Following up on the Democrats’ Budget Conference Report that passed the House last Thursday, I'd like to reiterate again how irresponsible and damaging the budget will be if appropriated in its current form.  However, I think Democrat Congressman Bill Foster (IL-14) does a pretty good job blowing the lid off exactly how bad his own party's plan actually is.

His release from last Thursday states:

“I can’t support a budget, from either party, that raises taxes on the middle class. This bill hurts families all across the 14th District by eliminating the 10-percent bracket for lower-income taxpayers, reinstating the marriage penalty and increasing taxes on small businesses and investments."

Rep. Foster is one of 14 Democrats who joined with 196 House Republicans in voting against it. To all the detractors who say that my colleagues and I are only offering partisan rhetoric about this budget, I don't think Rep. Foster and other Democrat House colleagues would agree. There is bipartisan agreement that the budget in its current form destroys the wallets of the American taxpayer.

Recently, Congress passed what it calls "critical" funding measures to protect our "great cats" and "rare canids" and to "conserve our cranes." Pressing legislation, right? Let me fill you in on what Congress is doing with your tax dollars.

H.R. 1464 - the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2007, brought to us by Rep. Udall (D-NM), would establish a new grant program to provide money to individuals or groups that work to conserve rare cat and canine species in foreign countries. In order to fund the grant program, H.R. 1464 would establish the "Great Cats and Rare Canids Conservation Fund" within the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and authorize $25 million through FY 2013.

$25 million to fund rare cat and dog conservation in foreign countries?  Animal preservation programs overseas should be funded by private philanthropic organizations and not taxpayers – or at the very least, the foreign countries in which they’re being conserved.  What’s worse:  H.R. 1464 would increase direct spending without any offset.  If this program is so important, the Democrats should have cut spending elsewhere to pay for it.  Instead, the cost will be borne by taxpayers in the form of higher taxes or by our children in the form of a growing government budget.

H.R. 1771 - Crane Conservation Act of 2007, brought to us by Rep. Baldwin (D-WI), would establish a new grant program to provide money to individuals or groups that work to conserve crane species in Africa, Asia, Europe, or North America.  In order to fund the grant program, H.R. 1771 would establish the “Crane Conservation Fund” within the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and authorize $25 million through FY 2013.

Sound familiar? Once again the problem is that we're authorizing $25 million over five years to fund crane conservation on four continents. Again, we’re increasing spending without any offset.

How’s that for fiscal responsibility!

This afternoon, the House passed the Budget Conference Report by the razor thin margin of 214-210. Close, but still a grave warning that we are one step closer to Congress' tax and spend bonanza. If the Democrats get what they want and this budget passes in its current form, Americans will be hit with the largest tax increase in American history.

The plan has been put in place, but now it has to be appropriated.  What that means is that now Congress will set specific funding levels for specific programs and agencies to fill in the blanks in this budget.  There’s still a chance for Congress to show some respect for hard-working taxpayers and keep government spending low, cut wasteful spending, and pass real tax relief.  Hopefully, Congress will come to their senses before it's too late.



My colleague Congressman John Campbell has a great post on his Green Eyeshade Blog about how this will affect a family with two children:

The Davis Family: A Middle Income Family in Middle America

This afternoon, the House is scheduled to take up  H.R. 3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The goal of this bill is to use federal funds for modernization and construction projects for schools across the country. Once again, we see the federal government substituting its judgement for local parents, teachers, and school boards.

Senior Republican Member of the Committee on Education and Labor Buck McKeon (CA) has been at the forefront of this battle against Washington-controlled school construction, and he does a great job laying out the facts against it:

"The problem is that the federal government has historically had an extremely limited, almost non-existent, role in financing school construction projects, which have been a state and local responsibility. The federal government has deliberately focused its attention and funding on programs that improve student achievement such as funding Title I grants to local educational agencies to help educate low-income and other disadvantaged students and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which helps states and school districts provide special education for children with disabilities.

