As another Tax Day has come and gone, we reflect upon what’s wrong with our tax system and what can be done to fix it. The President’s idea is to use the tax system as a way of dividing classes by income as he did with the Buffett Rule proposal. He knew it was a gimmick, yet he spent days of taxpayer dollars trying to ram through his proposal. Luckily, it was defeated in the Senate earlier this week.

The problem is that an individual tax code with 3.8 million words is too complicated for the average American to understand. We have a corporate tax code – at almost 40 percent when you add federal and state taxes together – that makes America hopelessly uncompetitive. And our tax code contains loopholes that are exploited by companies large enough to hire an army of lawyers.

As Investor’s Business Daily wrote, in 1981 the entire developed world had high corporate tax rates, averaging 47 percent. Then capital became mobile and rates plummeted to 25 percent and haven’t stopped falling. The United States remains stuck since 1986 in an out-of-date, high corporate tax rate, which sent companies fleeing America for a more competitive tax climate. Just ask any number of companies why they left America and they’ll tell you that between the high tax and unreasonable regulatory burden in America, other nations are now a more profitable place to do business. And this problem will only get worse at the end of this year when the current tax cuts may expire at the will of President Obama. Billions more in investment will flee our shores for other countries.

We need a tax system that forces large, well-connected corporations to play by the same rules as small businesses and individual Americans and that protects and provides fair competition in free markets.

In the 1980’s Ronald Reagan enacted tax reform that created a period of unparalleled prosperity. We should follow his blueprint for tax reform that had as its core principle to stop taxing investment and productivity.

First, it is only fair that everyone should contribute something to the core government services like national defense, our courts, our roads and necessary infrastructure--our public goods. Everyone benefits and everyone needs to pay something.

Let’s face it: freedom is not free and all of us benefit from it. Today we live in a world where only 53 percent of Americans pay federal income tax. That means 47 percent pay nothing. People who pay nothing can easily forget the idea that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Second, even though everyone should pay something, those who can afford to pay more should pay more. This is true not just in absolute terms. Someone at a higher income level should pay at least the same percentage of income as someone at a lower income level. In other words, a flat tax should at least be flat, and not tilted against lower and middle income families.

Third, fairness also demands that government limit its claim on the hard work and talents of the people it taxes. The income people earn is not the government’s income; it belongs to the people who earned it. When people in Washington say things like “we can’t afford a tax cut,” they need to think about whom the “we” is. It is the people’s money, not the politicians’ money.

When you say that government has first claim on the income earned through people’s work and creativity like President Obama has, you are not far from saying that the people themselves belong to the government.

The fundamental principle of a flatter tax system should be to level the playing field for all people and all businesses. We need a national discussion on tax reform rather than gimmicks. Only then can we make our system fair for all Americans.

From the Great Compromise of 1787 to the Compromise of 1850, compromises are etched into our nation’s history. Unfortunately, President Obama’s recent “compromise” with our nation’s religious employers is not a compromise at all.

On January 20, when the Obama Administration announced a new Obamacare mandate requiring religious employers to provide free contraceptives to their employees, there was an outcry across the nation. Why would the President ever ask religious Americans to violate their moral conscience by forcing them to provide abortifacients, or pills that cause abortions? Since that announcement, churches have been staking their ground against the President’s decision. Thousands of Roman Catholic priests and bishops read their congregations a stirring and thought provoking letter during Sunday Mass Services. Countless news programs revolved around this controversial Obamacare provision. Many pundits wondered why a President up for re-election in November would make such a damaging political move.

In light of this controversy, it came as no surprise when President Obama announced he would compromise on this mandate. Before his announcement this past Friday, many Americans were hopeful that the Chief Executive would relent and allow religious employers to provide their own health insurance, free of the contraceptive mandate. Yet amazingly, the President took to the podium and offered a revised version of exactly the same plan!

The President provided the following compromise:

“Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services — no matter where they work. So that core principle remains. But if a woman’s employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company — not the hospital, not the charity — will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.”

In other words, though the religious employers would no longer be forced to offer free contraceptives to their employees, they will still be required to provide insurance plans to their employees that will provide them with free contraceptives. This is deception. This is not a compromise.

