Let’s have all of us (even Congress) work well together
There’s a lesson Washington, DC, can learn from my hometown, Maryville, Tenn. — a lesson most of us learned in kindergarten and I learned in my mother’s kindergarten class. It’s three words: “Work well together.” The latest example was all over Maryville’s sports pages on Sunday, December 4th. One headline read: “Historic Championship: Maryville Wins [...]
They’re the Great Smokey Mountains not the Great Smoggy Mountains
This week the Senate voted on a proposal offered by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky to overturn a Clean Air Act rule designed to limit the blowing of power plant pollution from one state to another, a proposal that I urged my colleagues to oppose. Tennesseans admire much about our Kentucky neighbors. We admire their [...]
Trade agreements will help create thousands of jobs for Tennesseans
Our country has endured unemployment above 9 percent for a longer period of time than at any time since the Great Depression, and unfortunately Tennessee’s isn’t any better. This week, Congress took a good step toward creating an environment where businesses can create jobs by passing three trade agreements that will create up to a [...]
Stopping Washington from spending money it doesn’t have
Finally, with the debt-reduction agreement Congress made with the president in early August, Washington is starting to take some responsibility for years of spending money we don’t have. At a time when the federal government is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends, this agreement represents a welcome change in behavior that I was [...]
A new privately-funded Marshall plan for the Mid East
In Jerusalem recently, during a private meeting with United States Senators, the prime minister of Israel suggested creating a new Marshall Plan to help people of Middle Eastern countries who are struggling to gain more freedom. In one important way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal is different from the plan that helped rebuild Western Europe after [...]
Why we should repeal the new health care law now
When giving the Republicans’ opening remarks at the health care summit earlier this year, I told President Obama exactly what the health care reform bill would mean for Americans: “It means there will be about a half trillion dollars of new taxes in it. It means that for millions of Americans, premiums will go up, [...]
Medicare brochure is propaganda
The other day, I received a nice envelope from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a nice brochure inside: “Medicare and the New Health Care Law: What It Means to You.” I’m one of those Americans who are 65 or older, so I’m a part of Medicare and I was interested to [...]
Nuclear power is affordable green power
Forty years ago, at the time of the first Earth Day, Americans became deeply worried about air and water pollution and a population explosion that threatened to overrun the planet’s resources. Nuclear power was seen as a savior to these environmental dilemmas. It could produce large amounts of low-cost, reliable clean energy. Unlike oil, nuclear power [...]
An energy strategy for grown-ups
The tragic Gulf oil spill has produced overreaction (“end offshore drilling”), demagoguery (“Obama’s Katrina”) and bad policy recommendations (“We must generate 20 percent of our electricity from windmills”). None of this helps clean up and move forward. If we want both clean energy and a high standard of living, here are 10 steps for thoughtful [...]
The new Washington takeover of Main Street
The so-called financial regulation bill passed out of the Senate this past month throws a big wet blanket on the American entrepreneurial system, the real creator of most new jobs. It was supposed to rein in Wall Street, but instead is just another Washington takeover — this time of Main Street — making it harder [...]
