Obama’s Blatant Disregard for the Constitution is Appalling

    In order to become President, Barack Obama had to swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. But three years later, I am disgusted with the disregard that the President continues to show to our Constitution. Has he forgotten about the separation of executive, judicial and legislative branches found in our founding document? Our founders gave us a system of checks and balances so that | Read More »

    The Case for Medicaid Audits to Prevent Fraud

    Minnesotans are proud people. We’re proud to boast of our 11,842 lakes and the fact that we can survive subzero temperatures for months straight. But one thing Minnesotans can’t be proud of is our state’s questionable handling of Medicaid dollars. The House Oversight Committee recently reported, “Minnesota provides a stunning example of how states are failing to properly ensure the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars spent | Read More »

    Our Constitution is not Irrelevant, Justice Ginsburg

    If you walk by the National Archives on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. you will most likely see a line of people waiting to get just a glimpse of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. These two aged documents are browned with time and sealed under layers of a secure glass enclosure in the domed lobby of the Archives. But they still manage to impress | Read More »

    “While There is Life, There is Hope”

    The Roman orator Cicero allegedly once pronounced, “While there is life, there is hope.” Though there is debate over whether or not he uttered that statement, I do agree with its meaning. As the mom of five biological children and 23 foster children, I regularly marvel at the hopefulness each of my beautiful children exude and the boundless potential in each of them. But I’m | Read More »

    You Can Spend Your Own Income Better Than Washington

    Tax Day is over for this year, but that deduction from your paycheck is a constant reminder of the high cost of government. Taxes take a lot from our families, small businesses and from the economy. I believe you are taxed enough already and President Obama needs to recognize that. The House of Representatives recently signified their support of the Republican’s 2012 budget proposal which | Read More »

    This Deal is Not Enough

    The deal of $38 billion in cuts announced early this morning between GOP Leadership and Harry Reid is a pittance compared to the $3.5 trillion+ we are on pace to spend this year alone. Since Republicans took the Majority, I have been vocal about what the American people sent us to Washington to accomplish. As I said in my last RedState post, we must fight | Read More »

    Not a Big Enough Fight

    Since Republicans took the House majority in January I have been calling for our leadership to fight. We must answer the bell that was rung last November when the American people called us to fight for deep cuts in spending, for the full repeal of ObamaCare, for an end to taxpayer funding of abortion, and for a government that will live within its Constitutional boundaries. | Read More »

    Letter to Leadership to Defund ObamaCare Immediately

    Last night my colleague Rep. Steve King (IA-05) and I drafted a letter to Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor and Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers urging them to include language to defund ObamaCare and rescind the $105,464,000,000 in funds already appropriated to implementing the health care law. Next Wednesday the House will consider another Continuing Resolution. Including language to defund ObamaCare is our opportunity to stop | Read More »

    $53 Billion in Rail Spending Keeps Us on an Unsustainable Track

    In the midst of the economic recession, Vice President Joe Biden announced this week President Obama’s $53 billion plan for high-speed rail projects. Didn’t Congress already fulfill Obama’s stimulus request to the tune of more than $787 billion in February 2009, with little to show for it? Unemployment has been at or above 9 percent for 21 straight months. Writing countless checks with taxpayer money | Read More »

    Positive Changes for the Economy

    Today I introduced the “End Tax Uncertainty Act of 2010”. This bill is designed to do just that – end uncertainty. With 141 tax provisions currently needing constant reauthorization by Congress, the marketplace is stuck in a perpetual state of uncertainty. My husband and I own a small business and we know that Washington hasn’t been putting forth legislation to stabilize the hiring environment. Congress | Read More »

    No Daylight Between My Position and the GOP on Earmarks

    There is no daylight between my position and Speaker-designate John Boehner on earmarks. Period. I have repeatedly said that I agree with, applaud, and wholeheartedly support Speaker-designate John Boehner’s position on earmarks. I am opposed to earmarks. I recently made that point to a reporter from a Capitol Hill newspaper, but it was left out of their story on the GOP and earmarks. Some media | Read More »

    Time for Attorney General Eric Holder to Resign

    The Wikileaks debacle is the latest proof that Eric Holder has no understanding of the dangerous times we live in. His ineptness, as head of the Department of Justice, is putting our nation in a vulnerable position. Earlier this week, the Wikileaks website jeopardized our nation’s security and diplomacy by releasing hundreds of thousands of U.S. State Department documents. The same site put our troops | Read More »