In fact, I would be interested to know in what way the President actually compromised his original mandate at all. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the very definition of compromise is “a settlement of differences by mutual concessions.” Because if religious employers are still forced to provide insurance that gives their employees access to free contraceptives, in what way has the President actually conceded his original plan? The sad truth is that he is still asking many American employers to violate their moral conscience on a daily basis. No healthcare plan should force Americans to go against their deeply held religious beliefs. This horrendous mandate is just one of the many reasons that I will not rest until Obamacare is repealed.

When the American people bestowed the highest office in the land onto President Barack Obama three years ago, they did so trusting him to follow through on his promise of “hope and change.” He has not kept that promise. The supposed accomplishments the President presented in Tuesday night’s State of the Union only serve to divert America’s attention from the true state of the union. Under three years of an Obama administration, our country is suffering; millions linger without a job, gas prices have nearly doubled, and our national debt is greater than the value of the entire U.S. economy.

Though he tried to do so, President Obama cannot blame the sad reality of our nation’s state on the inaction of Congress or the ineptitude of his Presidential predecessors. After all, it was President Obama, not Congress, who asked for nearly $5 trillion dollars to be added to the national debt. It was President Obama who recently cancelled the Keystone Pipeline project, killing thousands of potential American jobs. Under President Obama the unemployment rate has risen from 6.8% when he was elected to today’s 8.5%, a reality that’s caused many Americans to simply stop looking for work. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate is not the only figure that has seen an upsurge under this Administration – gas prices have nearly doubled from the day the President took office to now. When you compare that to only a 28-cent gas price increase under the last President’s administration, it is truly disheartening.

I agreed with the President when he called for all Americans to reclaim their “American values.” But, contrary to the President’s beliefs, the time-tested values that made America great do not include redistribution of wealth or lack of incentive to prosper. In reality, our country was founded by Americans who believed in values such as hard work and determination. They believed strongly in “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” None of them believed in taking away from their neighbors to achieve their dreams, but instead worked hard to provide for their own families and carve out a home in America for the generations to come.

Yet there is still hope for our nation. There is hope because we are the descendants of these hard working Americans. The same values that inspired them to greatness inspire us today. We don’t need handouts or bailouts, we need incentive and inspiration. As a member of Congress, I will continue to fight everyday to preserve and promote these true American values.

When President Obama was sworn into office more than two years ago, he took out an unlimited credit card in the name of the American taxpayer and immediately proceeded to charge a trillion-dollar stimulus that failed to hold unemployment below 8 percent, as the White House promised.

In February, President Obama proposed a budget with $8.7 trillion in new spending, despite the fact our nation is already more than $14 trillion in debt and increasing daily. Instead of fulfilling a promise made while vying for the White House to cut the U.S. deficit in half in his first term, he presented a budget that kept the U.S. on the same, unsustainable fiscal road.

Last week, House Republicans introduced a real budget proposal that reduces deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. It introduces real reforms to get our fiscal house in order and actually pay off the debt before our children and grandchildren are stuck with our spending bill.

But yesterday, President Obama offered empty, political rhetoric to the American people. Suddenly he’s feigning outrage against the current debt levels and the out-of-control spending. He thinks taxing those making over $250,000 will solve our budget woes and create jobs. It won’t. The President is just singing the second verse of his same old song.

If President Obama was serious about saving the taxpayer money, he would have started asking for cuts two years ago.

The next battle we face is defunding ObamaCare. Recently I read startling information about the funding of ObamaCare presented by former Representative Ernest Istook of Oklahoma (now a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation).

Representative Istook wrote, “Rather than respecting the right of future Congresses to decide on funding, ObamaCare’s sponsors included several years’ worth of current and future appropriations for the health care makeover – money that mostly has not yet been spent.”

Wait a minute. Does that mean the vote we just took in Congress on H.R. 1 to defund ObamaCare, doesn’t actually starve the health care beast of its funding?

That is exactly what Istook is saying.

You see, it turns out Pelosi was right when she said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Because now, months after passage, we are discovering an astonishing $105,464,000,000 has already been appropriated to the Health and Human Services Secretary for ObamaCare through FY2019.

When ObamaCare was passed, Democrats knew they would lose the gavel. But this funding ensures they will not lose their prized government takeover of health care because it’s already well-funded.

