Adrienne's Corner: Mike Crapo

Showing posts with label Mike Crapo. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Response from Mike Crapo, (R-ID) concerning the "Super Committee"

To save time I've reprinted (from a previous post) my email sent to Mr. Crapo on Wednesday, August 3, 2001 voicing my concerns about the so-called "Super Committee."

I received a reply today which I have reprinted following my original email.

My email to Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Dear Senator Crapo,

I took time out from my busy schedule to attend a "meet and greet" with in Coeur d'Alene before the last election. Based on what I heard my vote was cast for you.

During the Kubuki theater that occurred in Washington concerning the debt ceiling, I did my best to ignore the fact that you embarrassed the state of Idaho by being one of the "gang of six."

It is impossible to ignore, however, the agreement reached with the Democrats on the debt ceiling which includes a committee being formed to make recommendations on spending cuts - the so-called "Super Congress."

If I understand this correctly, this committee of six Republicans and six Democrats will decide where and how much will be cut from the budget. This will be presented to the House, who will have only the power of an up and down vote with no ability to offer amendments. If they vote no, automatic "triggers" will be released, none of which are too palatable. Am I correct, so far?

If you are not one of the Republicans on this committee, then you are not really representing me. I have been effectively disenfranchised. I voted for you to represent me, not some committee that would make the likes of a Vladimir Lenin proud.

Please explain to me how this committee can even be considered constitutionally legal. Are we not all to be represented by whom we elected or is this just reserved for special interests and "elites."

You appeared to be a level-headed and concerned person who held the best interests of this country as your number one goal. That's why I voted for you. Let me repeat - I voted for you, not some committee of inside the beltway types.

Now if I've completely gotten this wrong, please feel free to enlighten me.

I am posting this on my blog, Adrienne's Corner, and will be happy to print your response.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Streeter
Post Falls, ID

From Senator Crapo:

September 20, 2011

Dear Adrienne:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the important budgetary issues facing our nation. I appreciate the time you took to reach out to me and I apologize for the delay in responding. As you may know, my offices (as well as most other congressional offices) have experienced an extremely large volume of calls, emails and letters from constituents in the last few months, making it difficult to respond in a more timely and specific manner. I hope this update on my activities in Congress in recent months relating to the budget will help address questions you might have.

On February 14, 2011, President Barack Obama submitted his FY 2012 budget request to Congress, a budget that did not change the status quo-- it recommended a continuation down the same unsustainable path toward spending, taxing and borrowing, to the extent of tripling our national debt over ten years. This is not the solution that the American people and economic reality have demanded of our elected leaders. Our country now borrows over 40 cents of every dollar it spends, so enacting such a growing budget at a time when spending needs to be reeled in is a gross misdirection. However, the Senate will take his budget proposal under consideration during the construction of its own budget resolution. After extended debate on the proposed budget that the Budget Committee agrees upon, the full Senate will consider a budget resolution. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I will be taking an active part in crafting a responsible budget and will be able to ensure that Idaho’s priorities are included in the final version of the budget.

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have reviewed and voted on many 10-year budget plans, but without adequate enforcement provisions, Congress inevitably finds loopholes to avoid spending controls that are put into effect in out-years of such budgets. It is time to stop borrowing money from future generations, as these actions do not lead to long-term growth and economic stabilization. The solution to our problems will require dramatic action and shared sacrifice. The sheer scope of our fiscal situation means every part of our government ledger sheet must be scrutinized.

The deficit crisis has grown as our country continued a rapid approach toward the debt ceiling. As you may know, Congress imposed a statutory limit on federal debt in 1917, through passage of the Second Liberty Bond Act, which enacted limits on certificates of indebtedness and on bonds that the federal government could issue. Since 2001, Congress has voted to raise the debt limit ten times. As of April 1, 2011, the total federal debt was $14.251 billion and rising. On May 16, 2011, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced that the federal debt had reached its statutory limit and declared a debt issuance suspension period, which would allow certain extraordinary measures to extend Treasury's borrowing capacity until about August 2, 2011. On July 1, 2011, the U.S. Treasury confirmed its view that its borrowing authority would be exhausted on that day.

Earlier projections had indicated that we were headed in that direction, so in March 2010 (more than 18 months ago), I was selected by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to be one of six U.S. Senators to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The Commission was created by President Obama to identify policies to improve the federal government’s fiscal situation, and I worked diligently with commission members over many months to listen to, and question, experts on all levels about our country’s fiscal condition. Ultimately, the plan fell short of the 14 votes needed of the 18 members on the panel to force Congress to vote on the proposal. However, the final report was endorsed by a bipartisan supermajority of the Commission members, including Senators Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) and me.

