Continuing the theme: Is Government the problem or the Solution?

Today's article comes from Guest Opinion Column, by Representative Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton) in the Iowa Press-Citizen earlier this month. Further, he wrote the following piece in the Coralville Courier: Your Capitol Voice for today. For more on Iowa state government and budget issues, read Public Interest Institute Brief: No Income Tax: The Key to Economic Growth.

Take a look at the following highlights from this week's newsletter from:

National Write Your Congressman, 214-342-0299 http://www.spesend.net/SpeClicks.aspx?X=2R0QE581HQM573RS00ZMWI

Vol. 13 No. 1-3
Monday, January 26, 2009

National Write Your Congressman’s Mission
To encourage responsible
Americans to use their influence in government to preserve the freedoms set
forth by our Founding Fathers.

Mortgage Bill Added to Stimulus Package
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said representatives are considering legislation aimed at preventing foreclosures by allowing judges to alter the terms of primary residential mortgages in bankruptcy proceedings. Senate lawmakers had also indicated that they might include such a provision in their version of the stimulus plan. (S.1) Click here for more information on this issue.

Wage Bias Bill Advances in Senate
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would allow workers who allege discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, religion, age or disability to sue anytime within 180 days of receiving their last discriminatory paycheck, has advanced in the Senate. The House passed a broader version of the legislation earlier this month. The two bills will have to be reconciled before a final bill can be sent to President Obama for his signature.
The measure would overturn a 2007 Supreme Court decision in which justices ruled 5-4 that Ms. Ledbetter, a supervisor at a Goodyear Tire Plant in Alabama who discovered she had been paid less than her male counterparts for nearly 20 years, could not sue because she had failed to challenge the discrimination within 180 days of the time it first occurred. (H.R.11) (S.181) Click here for more information on this issue.Click here to voice your opinion on this issue.

Guantanamo Bay to be Closed
President Obama issued a series of executive orders requiring closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ordering a review of detainee policies and requiring that all interrogations of detainees follow the Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines.

Product Safety Law
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) is calling for Congress to revise and delay a law that institutes a ban on lead in children’s products. It is scheduled to go into effect Feb. 10, but Rep. Barton says it is too broad and could potentially harm small businesses.

Renewable Energy
Lawmakers are considering a bill that supporters say would be a major step toward addressing climate change and dependence on fossil fuels. Critics of the bill say that it would raise electricity bills for consumers in regions, such as the Southeast, with limited solar and wind resources. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is sponsoring the bill. (H.R.598)

House and Senate Vote on TARP Funds
The House passed a resolution of disapproval designed to temporarily block the release of the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout fund. However, the Senate last week rejected a similar resolution, thus allowing the Obama administration to tap the remaining $350 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) created last fall. The remaining funds are scheduled to be released on Jan. 27. (H.R.384)

Public Insurance Programs in Stimulus Package
Two House committees approved sections of an economic stimulus bill that are intended to expand public insurance programs to cover many of the unemployed and accelerate the use of electronic medical records. Republicans were excluded from the drafting of the stimulus measure and oppose both its price tag, which is $825 billion, and its policy proposals, which they say represent a huge expansion of government. President Obama has agreed to meet privately with Republicans to address the issue. (H.R.598)

Broadband Provisions in Stimulus Package
House members could include a bill in the stimulus package that would provide $2.8 billion in grants for wired and wireless broadband deployment in parts of the country that have little or no Internet infrastructure. (H.R.598)

Cidsports and our public policy blog encourage you to network with your government officials in 2009. We need to encourage accountability and transparency at all levels of government.

House Republicans Call for More Transparency and Oversight in the Budget Process in the State of Iowa.

peace