The Congressional Research Service outlined the billions appropriated to ObamaCare in their report, “Appropriations and Fund transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” Some of what’s included:

-Section 1311(a) of ObamaCare provides an unlimited appropriation to the Health and Human Services Secretary to award grants to states for Exchanges.
-Section 4002 essentially creates a $16 billion slush fund for the HHS Secretary to spend and $2 billion is appropriated to the Secretary per year in perpetuity after 2015.
-Section 4101(a) allows $230 million in appropriation for school-based health centers.
-Section 5508 appropriates $230 million for expanded primary care residency programs.
-Section 2953 allocates $320 to Title XX-type education programs.

In the next two weeks, both parties in the House and Senate will engage in a showdown over funding of the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. We must win the battle on rescinding funds to ObamaCare. But if we do not fight, we cannot win. We must fight. Taxpayers are counting on us.

Planned Parenthood continues to rake in your tax dollars. Last year alone the nation’s largest abortion provider received more than $350 million in grants and contracts from the federal government. That must stop.

Planned Parenthood performed 324,000 abortions in 2010. That should be enough reason to ensure that it never receives another taxpayer dollar from our government. But alarming new revelations about Planned Parenthood raise questions about whether the organization is breaking the law.

The pro-life organization Live Action has posted an undercover video taken at a Planned Parenthood facility in New Jersey. It shows the clinic manager explaining how Planned Parenthood could streamline services for girls who were being used by sex traffickers. The girls were described as being brought into the country without identification, and some were portrayed as being 14 years old or younger. The video can be seen at the LiveAction.org website.

I want to applaud Live Action for its courageous work in exposing more of Planned Parenthood’s horrific agenda. The unyielding work of pro-life individuals and organizations has often served to awaken our country to the devastation caused by abortion in the taking of millions of innocent lives and the terrible scarring of countless women.

What’s clear in this newly-released video is that the greed of Planned Parenthood has driven the organization to new depths. As the video shows, the clinic manager coaches a man and a woman, who are posing as a pimp and a prostitute, in ways to circumvent the law to provide abortions, contraception, and STD services to 14 and 15-year old girls who are being abused as part of sex trafficking.

Live Action has turned its video over to law enforcement authorities, including U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. I am calling on those authorities to fully investigate this case and to prosecute any offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

In Congress, I am cosponsoring legislation that would stop federal funding of Planned Parenthood. I hope this new revelation will push that bill to the top of the Congressional agenda so we can act swiftly to cut off any flow of taxpayer dollars to this heinous organization.

Uncertainty is in the air this holiday season, as lawmakers are yet to pass legislation preventing Obama’s tax hikes from affecting all taxpayers on January 1, 2011. Even though Congress likely will vote on a tax bill in the next 16 days, more uncertainty is just around the corner.
 
As a former federal tax attorney, I know our nation’s current tax system is onerous and confusing. The new majority must take a cold hard look at our way of doing business. According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, we find ourselves in a perpetual state of temporary tax codes:

“In the late 1990s, there were typically fewer than a dozen tax provisions that had just a limited lease on life and needed to be renewed every year or so.

“Today there are 141.

“Now Congress, taking up a deal worked out between the Obama administration and Republican leaders, is poised to turn the whole personal income-tax system into something of a temporary structure. The plan embraces a broad range of provisions—an extension of Bush-era rates, a new estate-tax formula—but for only two years. A payroll-tax cut in the bill is for a single year.

“This means that if the compromise passes largely intact, the U.S. will have no permanent regime governing levies on salaries, capital gains and dividends, the Social Security tax, as well as a slew of targeted breaks for families, students and other groups. This on top of dozens of corporate-tax provisions that already were subject to annual renewal.

“The level of uncertainty, unusual for developed nations, complicates planning and discourages hiring and investment, many economists and corporate executives say.”

Our founding fathers never intended a larger-than-life government manipulating our very economy via the tax code. We can start to reverse this course by focusing on pro-growth measures that will provide needed certainty to businesses and families. The 112thCongress should consider cutting the corporate tax rate to make it more attractive for businesses seeking to operate in the industrialized world. I would also like to see the zeroing out of capital gains taxes. Then, let’s reduce all marginal personal income tax rates for individuals and start debate on ending the death tax. Better yet, given our nation’s dire economic situation, let’s begin a serious discussion about whether or not to scrap the current tax code and replace it with a fairer, flatter tax code. I think Americans would appreciate slashing the tax code to a fraction of its current length of more than 50,000 pages.
 
The American people have given Republicans a second chance. In the 112th Congress, it is my desire to see Congress bring greater simplicity to our tax policy. As a small business owner myself I know a  pro-growth economy is possible and one place to start is through tax code certainty for small businesses, corporations and families.

