state Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola, who left the post to serve in the General Assembly.
House Republicans on the Budget Committee on Wednesday rejected an effort to impose the "Buffett rule" tax on Americans, arguing it would stifle investment without doing any work to lower the deficit.
Promoting farm subsidies was once a no-brainer for rural members of Congress seeking re-election. This year, it's a bit trickier.
House Republican freshmen have been in Washington for a year, but they haven't become part of the established order. A group of these members gathered at the Capitol Wednesday to announce they would do their share to pay down the nation's crippling $15.4 trillion debt. They believe fiscal responsibility begins with their own office budget.
Americans don't want to borrow more money and pay higher taxes simply to create temporary government jobs. That's why President Obama's $467 billion second stimulus bill never had much of a chance as a whole. It was meant to be a class-warfare call-to-arms that would engage and excite his liberal base, as even the Democratic-controlled Senate couldn't conjure up the votes for it.
At the stroke of midnight Friday, the fiscal year ends. When the final numbers are in, the government will have grown larger. Despite politicians spouting off about tough cuts, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported federal outlays have gone up by $118 billion through August. America is barreling over the cliff into bankruptcy, but Washington isn't willing to stop the train.
Mr. Huelskamp, one of the most vocal critics of House Speaker John A. Boehner inside the Republican caucus, said that the GOP should put forward a bolder plan that balances the federal budget in a shorter period of time -- warning that the longer the nation puts off tackling its most pressing fiscal issues, the more it jeopardizes its credit rating.
"If we are going to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, it is one thing to have a paragraph in the budget. It is another thing to actually pass things on the floor," he said. "I think it is time we actually took that chance, and put out what we are for in a detailed manner because these are very serious times."
