Energy Policy: “All of the Above” or a “Hope and a Prayer?” Early February, groundhog and weather forecaster Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Given the weather we’ve seen since then, it seems to me that, this year, he was right. A recent Politico story entitled “Icy blast heats up coal debate” quotes Ms. Laura Sheehan, senior vice president of communications for the American C... Read more »
Immigration Reform Update/No Amnesty As I have said many times, I do believe our immigration system is broken. However, my firmly cemented belief is that one of our top priorities ought to be defending America’s borders and enforcing our laws, not bending over backwards to accommodate those who break them. I am of the view that proposals allowing illegal immigrants to simply come into the United S... Read more »
Election year politics can sometimes bring about strange results. Without seeking Congressional approval, President Obama has yet again delayed part of Obamacare’s employer mandate, one of the law’s major provisions. By manipulating its implementation, the Administration is now unilaterally exempting employers with less than 100 employees from the employer mandate until 2016. President Obama is es... Read more »
As many will remember, in 2010, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “but we have to pass the bill [Obamacare] so that you can find out what is in it….” Last week, when asked on The Daily Show why it’s so hard to get a company to execute the Obamacare website competently, Pelosi said, “I don’t know” and “Well, it’s not my responsibility.” Let me see if I have this right. According to Pelosi, we had to ... Read more »
Russian Bear, On The Prowl I was startled by a January 29 New York Times piece which stated, “The United States informed its NATO allies this month that Russia had tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, raising concerns about Moscow’s compliance with a landmark arms control accord.” These tests reportedly began as early as 2008, and “Such tests are prohibited by the treaty banning medium-ran... Read more »
Higher Energy Prices and You As reported by the New York Times’ Clifford Krauss, “Natural gas prices spiked by nearly 10 percent on Friday to levels not seen since 2010 as another wave of freezing weather brought surges of heating and electricity demand.” Natural gas now tops $5, the highest it has been in three and a half years, which CNBC reports “… has led to concerns about whether there will b... Read more »
Pushing for Answers and Transparency A recently-released report on Obamacare enrollment numbers shows that less than a quarter of those who have signed up for health care plans during the first few months are the young, relatively healthy adults the Administration is relying on to sign up and keep premiums in check. This is far less than the Administration’s target of around 40 percent. According ... Read more »
Promises, Promises Jobs On Friday, January 10, the U.S. Department of Labor released a disappointing jobs report – only 74,000 jobs were added in December. This is far short of the 197,000 jobs that economists had predicted, and more importantly, is far less than the American people deserve. The nationwide unemployment number did drop to 6.7 percent, but this decrease is due to a drop in the labor... Read more »
2013 In Review and 2014 Congressional Issues Survey It is my privilege to represent and serve you in the House of Representatives, particularly at this critical time. I have traveled thousands of miles throughout Southwest Virginia, Southside Virginia, and the Alleghany Highlands in the last year, attending various meetings or events and speaking with many different people about issues important t... Read more »
Faith and Action People of faith often take bold action. The Christmas season is a time to both notice and highlight the large and small acts of faith that make a difference in this world. I can only note a few, as there are too many such actions to note them all. One of those taking bold action this year is Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10), who has announced that he will be retiring after having se... Read more »