First Greece was granted a bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Now Ireland has been granted a massive bailout totaling $113 billion. Soon Portugal, Spain and Italy may line up to escape their dire financial straits. When will the perpetual bailouts end?

Bloomberg News details the worries circulating around Spain and Portugal’s financial states:

“Investor concern has shifted to Spain and Portugal since yesterday, when European governments sought to bolster the euro by giving Ireland an 85 billion-euro ($113 billion) aid package and diluting proposals that would have forced bondholders to bear some costs of future bailouts.

“’It is quite likely that Portugal’ will be next in line for a financial assistance, Roubini said today in Prague at a conference of chief executive officers sponsored by ING Groep NV. ‘The big elephant in the room is not Portugal but, of course, it’s Spain. There is not enough official money to bailout Spain if trouble occurs.’”

The United States must send a message resisting domino-effect world bailouts. Although our friends overseas may believe the financial policies of the U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, President Obama, Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi represent the views of our entire country. Fortunately, the bailout mentality isn’t backed by most of the American people. Instead, Americans have called for fiscal restraint from their own government and I extend the same call to our allies.

Countries like Greece and Ireland demonstrated irresponsible behavior as they spent like there were no consequences. Now, by the IMF agreeing to financially back Greece and Ireland, it is moving into dangerous territory itself. The IMF is removing the moral hazard from countries that find themselves swimming in debt with no way out.

What is true for individuals, families, small businesses, townships, cities, counties, states must also be true for countries; create a balanced budget and don’t spend more than you take in.

George Washington in his farewell address advised the young nation to resist foreign entanglements. He was referring to military engagements, but common sense tells us to apply that sound advice to the incessant calls for monetary bailouts. The United States, as a member of the IMF, is tangled into the European mess with first Greece and now Ireland. It is in our best interests as a sovereign nation to not bear the burden of these countries’ reckless spending habits. Market discipline drives private economic decisions. Likewise, tough love demonstrated by the United States to our international allies will also send a message before more bailouts are doled out.

The American people have given Republicans a second chance. On January 3rd we will take the Majority and face a difficult road ahead. We have many challenges to overcome including defunding and repealing Obamacare, ending the bailouts, and facing a harsh financial reality: our national debt has almost reached the allowable debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion.

A vote on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling will be one of the most significant challenges to the start of the 112th Congress. Congress simply cannot continue to operate under the pretense of “gangster government,” raising the limit upon our whim. We aren’t going to find financial stability by allowing ourselves to fall further down the rabbit hole.

At town halls and rallies across the country we saw men and women willing to put everything on the line for our American principles. They called for a reining in of spending and a decrease in the size of government. They called for strict adherence to the Constitution.

Bickering won’t solve our financial woes. Instead we must pause to consider the gravity of our situation and weigh our options like grown-ups. The American people understand cuts have to be made because a lot is at stake here including our children’s future. Will they have the freedoms we know and enjoy daily? Or will they answer to our foreign debt holders in China?

One option being presented by the Federal Reserve, not Congress, is to fire up the printing presses through quantitative easing. I wrote Chairman Ben Bernanke asking him to reconsider and testify on Capitol Hill before pursuing this dangerous option which will create inflation.

Instead, Members of Congress, elected by the American people, must start working on the difficult cuts that must be made. In the 112th Congress we are ushering in a new era of financial responsibility where bailouts will be history. Fannie and Freddie think they have an unlimited credit card billed to the taxpayer. Earlier this month they even requested another $2.5 billion more. But we need to answer “no”, cut off government subsidies and get them off our balance sheet.

Additionally, any paid-back TARP funds should immediately go to the U.S. Treasury. Also going to the U.S. Treasury should be issued any outstanding “stimulus” funds. As the American people tighten their belts, Congress must tighten the country’s purse strings as we work to put our country back on track.

Now is the time to find fiscal stability. Instead of raising the debt ceiling and giving ourselves an excuse to delay the inevitable, let’s start working on solutions. 

Finally the Democrat’s train of big spending and big government has been stopped in its tracks. Starting in January the majority can focus on reducing the debt, repealing Obamacare, and restoring limited government. But in the meantime, a dangerous agenda could be presented by the Democrats in the lame duck session of Congress and Americans must keep a vigilant eye.