While I was disappointed that the report of this fiscal commission, though imperfect, did not move forward, the plan did provide a legitimate framework by which Senators Coburn, Durbin, Conrad and I, along with Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia), could move forward in a bipartisan and aggressive manner to carry on the work of the Commission. Using this framework, the six of us formed a bi-partisan working group, commonly dubbed the “Gang of Six.” Over the several months that followed, we worked together to find solutions to this debt crisis facing our nation, and to address these much-needed changes. On July 19, 2011, we presented to our colleagues an update on our comprehensive plan to tackle the rising debt and deficit and fundamentally reform a burdensome, anticompetitive tax code. This plan takes on the challenge of transforming the Commission recommendations into a real and bipartisan plan to attack our deficits with $3.7 trillion in savings over ten years, stabilize our growing debt, and impose unprecedented budget discipline on the federal government.

The proposal that we put forward would cut, not raise, taxes. There has been some confusion on this question because of different “baselines” that the plan may be measured against. There is no question that the kind of tax cuts included in the proposal are historic and would lower every taxpayer’s rate, and this kind of simplification of the tax code would generate significant growth in the economy. As a result of this economic growth, additional revenues would be generated, which, according to the plan, could only be used for further tax rate or deficit reduction, and not for additional spending.

All in all, this plan has strong bipartisan support and approaches spending and fiscal policy, and more, in a way that is not typical for Congress, but this is not a typical time. All the usual solutions have been exhausted and have proven to be inadequate to meet our nation’s problems. Nonetheless, Congress continued to explore other options, and, after several failed attempts by both House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), on July 25, 2011, legislation titled the Budget Control Act of 2011 was introduced in different forms by both House Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Reid. Subsequently, on August 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law a compromise measure, following House approval by a vote of 269-161 on August 1, 2011, and Senate approval by a vote of 74-26 on August 2, 2011. Included in this measure were numerous provisions aimed at deficit reduction and an increase in the debt limit of up to $2.4 trillion that would occur in several stages. These provisions would eliminate the need for further increases in the debt limit until late 2012 or early 2013.

As a nation, we have faced many unprecedented crises that could have been avoided with the earlier enactment of sound fiscal policies. We, in Congress, have stumbled one too many times over last-minute fixes to problems that should never have reached a critical need for action. In recent months, we have faced a debt ceiling crisis and a potential government shutdown, yet Senate leadership continues to refuse to pass a budget. When added to sluggish economic growth, government regulatory policies that are choking small business and continued high unemployment rates throughout the country, it is no wonder that Americans are up in arms over federal spending and debt.

There is much that needs to be done, but there is reason for hope. The direction of debate in Congress over spending issues has shifted dramatically from how much it can spend to a concentrated discussion about cutting spending. Just a couple years ago, Congress was focused on things like stimulus spending and bailouts, all of which I opposed. The wrongheaded notion that we can spend ourselves into prosperity has rightly been thrown out the window. Instead, the debates are focused on how much spending to cut, and how we can best enforce spending restraint on future Congresses. This is a positive development for our country, but there is still so much more that needs to be addressed.

As a member of the Senate Finance, Budget, and Banking Committees, I have been pushing aggressively for enhanced oversight of these unprecedented government interventions to make sure the taxpayer is being protected. I share your commitment to a cost-effective federal budget and the need to eliminate wasteful spending. Reducing federal spending has been a top priority for me throughout my public service. I am committed to restoring the federal budget to balance, and this effort requires careful scrutiny of all programs funded by the American taxpayer. We owe it to our children, grandchildren and future generations to do nothing less.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me in the future on this or other matters of interest to you. For more information about the issues before the U.S. Senate as well as news releases, photos, and other items of interest, please visit my Senate website, http://crapo.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mike Crapo

United States Senator

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

My email to Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Proud to be a Citizen of Idaho!

Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) from the great, and very red state of Idaho, speaks out about the health care bill.

Ordinarily I would never cut and paste completely from another website or blog, nor provide a link. I am unable to access Gateway Pundit due to their "bandwidth being exceeded" and recovered this from my reader. The information about this forced takeover of our economy and our way of life must be gotten to the greatest number of people possible. I'm sure under the circumstances, Jim Hoft will forgive me...

