What Now for Washington?

Washington finally got back to work this past week after a 17-day partial government shutdown that never should have occurred.  As I made clear from the start, I strongly opposed the shutdown and voted repeatedly for bipartisan funding measures in the House of Representatives that would have kept the government open and functioning.  However, political infighting on Capitol Hill combined with the President’s unprecedented refusal to work with Congress to strike a deal led to a costly and unnecessary shutdown and also put our nation on a path to potential default on the debt. 

As we all are now aware, at the eleventh hour, the House of Representatives passed a short-term Senate measure that temporarily reopened the government and averted a possible default, but which also simply punted those two crises down the road just a few weeks.  The legislation also failed to address any of the underlying issues that foster the constant brinksmanship in Washington—such as our exploding national debt and anemic economic growth.  While those of us who opposed the shutdown were surely glad to see it end, passing a bill that threatens to drag the American people through this all over again in January and February was simply unacceptable in my view.  Our nation deserves far better.

Now that the government is back open—at least for the time being, the real question is whether or not our leaders will finally get to work addressing the issues that threaten our country’s future and which are choking progress toward economic recovery.  During the month of September, the President vowed that he would not work with Congress to prevent a shutdown or to reopen the government if one occurred.  He kept that promise and our country paid a steep price for it.  However, he also promised to negotiate with Congress on several major policy issues once the government reopened.  That day has now arrived and it’s time to see if the President will keep his word.

Among the highest priority issues I hope the President is willing to address are the debt, economic growth and his deeply troubled health care law.  Our national debt has grown by nearly $7 trillion since the President took office—while all previous American Presidents combined accumulated a total of $10.6 trillion.   This is an unsustainable situation and it’s past time we implement badly needed spending reforms to pull America back from the brink of bankruptcy.  

We are also suffering through the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression.  While we see the unemployment rate occasionally tick down, the Labor Department tells us it’s only occurring because more and more Americans continue to give up hope and drop out of the workforce.  Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree that tax reform is needed to make America more globally competitive and give a boost to our economic growth.  I hope President Obama will work with Congress to pass pro-growth tax reform within the next 12 months.

Finally, the Obamacare rollout has been nothing short of a disaster.  We are now weeks away from fining people for failing to enroll in a health care program on a website that doesn’t actually allow them to sign up.  Furthermore, despite promises that premiums would go down and that we could keep our current plan if we choose to, we have since learned that neither is true.  Costs are skyrocketing and millions are poised to be kicked off of their current plans.  The President has already made a few changes to his law on his own, but it’s time he work with Congress to address the remaining, serious flaws that pose a great risk to the American people.