Democrats scurried out of Washington in September before addressing the tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of the year. This has put businesses and families in a difficult position. They don’t know what the financial playing field will look like in 2011 and how much will be owed to Uncle Sam. During the lame duck session the issue will be brought to the House floor. When it is, the existing Republicans must do everything within our power to extend the current tax rates for all Americans.

The Tea Party played an influential role in yesterday’s results but now they must stay visible. Please continue to put the pressure on your representative during the lame duck. Then, at the start of the new Congress in January, remember to hold us accountable to the limited government designed for our great nation by the founding fathers.

Our economy is suffocating under the massive weight of $13 trillion of debt. The interest on the national debt from fiscal year 2010 was $414 billion alone. As soon as Congress reconvenes, immediate focus must be given to easing our national debt.

Under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, debt has grown $5 trillion, even though she promised “no new deficit spending” when she took the gravel. But it’s not too late for Pelosi to revisit her promise. In the last few weeks of the 111th Congress, Pelosi could consider:

•    Cutting federal government spending by 23 percent – the same amount spending has increased since President Obama took office.
•    Proposing and passing a balanced budget for 2011 with no tax increases.
•    Canceling outstanding “stimulus” funds.
•    Returning repaid TARP funds to the U.S. Treasury.
•    Repealing Obamacare and all of its ugly, expensive tentacles.

Going forward, a limited government must be achieved. Congress can announce it is getting out of private business and the bailout business. Uncle Sam will not be the financial backstop for any entity.

Additionally, creating a pro-growth economy will be the main focus. Starting with a permanent extension of the tax cuts, Congress must change policies to help small businesses. If the business tax rate is made 9 percent instead of its current 34 percent, it would be nearly the lowest rate in the industrialized world.

Speaker Pelosi, allow us to get our nation back on track before the 111th Congress ends. Your speakership doesn’t have to be marked by the greatest increase in national debt. We still have time to get our fiscal house in order.

In the midst of war, the safety of our servicemen and women must not be taken for granted. But for operations in Afghanistan, 26,000 thousand military contractors are relied upon, most of whom are local Afghanis. Unlike our uniformed troops these civilians have not sworn to protect our nation, so it is imperative that contracting companies ensure the qualifications of each individual hired to serve in crucial positions such as security guards for military outposts. Unfortunately, a new report reveals that some hires have included Taliban commanders, warlords and Iranian spies.

The Senate Armed Services Committee released a report yesterday cataloguing the “systemic failures” and lack of oversight in the contracting system in Afghanistan. ABC News describes how some companies tried to fulfill their contracts:

“In some cases, companies were awarded contracts though they had no ability to provide the services needed. In those cases, companies then quickly hired local nationals without proper vetting or security checks. The chaotic system left US facilities and personnel vulnerable to attack. The report found that some Afghan security guards simply walked off their posts at remote forward operating bases.

“In two specific cases, the report charges that ArmorGroup and a contracting company EODT, hired private security guards who worked for Taliban-connected warlords. According to the report, a US military official initially recommended that ArmorGroup hire the warlord to help provide guards to fulfill a contract. After US military officials at a Western Afghanistan airbase discovered that Afghan security guards were passing sensitive security and troop information to the Taliban, the guards were fired. Within days, the fired guards were hired by a second contractor to supply security at a second US facility just a few miles north, the report claims. EODT, the report alleges, had two Afghans on their payroll who were known to US military intelligence as Iranian agents.”

The Armed Services’ report raises two primary concerns: One, we are holding the American taxpayer liable to pay for these contracts when, in turn, the money is flowing to the Taliban commanders, warlords, and spies who were hired. And two, our troops’ lives are put at serious risk when those hired to protect their bases are working alongside our enemy. They are individuals whose allegiance is to a dangerous and anti-democratic ideal. They wish to see our mission thwarted and fail.

Our soldiers and our nation deserves better. If we are to finish our mission in Afghanistan successfully, these security contracts must be reviewed and every single individual tasked with protecting American lives must be properly vetted immediately.

In a recent poll, only half of the country believes the American Dream still exists. With unemployment at 9.6% and the expiration of tax cuts looming, working hard to get ahead may seem impossible to some.
 
The American Dream isn’t an idea of yesteryear, but rather a pursuit that must be reawakened. As reaffirmed in the Declaration of Independence, we are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Last week I joined House Republicans in espousing “The Pledge to America”. It’s a new governing agenda, set to return our course to the principles outlined in our Constitution and back to a limited government.

