The Declaration of Health Care Independence

The Founding Fathers got it right. When they gathered to declare freedom from the British, they did so with a new agenda for America and put it all on the line. They pledged their very honor and lives in these invaluable principles that formed the Declaration of Independence, shaping the very foundation of our country and the freedoms of today.

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to join with several of my Republican colleagues to unveil the Declaration of Health Care Independence in response to the Democrat’s push for a government takeover of our health care. The principles of this document are a commitment to protect the ability of the American people to make their own health decisions, reduce bureaucratic red-tape and decrease burden of debt on our children and grandchildren.

As this new declaration says, health care reform must “empower, rather than limit, an open and accessible marketplace of health care choice and opportunity.” There is no way around it. We cannot allow bureaucrats to govern doctor-patient relationships or ration quality health care.

I believe the people of the 19th Congressional District will agree with the principles in this Declaration of Health Care Independence. The people have spoken. They do not want a government takeover of health care that will raise taxes, raise health care costs and increase government spending. Let’s go back to the drawing board, keep the process open and transparent and work on real reforms that improve our health care system rather than take it over.

The Party of Contradiction

The idea of freezing federal spending isn’t new. Conservatives have long called for reducing spending to bring our fiscal house into order. But over the past year, Speaker Pelosi and her liberal Congress have advocated policies that expand government’s control of the economy and increase taxes, creating uncertainty for small businesses, restriction of credit on Main Street and higher costs for consumers. Due largely to higher spending the past year, the deficit grew from $459 billion in 2008 to $1.4 trillion for 2009.

Last night, the White House announced that President Obama would propose a freeze in the pot of domestic spending that Congress allocates among government agencies and programs every year in his the 2011 federal budget request he is sending to Congress next week. While I welcome President Obama moving in the right direction, this proposal seems a little a too late after he and Congressional leaders increased spending by hundreds of billions of dollars that we didn’t have in 2009. Today’s projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that the 2010 deficit will be $1.3 billion, and that the deficit will remain near $1 trillion in 2011 if current policies are continued. While a freeze on any portion of the federal budget is a good idea, Congress will need to do far more than President Obama has proposed if we are going to make any progress on reducing the deficit and lowering the amount of debt our children and grandchildren will have to pay off.

I have never met a spending freeze I didn’t like, so if the President is sincere, I welcome the attempt at a spending freeze. However, he’s only talking about freezing around 15 percent of all federal spending. We need to do much more and we need to ensure that “emergency” spending is counted in any such freeze. It’s time for Congress to make the choices necessary to restore fiscal discipline and hold federal spending at pre-recession levels. Like the rest of the nation, rather than bigger government and more spending, the people of the 19th District want Congress to focus on common sense solutions to foster job creation.

Census 2010

In March, the 2010 Census will begin arriving in mailboxes around the 19th Congressional District. This year the census questionnaire is one of the shortest forms in history, asking only 10 questions. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to fill out this form when you receive it. Any information you provide is private and will not be shared with any other government agency.

The 2010 Census is a part of our community’s voice in government. Not only is the census a constitutional responsibility, but the response also determines how you are represented in both Congress and the state legislature. We need everybody to be counted. Especially in rural areas, if you’re not counted, your vote may not count in the next election.

If you would like more information, I encourage you to visit the new Census section on my website or contact my office by calling toll free at (888) 763-1611.

One Year Later

A year ago today, President Obama took the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. After a campaign of hope and change many Americans anticipated the future of Obama’s promises. Unfortunately for the American people the failed policies of more spending and more debt have not helped the economy recover, left the federal deficit at a record high, cost millions of jobs and resulted in a slew of broken promises. With a super-majority in the House, Democrats forced countless partisan, big government policies through Congress while the House Republicans stood together to slow down the train wreck of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s liberal agenda and offer common sense solutions to get small businesses and families back on their feet.

A year into Obama’s presidency the people sent a referendum to Washington. They are not happy with his big government policies and the direction of the country. We saw it in the Virginia and New Jersey governor races this fall, and now in Massachusetts where yesterday a Senate seat in a solidly Democrat state was won by a Republican candidate. The election last night in Massachusetts, for Senator-elect Brown, was about listening to the people. The American people are tired of being told by Washington how to think and what to do. The people want to be heard.

