June 2010 E-News

Statement

Welcome to the June Edition of E-News! In today's 24-hour news environment, providing you with timely information on federal efforts and legislation important to Idaho and our country is a top priority for me. This electronic newsletter, along with my website, iTownHall meetings, podcasts, Facebook and YouTube gives me the opportunity to keep you informed on issues important to Idaho, the West and our country. In every edition of E-News, I include a survey question that gives you a chance to weigh in on key issues of the day, and it helps keep me informed of your views.

Reaching as many Idahoans as possible is extremely important to me, and you can use the "Tell a Friend" form on the lower left to pass this along to friends, co-workers and family members. It is my intent that E-News provides you with an interesting and informative resource to help you keep informed on developments in Washington that affect our state, and that you will let me know of anything that I can do to improve E-News and other communications tools.

In this month's E-News, you will find information on:

* Financial Reform-Recent legislation does not end "too-big-to-fail"
* Health Care Reform-Increased government control
* Budget-National debt reaches $13 trillion

Financial Reform

On May 20, the Senate passed the financial regulatory reform bill (H.R. 4173) by a 59-39 vote, mainly along party-lines. Along with most of my Republican colleagues, I opposed this bill because it will once again grow government, reduce credit to small businesses and threaten privacy rights. It fails to address crucial elements of the recent crisis.
The most expensive government bailouts will be those of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the largest housing lenders that purchased home loans, packaged them into investments, and then guaranteed them against default. Taxpayers have paid $145 billion so far and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the government's cost to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will eventually reach $381 billion. Unfortunately, my colleagues rejected amendments that would reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are exempt from the legislation. I offered an amendment that would have ended these unlimited bailouts and provided for a true accounting of the costs. Although my amendment received a narrow majority of votes by a 47-46 margin, it did not pass because the procedural vote needed 60 votes to pass.

On May 25, I was appointed as one of the Senate conferees to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate regulatory reform legislation. As a conferee, I will continue to push to increase consumer protection and prudential protection, enhance our ability to manage systemic risk, end the "too-big-to-fail" problem and facilitate capital formation processes that are so necessary for job creation and American competitiveness and reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Return to the top.

Health Care

In an editorial last month, the Wall Street Journal wrote, "When President Obama signed his health-care reform [sic] last month, he declared it will "lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government." So why, less than two months later, are Democrats scrambling to pass a new bill that would impose price controls on insurance?" The answer is that the new law will ultimately increase costs for families, businesses and the federal government - - something that supporters of the new law already knew as did the majority of those who opposed it. This new legislation will only increase government control over prices and the private health care decisions of individuals and businesses.

Since the bill's passage, we have seen further proof of these facts. The Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported in April that we will spend more on health care as a nation and predicts that, due to the increased demand and extended coverage required by the new law, it is likely that we will see health care shortages and price increases. That means many people will be unable to access care they need. Seniors are at risk of losing access to care due to massive reductions in Medicare payments to providers and cuts to Medicare Advantage and many individuals and small businesses will face new taxes and penalties.

When arguing in support of a government takeover of health care, some supporters highlighted stories that demonstrated unaffordable coverage and lack of access to care. But we now know that this law will not fix these problems; instead, it will make many of them worse. We must repeal this legislation before its many negative effects hit Idaho families and businesses, and we must replace it with common-sense reforms that lower costs and increase the quality of and access to care. Return to the top.

Budget

One of the most common questions I am asked by Idahoans, over the past eighteen months, is something like, "What can we do to fight back against the massive growth and indebtedness of the federal government?" This is commonly followed up with something like, "What can we do about the unresponsiveness and seeming indifference to our concerns?" These questions and concerns are completely justified.
In mid-March, I was appointed by the Republican leadership in the Senate to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. This Commission was created by President Obama to "identify policies" to improve the federal government's fiscal situation. It has been tasked with making recommendations to the President and Congress on ways to address the public debt and the widening federal budget deficit, an important task indeed. But, while it makes sense to study this enormous problem, it is clear that the best thing we can do right now is to reduce the size of the federal government and cut unnecessary spending.

But while I and others continue fighting to get our country back on sound financial footing, our gross national debt recently reached $13 trillion for the first time. In only 16 months, our national debt has increased by an astounding 23 percent, and the Administration's budget calls for another decade of exponentially increasing red ink.

This Congress must get the message! And, hopefully, the next Congress will have a stronger will to be fiscally responsible. Nevertheless, I will continue to work to change the direction of our government, make it more responsive to the people, stop the massive spending, reverse the growth of the federal government and the national debt and return this great nation to the limited government philosophy of the Constitution. Return to the top.

Still looking for more information? Use the questions to the left to specify issues that are of concern to you.

It is my hope that you will benefit from being aware of changes in legislation of concern to you. Please visit the Issues and Legislation section of my website for information that addresses many issues important to all of us. As always, I highly value the opinions and concerns of my fellow Idahoans. With that in mind, we continue to work to improve my website.

Please do not reply to this e-newsletter. Any comments, suggestions or concerns that you have should be sent to me through the E-mail Me section on my website. Also, let me know if there are issues that you would like me to address.

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