The Pledge places focus on job creation, spending cuts, and government reform. It’s built on the idea that trust can and must be restored between Congress and those they are elected to represent.

“The Pledge to America” reinforces the American Dream in its preamble:

“America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families and the common good.

“America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny.”

I pledge to hold true to our founding principles and to advance the agenda of a limited government, based off of the Constitution. It is my wish that all people may be inspired to believe in the American Dream again.

Today we celebrate Constitution Day and delight in the freedoms and countless rights that are outlined for us as Americans in our founding document. No country has ever existed that has experienced the liberties we take for granted in the United States. Not only did the founders have great foresight when drafting the Constitution, but millions of men and women have stood up to defend our republic and way of life.

It was in the Constitution that our founding fathers penned the infamous words, “We the People.” We the people, benefit from countless civil rights that aren’t found in all countries. We the People, have freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, economic liberties, equal protection under the law, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishments.  We the People, ordained and established the Constitution in order to form a more perfect Union.  

Sadly, the understanding of our founding documents have been lost due to indifference and misinterpreted due to ignorance.  Recognizing the vital need to understand the Constitution, the specific observance of Constitution Day was established in 2004 by Congress to fall on today’s date, September 17, the day the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution back in 1787. The law recognizing Constitution Day requires all publically funded educational institutions to learn about the Constitution every year on this day. However, all American citizens should take an interest in the base of their government, not just students in their youth. Young or old, rich or poor, the Constitution plays a role in the lives of all its citizens.

The Constitution is both testimony to the foundations of our national heritage and still relevant to the circumstances and needs of our times.  It was a unique idea to the Founding Fathers, and it remains uniquely American today.  It is important that all Members of Congress remember to view every piece of legislation through a Constitutional lens when bills are presented throughout the year, not just on the anniversary of the ratification of our founding document.

Our Constitution has been preserved over the last two hundred years thanks to the tireless efforts of so many. We too must continue to be vigilant to stand by the freedoms safeguarded in this document. It is my wish that all future generations be able to experience America as a sovereign nation ruled by the limited form of government found in the Constitution of the United States of America.

This week, AP fact-checked the Obama Administration’s assertion that the stimulus is helping.  While the 9.5% unemployment rate and hundreds of thousands of new jobless claims show the stimulus plan has failed, AP looks at some specific initiatives, and proves the administration dead wrong.

AP: FACT CHECK: Stimulus assessments overly optimistic

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration claimed this week that $100 billion invested in innovative technologies under the economic stimulus law is "transforming the American economy" by putting the nation on track for technological breakthroughs in health care, energy and transportation.
But an examination of details in the 50-page report unveiled Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden reveals something a bit different: a collection of rosy projections that ignore many of the challenges, pitfalls and economic realities in all those areas.