    The Way Forward

    Today I join millions across our great nation in breathing a sigh of relief. We nearly are out of the era of bailouts, takeovers, entitlement expansion and big government. The American people have big expectations for a return to the nation our founders envision for us. The voters have entrusted Republicans to lead into a time of prosperity. In return, our promise is to work | Read More »

    Failed Policies Prohibit Job Growth

    Today, the Labor Department released data showing 95,000 more jobs were lost, resulting in total unemployment for the month of September at 9.6 percent.  This means for the 14th month in a row, unemployment is at or above 9.5 percent, a marker not seen since the 1930’s.  Additionally, yesterday’s polling by Gallup revealed that unemployment may be worse than what the Labor Department data shows.  | Read More »

    One Way to Restore Consumer Confidence

    In data released today, the Consumer Confidence Index has dropped to 48.5, its lowest point since February. The National Bureau of Economic Research determined last week that the recession was over in June 2009, but Americans may not be so sure.

    Obama and Clinton Rail Against the Very Concept Democratic Leaders Invented

    As the mid-term elections draw near, Presidents Obama and Clinton have been campaigning against Republicans with this central theme: if Democrats don’t run the country, corporations will. What the Presidents fail to tell us is that Democrats themselves are the inventors and implementers of this very radical idea. As the Democrats—led by the current and a former president—attempt to rouse the nation’s fears in propounding | Read More »

    Join the National Tea Party Tele-Townhall on August 9th!

    As you’ve probably heard by now, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called back all House Members to Washington next week so we can vote on $26 billion in more stimulus spending. While it’s being framed as money for state aid, you can bet that this “urgent” rush to Washington by the Democrats is more of a result of their precarious political fortunes this November. In fact, | Read More »

    Democrats Underestimate the American People Once Again

    Clearly, the Democrats think they have something here tying together the Republican Party and the Tea Party. However, it seems to me that this political miscalculation is exactly why Congress’ approval rating is at 11%. What the Democratic Leadership doesn’t seem to understand is that the Tea Party isn’t a political party; it’s a set of ideas shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans.

    Democrats fail “the most basic responsibility of governing”

    For the first time since the current budget rules were established in 1974, Democratic Leadership in the House has announced that they won’t do a budget this year. It was an interesting announcement made by Majority Leader Hoyer, especially considering Mr. Hoyer’s remarks back in 2006, when he then stated as the House Minority Leader: “The most basic responsibility of governing” is “enacting a budget.” | Read More »

    U.S. is at the Edge of a Financial Cliff

    For a while now, I have been saying America is at a crossroads, or at a fork in the road, or stuck between a rock and a hard place.  But it appears with the debt numbers released on Wednesday, we are now standing at the edge of a cliff. Reuters reports that: “The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an | Read More »

    America Speaking Out: Washington is Out of Focus and Out of Touch

    For the last few weeks we’ve heard that the Obama Administration is going to focus its attention once again on jobs. Great, because we’ve seen how well that’s worked in the past, spending hundreds of billions of dollars to see our unemployment rate skyrocket to 10% This “focus back on jobs” line is a symptom of a much bigger problem: the Administration and Democratic leadership | Read More »

    Fake jobs cost us real jobs

    Here’s a shocker…. Senate Democrats are continuing down the path of job killing and costly energy reforms based on the tried and failed European cap-and-trade system. Just this week Carlo Stagnaro and Luciano Lavecchia lamented about the cost of “green” jobs on the Italian workforce in a piece for Wall Street Journal Europe:

    All About the Bailouts…Foreign and Domestic

    The Obama Administration is all about the bailouts. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Whether it’s Wall Street, General Motors, or Fannie and Freddie here at home, or Greece and the European Union abroad. The fact of the matter is our nation’s debt is about to surpass $13 trillion, yet we continue to expand the size and scope of government through programs like Obamacare. | Read More »

    Repeal Obamacare and Save our Economy

    Last week, President Obama signed into law the Democrats’ trillion-dollar health care takeover, meaning that one-sixth of the United States economy has now come under the purview of the federal government. This reckless bill will only further burden our already struggling economic sector, and we’re already seeing proof of that as companies like Caterpillar and AT&T are announcing the financial blow this bill will take | Read More »

    Take Back Washington

    You’ve got to hand it to the North Dakota Republican Party and its Chairman Gary Emineth, who last Friday evening may just have shown the whole GOP a better approach than the traditional “Town Hall Meeting.” Instead of gathering together people to listen to politicians, he brought together politicians to listen to the people. And much to Mr. Emineth’s credit, instead of focusing on the | Read More »