The President’s Budget has put our nation on an alarming path towards fiscal calamity.  Consider the following, from the Congressional Budget Office Director’s blog: 

• “Under the President’s budget, the cumulative deficit over the 2011-2020 period would equal $9.8 trillion (5.2 percent of GDP), $3.8 trillion more than the cumulative deficit projected in the baseline. Of that difference, roughly $3.0 trillion stems directly from proposed changes in policy and another $0.8 trillion results from additional interest on the public debt.”
• “Under the President’s budget, debt held by the public would grow from $7.5 trillion (53 percent of GDP) at the end of 2009 to $20.3 trillion (90 percent of GDP) at the end of 2020. As a result, net interest would more than quadruple between 2010 and 2020 in nominal dollars (without an adjustment for inflation); it would expand from 1.4 percent of GDP in 2010 to 4.1 percent in 2020.”

The interest on the debt this Administration and Congress is racking up will cost the American taxpayer nearly $1 trillion a year by the end of the decade, as the following chart from the House Budget Committee Republican staff makes clear:

And that’s not all.  A report from the House Budget Committee Republican staff noted that:

Two recent reports provide further evidence of the Federal Government’s worsening long-term fiscal condition. One report, by the Department of the Treasury, shows U.S. obligations approaching a staggering $62 trillion. The second, by the Government Accountability Office [GAO], reports the government’s excess long-term spending obligations increased by 21.5 percent in just 9 months, to a stunning $76.4 trillion.

This spending spree is coming from the same Administration which declared in its FY 2011 Budget Message that: “[W]e cannot continue to borrow against our children’s future…In the long term, we cannot have sustainable and durable economic growth without getting our fiscal house in order.”

What a joke.  At a time when the American people are asking, “where are the jobs?” out-of-touch Democrats are engaging in a spending spree of historic proportions - doubling the national debt in five years and tripling it in ten, and raising federal spending as a percentage of GDP by five percent above historical averages.  

We need fiscal sanity in Washington, and we need it now.  Last month, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent President Obama a letter in which they urged President to work with Republicans to cut spending now to encourage job growth and reduce the national debt instead of simply punting tough spending decisions to a commission that won’t even issue a final report until the final months of 2010.  

Unfortunately, the President hasn’t responded.

“Given today’s economic climate, fiscal discipline is more important now than ever,” NTU President Duane Parde said. “Fortunately, taxpayers have a staunch ally in Conaway, to whom National Taxpayers Union is proud to present a ‘Taxpayers’ Friend Award.’

“Conaway’s pro-taxpayer score of 93 percent was one of the best in the entire Congress,” Parde continued. “By voting time and again to reduce federal spending, taxes, and debt, Conaway has led by example in the fight to defend overburdened taxpayers across the country.” Learn more about the award here.

Republican House lawmakers will formally demand an investigation to determine Democratic leaders’ knowledge and reaction to allegations that ex-Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) sexually harassed his aides, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Thursday.

The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which lost jurisdiction over Massa when he resigned, closed its inquiry Wednesday.

Massa announced last week that he would not seek re-election, citing a recurrence of cancer. That decision was followed days later by his announcement that he would resign before his term expired.

He denied harassing his aides in two national television interviews Tuesday night, even as he acknowledged having used profane language and aggressively tickling a male aide.

House Republicans plan to demand a new investigation focusing on when Democratic leaders first learned of the allegations against Massa and how they responded.

–Mike Conaway voted present as required by his membership on the Ethics Committee–

The resolution is expected to be modeled on one introduced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2006, when she was the Minority Leader, regarding allegations that then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) sent sexually explicit e-mail messages to a House page.

A spokesman for Pelosi did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

According to a copy of the resolution, the House would direct the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to form an investigation subcommittee within 10 days.

The resolution states the investigation would cover “which House Democratic leaders and members of their respective staffs had knowledge prior to March 3, 2010 of the aforementioned allegations concerning Mr. Massa, and what actions each leader and staffer having any such knowledge took after learning of the allegations.”

What Bishop Cordielone said is something that all pro-life people can agree on, no matter what their faith.

[T]he bill that they [White House] are using as a vehicle is the Senate bill…You would find in there the federal government would directly subsidize abortions, plus every enrollee in the Office of Personnel management plan, every enrollee has to pay a minimum of $1 per month toward reproductive rights which includes abortion.

ABC News also noted that: “The congressman from Michigan does not think there are enough votes in the House to pass the health care bill as it currently stands, and called the Senate bill ‘totally unacceptable.’” Rep. Stupak went on to add, “Give us our language. Let’s keep current law: No public funding for abortion.”

And the Conference of Catholic Bishops made it loud and clear that they believe the Senate bill would result in publicly funded abortions, as they noted in a January 26 letter to Members of Congress:

Disappointingly, the Senate-passed bill in particular does not meet our moral criteria on life and conscience.  Specifically, it violates the longstanding federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortions and health plans that include such abortions….The bill’s provision against abortion funding should have the same substantive policy as the Hyde amendment and parallel provisions in current law, should cover every program in the legislation, and should be as permanent as the funding provided by the bill.