A look at how the administration's claims compare to the facts:
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EDITOR'S NOTE — An occasional look at government assertions and how well they adhere to the facts.
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Increasing renewable energy
The claim: Thanks to the stimulus, the United States is on track to "doubling U.S. renewable energy generation capacity and U.S. renewable manufacturing capacity by 2012."
The facts: While the Recovery Act has helped increase renewable energy, the fact that it is a one-time jolt makes it difficult to project that the growth will continue for the next couple of years. George Sterzinger, executive director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, a Washington think tank that promotes renewable energy, said the Recovery Act's cash grant program for renewable energy projects "jump-started a lot of stuff. But there's nothing beyond that."
Sterzinger added that it would be a mistake to link the growth in renewable energy generation to the growth in American-made renewable energy equipment. While the U.S. could probably meet the first goal, he said, it isn't likely to meet the second because much of the equipment is made overseas.
Robert L. Nelson, a partner at the Akin Gump law firm who co-chairs its renewable energy group, said that the manufacturing claim reminded him of a story told in the old Soviet Union. A commissar, or government official, asks a farmer how good next year's crop will be. The farmer says it will be 10 times as good as last year's. The commissar thinks to himself, "Ten times zero is zero."
Nelson said, "When you're looking at where the U.S. is starting from, doubling isn't all that meaningful a statistic."
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Cutting the cost of solar power
The claim: Government stimulus money will lead to "cutting the cost of solar power in half by 2015, putting it on par with the cost of retail electricity from the grid."
The facts: That projection assumes a huge payoff from stimulus spending on technology improvements in solar energy. Nelson, who has worked in renewable energy for 25 years, called the prediction "highly unlikely," unless there is a big increase in utility-scale solar power projects.
Sterzinger said there was too much uncertainty in the world economy to make such a prediction.
"Projecting from the last few years looks at the effects of a global recession that lowers material costs and a temporary glut of module manufacturing capacity," he said. "They have influenced cost but are not based on any technology innovation."
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Quicker, cheaper genetic mapping
The claim: Stimulus funding is spurring National Institutes of Health research to make unraveling people's individual genetic codes, or genomes, easy and cheap enough that the number completed could "dwarf, by 50 times or so" the number so far finished.
The facts: NIH research kicked off the revolution in human genome sequencing and continues to play a crucial role, but it has lots of help today from universities, international research foundations and even private companies jockeying to sell better gene-scanning machines.
It cost about $3 billion and a decade of government research to come up with the first draft of a human genome in 2000. Last year, a Stanford University professor reported that he sequenced his genome in a week at a cost of $48,000, using a $1 million machine. Many specialists believe the price may drop to less than $1,000 in a few years. The more sequencing scientists do allows them to better explore variations that contribute to disease.
As promising as personal genome sequencing is, people need to understand that it's basically a first step. The bigger challenge, still in its infancy, is deciphering what the genetic variations mean and how that information might be harnessed for better care.
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High-speed rail
The claim: "With $8 billion in funding, the Recovery Act is beginning to make high-speed rail a reality across the country." Projects selected for funds represent "strategic investments" that will yield high-speed service or lay the groundwork for future service.
The facts: The largest project is one that would connect San Francisco with Los Angeles, using trains traveling up to 220 mph. But some of the projects getting stimulus money would primarily upgrade existing freight rail tracks so they could be used for faster passenger service, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph at least part of the time — well short of the speeds in other developed countries.
Not everyone shares the White House's optimism about the prospects for high-speed rail. A recent analysis by the Government Accountability Office concluded that building high-speed rail service in the U.S. "is a difficult, multiyear effort" that hinges on financing that goes "far beyond the funds provided by the Recovery Act in a time of continuing federal and state deficits."
Another challenge for some projects will be meeting the 2017 deadline to spend Recovery Act funds, the GAO said. The capacity to manufacture passenger rail cars and other high-speed equipment exists in the U.S. But it may take years to design and test new rail cars that meet U.S. crashworthiness standards, which are different than much of the rest of the world.
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Health information technology
The claim: Stimulus spending is "a significant boost" to goals of converting to electronic health records, computerized prescriptions and remote treatment of patients in hard-to-reach locations.
The facts: The effort to get doctors' offices and hospitals using electronic medical records is in its earliest stages. Economic dividends from greater efficiency and fewer costly medical mistakes could be years away.
And there's plenty of potential for glitches. People involved with the issue give the administration high marks for trying, but many do not expect Obama's goal of getting all of America's medical records computerized within five years to be met.
For one thing, about 90 percent of roughly $20 billion the stimulus legislation allocated for this purpose has yet to be spent.
Most of the stimulus money is to help doctors and hospitals defray the cost of installing computer systems, but the Health and Human Services Department only recently spelled out the capabilities that those systems will have to have in order to qualify for federal money. No systems have yet been certified as meeting the required capabilities.
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Electric vehicles
The claim: The stimulus has helped produce "significant steps toward affordable electric cars that can drive 300 miles on a single charge, powered by $10 of clean electricity instead of $50 dollars of oil. Ultimately this means consumers may have the choice among a range of vehicles from a combustion vehicle with over 50 miles per gallon or an electric-drive vehicle for the same price."
The facts: While strides are being made, this vision of the future rests on assumptions that many regard as overly optimistic. Even a White House task force on the auto industry's recovery said while General Motors' extended-range plug-in hybrid, the Volt, "holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term." At $41,000, the Volt is about twice the price of a conventional midsize car. The price of electric cars will drop, but automakers are years from being able to sell them at the same price as cars with internal combustion engines.
Another hurdle is fuel prices, which are relatively low and provide little incentive to consumers to spend thousands of dollars extra for a hybrid or even more for a plug-in car; it would take years for the fuel savings to outweigh the higher price.
And there are questions about whether the large lithium ion batteries needed for electric cars are durable, safe and affordable enough for widespread use.
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