From the video: Sen. Crapo says, “This 2000-page bill will drive up the cost of health care insurance and medical care, not down, increase taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars, cut Medicare for senior citizens by hundreds of billions of dollars, grow the federal government by over $2.4 trillion in new spending, push the needy uninsured into a failing Medicaid system, impose a damaging unfunded mandate on our struggling states, leave millions of Americans uninsured, and establish a massive governmental intrusion into management of our health care economy.”

Here is the full transcript from Senator Crapo’s address:

“This is Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho. Americans are calling on Congress for health care reform because they can no longer tolerate its skyrocketing cost. They want us to stop the punishing increases in insurance premiums and health care costs that, year after year, are driving families across this nation to the edge. And, they want us to ensure that they have meaningful access to quality health care. But, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally revealed the 2,074-page bill that has been crafted for weeks now behind closed doors, that’s hardly what we got.
“This two-thousand page bill will:
** Drive up the cost of health care insurance and medical care, not down;
** Increase taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars;
** Cut Medicare for senior citizens by hundreds of billions of dollars;
** Grow the federal government by over $2.4 trillion in new spending;
** Push the needy uninsured into a failing Medicaid system;
** Impose a damaging unfunded mandate on our struggling states;
** Leave millions of Americans uninsured; and
** Establish a massive governmental intrusion into management of our health care economy.

“This is not true health care reform, and it is not what the American people want. This bill will result in higher premiums and higher health care costs for Americans – period.
“At a time when we are experiencing record double-digit unemployment, the Reid bill raises taxes by nearly half a trillion dollars. A significant number of these provisions violate President Obama’s promise to the American people, namely that lower – and middle-class Americans would not see a tax increase under his proposals. And, yet, this bill clearly breaks that promise as it taxes a wide range of Americans: the uninsured and the insured; families with so-called high value insurance plans; employers who create jobs or provide retiree drug coverage; individuals who need medicines or medical devices; and many others. It also levies fines and penalties on individuals, families and businesses.

“Medicare faces cuts of nearly $500 billion to create the new government entitlement, even though Medicare is already facing enormous unfunded liabilities and looming insolvency. These cuts will reduce access to, and the quality of, care our seniors receive from a number of Medicare providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, home health and hospice services. And, as they see their access to and quality of care reduced, seniors enrolled in the popular Medicare Advantage plans will also lose many of the benefits that they enjoy today.

“We are already experiencing record deficits and debt, and yet, this bill creates a massive expansion of government, growing the size of the federal government by over $2.4 trillion over ten full years of implementation. When you take away the budget gimmicks used in the early years of the implementation that make the total cost look smaller, the truth is glaring and the Congressional Budget Office agrees: this plan will increase federal spending and health costs, not lower them. That means both you and the federal government will see costs go up.

“The legislation pushes 15 million people into the failing Medicaid system rather than giving them access to health insurance. And, in addition to forcing the neediest of the uninsured into a failing entitlement program, this expansion will result in $25 billion in unfunded Medicaid mandates on the states, which are already struggling financially. This mandate further jeopardizes state budgets as it forces them to drive up spending.

“The bill creates a government option insurance company and establishes unprecedented expansion of governmental control over health care. It establishes the government as the determiner of what kind of insurance Americans can purchase. It also imposes new federal mandates on all Americans. The first mandate would apply to the individual: buy insurance, or the IRS will collect a fine from you. Then, on employers: face a penalty if you don’t provide a government-approved health plan. The bill imposes $28 billion in new taxes on employers who don’t comply. Those new taxes would be passed along to employees in the form of reduced wages and lost jobs.

“You’re going to hear a lot about this bill. That’s why I encourage you to read the bill yourself and form your own opinion. This bill is available on my website as well as a number of other Internet sites. Take a close look at how the bill is funded and who and what it covers and doesn’t cover and how it may impact you and your family. It’s a real eye-opener!

“In recent months, I’ve heard from many Idahoans in my home state about health care, and they echo what Americans want in health care reform–lower costs and better quality. What Americans really want is the kind of step-by-step reforms that Republicans have been advocating for years — common-sense ideas like the ability to purchase insurance across state lines, allowing small businesses to pool together to offer more affordable health insurance to their employees; changing the incentives in our system from numbers of procedures to quality of outcomes; eliminating pre-existing condition limitations, equalizing the tax treatment of insurance; eliminating waste, fraud and abuse and promoting wellness and prevention programs that encourage people to make healthy choices. These are the kinds of reform that make sense and would really make a difference for all Americans. Thank you for listening.”

Please take time today to call your US Senator.

It only will take a minute.

** HERE IS THE PHONE LIST.

Don’t let the democrats destroy our health care system.

Mike Crapo's website