Politico noted the obvious this morning, reporting that “[House Majority Leader] Hoyer said Tuesday that the abortion fight ‘has to be resolved’” if Democrats hope to pass their government takeover of health care.  The Politico story also noted that:

The problem at this point is that supporters of abortion rights, including many of the speaker’s closest allies, have voted to oppose any bill that includes Stupak’s restrictions.  On the flip side, Stupak has said at least 10 colleagues will oppose a bill that doesn’t include them.  If both claims are true, that would make it almost impossible for party leaders in the House to get the 216 votes they need to pass the measure.  And neither side likes the Senate language, so leaders will need to figure out a way to make the necessary changes.

But if pro-life Democrats think they can “fix” the public funding of abortion that’s in the Senate bill, they should think again - because according to Robert Dove, a former Senate parliamentarian, that’s not possible to do through the Senate’s “reconciliation” process:

In 1995 there was a provision that absolutely disallowed any federal funds for abortion.  The Congressional Budget Office determined that it was going to save money.  But it was my view that the provision was not there in order to save money.  It was there to implement social policy.  Therefore I ruled that it was not in order and it was stricken.

Another option Democrats floated this morning, according to Roll Call, is punting the abortion funding issue entirely:

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has floated putting off the issue….Under Waxman’s idea, the Senate language would stand for now but be subject to future votes in the years before the insurance exchanges take effect.

Yet the Weekly Standard reported last night that Rep. Stupak and roughly a dozen Democrats couldn’t support that approach.  Rep. Stupak noted that, “‘If they say ‘we’ll give you a letter saying we’ll take care of this later,’ that’s not acceptable because later never comes.”

Democrats keep plotting and scheming in backrooms, trying to force their government takeover of health care down the throats of the American people no matter how much they don’t want it.   Yet Speaker Pelosi refuses to listen and remains intent on moving full speed ahead, declaring yesterday that “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

You literally couldn’t make this stuff up.

The twisted scheme by which Democratic leaders plan to bend the rules to ram President Obama’s massive health care legislation through Congress now has a name: the Slaughter Solution.

The Slaughter Solution is a plan by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Democratic chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to get the health care legislation through the House without an actual vote on the Senate-passed health care bill.  You see, Democratic leaders currently lack the votes needed to pass the Senate health care bill through the House.  Under Slaughter’s scheme, Democratic leaders will overcome this problem by simply “deeming” the Senate bill passed in the House - without an actual vote by members of the House.

An article in this morning’s edition of National Journal’s CongressDaily breaks the story, starting with the headline: “SLAUGHTER PREPS RULE TO AVOID DIRECT VOTE ON SENATE BILL.”  Excerpts:

House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.

Slaughter is weighing preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill passed once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes to the Senate version.

The CongressDaily report was authored by Anna Edney, with Billy House and Dan Friedman contributing.

The Slaughter Solution is a plan by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Democratic chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to get the health care legislation through the House without an actual vote on the Senate-passed health care bill.  You see, Democratic leaders currently lack the votes needed to pass the Senate health care bill through the House.  Under Slaughter’s scheme, Democratic leaders will overcome this problem by simply “deeming” the Senate bill passed in the House - without an actual vote by members of the House.

An article in this morning’s edition of National Journal’s CongressDaily breaks the story, starting with the headline: “SLAUGHTER PREPS RULE TO AVOID DIRECT VOTE ON SENATE BILL.”  Excerpts:

House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.

Slaughter is weighing preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill passed once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes to the Senate version.

The CongressDaily report was authored by Anna Edney, with Billy House and Dan Friedman contributing.

The summer after I graduated from high school, I won a trip to Washington, DC. During my visit I spent “a day in the life of a Congressman.” I was really impressed by a Tech intern that I met. During a Capitol tour we spoke, and I was amazed by everything she was getting to do, see and experience. After that encounter, I knew that if the opportunity was available, I wanted to be a Congressional intern too.

My internship has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and an incredible experience. Congressman Conaway’s office is full of brilliant people that are so friendly and helpful. Most of my duties as an intern include regular office tasks and giving Capitol tours (which I love). I have been fortunate enough to sit in on several briefings that were very interesting. I have been able to experience, first-hand, the challenges faced by our Congressional leaders and I have observed the political processes. This internship has broadened my horizons and helped me develop leadership skills that I am sure will provide valuable experiences for future endeavors.

In Washington, I currently live in the “Texas Tech house” which is located two blocks from Capitol Hill. It takes me six minutes to walk from the Tech house to the Longworth building where Congressman Conaway’s office is located. There are nineteen Tech students staying in the Tech house; we have a lot of fun together! There are always places to go and things to do- the city never sleeps.

I arrived in Washington, DC on January 4th and will be staying until the beginning of May. This semester has been flying by! I have been visiting different places in DC, as well as different cities. I have absolutely fallen in love with Georgetown. I got to go to New York too, where I had the opportunity to watch a Broadway play. I have gone to different Smithsonian Museums and monuments, eaten Chinese food in Chinatown, played in the snow in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and walked on the frozen Reflecting Pool. The snow this winter has been quite a learning experience in itself!

I cannot wait to see how the rest of the semester unfolds. One thing I know for sure – it will be great!

In the picture (from left to right), I am with Texas Tech Chancellor Hance, Congressman Conaway, myself, and Texas Tech President Bailey.- Madelon Osborne, Intern in Rep. Mike Conaway’s Washington, DC Office