"The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act (H.R. 3021) creates a massive and unproven $20 billion federal school construction program that undermines efforts to increase funding for important education priorities such as Title I and IDEA. The bill would undermine efforts at the state and local level to build and modernize schools while significantly expanding the size and scope of the federal government."

Not to mention the fact that the $20 billion cost of this bill wouldn't even come close to the $112 billion price tag that the National Center for Education Statistics estimates would be needed to complete school construction and renovation projects across the nation.  But hey, what's $20 billion of your money haphazardly thrown at a project that we have no intention of completing? This bill is nothing more than feel-good legislating. It's not about education; it's about photo ops.

H.R. 3021 would seriously interfere with the responsibility of state and local agencies to handle school construction. It would drastically impact programs that serve disadvantaged students. And it does all this without having any real and meaningful impact on our educational infrastructure.

Yesterday, Congress finally got around to dealing with H.Res. 923, my resolution recognizing the State of Minnesota's 150th Anniversary. Minnesota celebrated its Sesquicentennial on May 11, and the fact that Congressional Leadership finally got around to working it into its schedule almost a month later should be a stark reminder of how do-nothing this Do-Nothing Leadership has been.

This delay is even more surprising considering Congress wasn't tackling an important issue like our rising energy costs. But nevertheless, here are some facts about Minnesota you might find interesting:

* In 1889, the St. Mary hospital now known as the Mayo Clinic opened its doors to patients in Rochester, Minnesota.

* Minnesota houses over 30 institutions of higher education including the University of Minnesota - where the first open heart surgery and first bone marrow transplant were performed in the United States.

* Minnesota is currently home to more than 35 Fortune 500 Companies.

* Farmland spans over half of Minnnesota's 54 million acres and the agriculture industry is Minnesota's second largest job market employing nearly 80,000 farmers.

For 150 years, Minnesota has attracted a special caliber of people. They are people of faith and charity, hope and dedication, love and compassion. And that compassion was recently exemplified best through the outpouring of assistance and support to the victims of the tornado that hit the town of Hugo, Minnesota a couple weeks back.

Over a thousand volunteers have helped with the clean up effort. Hugo Mayor Fran Miron mentioned one story of a Forest Lake man and some young teens bringing an SUV by city hall and unloading a batch of canned goods to be donated for tornado victims. As the vehicle left the hall, Miron said one of the youngsters yelled: "Mayor, we love you." This is just one example of the many generous acts of kindness displayed by Minnesota residents these past couple of weeks.

"Minnesota Nice" is more than a saying; it's a way of life.

My office just got word from the White House that the President signed H.R. 4008, the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2007 into law this morning. As the chief co-sponsor of this bi-partisan bill, I'm pleased to report the good news to you all today.

There's video below of me speaking on the floor, but to give you a quick summary, the purpose of this legislation is to ensure that consumers suffering from credit or identity theft are protected while also limiting abusive lawsuits that result in increased cost to business - especially small businesses -  and potentially increased prices to consumers.

This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to rules for printing an expiration date on certain credit and debit card receipts. This is all part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Tranactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) that was passed to prevent identity theft and credit card fraud. This bill makes the previously passed legislation much more sound, and leaves Americans more secure.

Below is Congress' work schedule for the week:



Your eyes aren't deceiving you. There is nothing on here to deal with gas prices and rising energy costs.

While many of these resolutions are for worthy causes and events, including one recognizing the State of Minnesota's 150th Anniversary, I don't think there's anything more important than addressing our nation's energy concerns. Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues have certainly paid a lot of lip service to a so called "commonsense plan" to address rising energy costs, but have taken no action whatsoever.

It won't be a quick fix, but that's why it's so important to start the conversation in Congress now so both parties can craft a plan and work to carry it out. But this can't happen unless the Democrat Leadership brings it to the floor.

Republicans have put forth their plan, we're just waiting for the Democrats to show us theirs. As we continue to wait, costs get higher and higher.