2012 State of the Union...

Congressman Bob
Goodlatte’s Weekly Column: January 27, 2012
The State of our Union

Today, the American people are facing one of the most challenging times in our nation’s history. They are struggling to make ends meet while our economy remains sluggish and unemployment remains high. They are deeply concerned about the outlook for our great country and wonder if their children will grow up in the same America they did. My constituents, just like folks from across our nation, are looking for real solutions to these problems we face.

While President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have responded to the current economic crisis with unprecedented levels of spending, government intrusion in the private sector, and expansion of the federal government, these actions have only exacerbated the problem.
It is these actions that speak louder than words. The President’s rhetoric is simply not matched by the actions of his Administration over the past three years.

In his State of the Union address, the President called for an “all of the above” energy policy to create jobs and promote our access to energy
supplies and yet just last week he denied the application for the Keystone Pipeline, a project that has the potential to be a significant boost to our economy. He also claimed it was a priority of his Administration to get rid of outdated, unnecessary and costly government regulations. The reality is the Obama Administration has over 4,000 regulations currently in the works. Of those, 224 are considered major rules with at least $100 million in cost to our economy and jobs. He touted his efforts to preserve Americans access to health coverage. However, experts seem to agree that his government takeover of our health care system is helping to drive up premiums and jeopardize coverage for millions of Americans.

In stark contrast to President Obama’s agenda, House Republicans remain committed to pro-growth policies such as reining in our skyrocketing deficit spending which discourages investment, limiting the size of government by reducing costly and burdensome regulations which are hurting our small businesses, removing unnecessary barriers to domestic energy production which would provide us with significant access to new energy supplies with the twin
goals of energy independence and the creation of millions of American jobs, and enacting meaningful tax reform -- closing loopholes and unfair credits and deductions and using those savings to lower overall tax rates -- which would help to generate economic expansion.

Since the start of the 112th Congress, the House has passed more than thirty bipartisan jobs bills which are designed to create jobs, end economic uncertainty and make America more competitive. Twenty seven of these bills continue to await consideration in the Democrat-control Senate.

The time for action is now. I remain committed to working with the President and Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to focus on real solutions that will put Americans back to work and grow our economy.