President Obama’s inauguration was one year ago today, and without a doubt, we’ve had change in America. But I’m not sure this is the change America wanted. We know that stimulating the economy and getting America growing again cannot be brought about by borrowing and spending trillions of dollars we don’t have. It is my hope that in the year to come we can learn from the mistakes of our past, and emerge a greater, stronger nation.

As we enter into the second year of President Obama’s term, you can be certain that I will continue to stick to the conservative principles of fiscal responsibility, tax relief and the American spirit valued so deeply in the 19th Congressional District. It’s time to put an end to more of the same old Washington politics we saw in President Obama’s first year in office.

Congressman Neugebauer Hosts Special Order on the House Floor

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to host a Special Order on the House floor about health care and jobs. A special order speech allows Members of the House of Representatives to speak on any topic they wish, for up to one hour. These events often occur at the end of a day’s legislative work.

Like many of you, I have been disappointed in the lack of openness and transparency during the recent health care debate. As many of you are aware, C-SPAN has requested that their cameras be allowed to cover these critical negotiations, unfortunately the only word they've heard was: NO. In my opening remarks, I made reference to three specific days. These dates are significant because they are historical references to when Congress last made major changes to health care policy and when members of both sides of the aisle, from both the House and Senate sat down to iron out differences in the bills passed by each body. Fortunately for transparency and democracy, C-SPAN's cameras were there. If you are interested in viewing these videos, you may access them by clicking here, here or here.

If you were unable to watch the Special Order live, visit my YouTube page to view a recording of my remarks on the House floor.

If it's broken, fix it

The American people understand that if something is broken, you fix it. If your pipes were leaking, would you let them flood your kitchen? If you had a flat tire, would you just keep driving? You may know that you have to fix these problems immediately, but a lot of the Democrats in Congress can’t seem grasp this concept.
Today’s new unemployment numbers solidified yet another difficult month for America’s working families and small businesses. The Administration announced this morning that the national unemployment rate for December remained at 10 percent, with 85,000 jobs lost last month.

President Obama and Congressional Democrats promised that passing a trillion dollar “stimulus” package would create jobs "immediately." Here we are, almost a year later, with the economy continuing to lose tens of thousands of jobs each month. To some in Washington, the loss of American jobs is not as pressing as their other legislative initiatives but for the majority of people around the country a loss of a job is a loss of necessary income, food and security for their family.

The Democrat policies of higher taxes, runaway spending and record debt are hurting the economy and piling even more debt and burden onto the backs of American taxpayers. President and Speaker Pelosi must stop creating an environment of uncertainty for employers on issues such as health care and energy if they want to create real jobs and economic prosperity. It’s time we bring real change to Washington. Republicans have offered common sense solutions and alternatives to the Democrats’ big government plans. It’s time to support creating jobs instead of killing them.

Staying Connected in 2010

Over the past year, we saw one of the most liberal and expensive agendas in our nation’s history in Congress. With that being said, it is more important than ever that your voice is heard in Washington, D.C. As your voice in Congress, hearing from you allows me to better represent West Texas and the Big Country. In an effort to better serve you, I would like to share the many ways you can communicate your thoughts and say up-to-date as we begin the second session of the 111th Congress.

By visiting www.randy.house.gov, you will find several ways to contact my office and leave your questions, comments and concerns. My website is also the best one-stop-shop for the latest updates on events I am hosting in District 19, contact information for my offices and updates on votes I have taken. The website is frequently updated so that you might have the most recent information available to you. Check back often for new information and features.

Sometimes the schedule in Congress keeps me from being in the 19th District as much as I would like to, but I still want to find ways to create an open dialogue with you. This year, I hope to use a variety of different technologies to stay in touch. Be on the lookout for notices of upcoming telephone town halls and virtual town halls, where you will be able to interact with me directly over the phone or Internet.

I am also using new media tools to create an open forum with the people of the 19th Congressional District. These are some of the new media technologies that you can use to connect with me:

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rep.randy.neugebauer?_fb_noscript=1
• Randy’s Blog: http://randyneugebauer.blogspot.com/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/RandyNeugebauer
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/RandyNeugebauer
• Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randyneugebauer

I hope you find these new media tools as a useful resource. As we begin the second session of the 111th Congress, I look forward to hearing from you and keeping you updated on the important issues impacting you and your family.