Blog
Senator Lee's Values Voter Summit Speech
Oct 11 2013
Thank you very much. It’s a privilege to be with you this morning at the Values Voter Summit.
I want to start this morning by telling you a story that I first heard from a man named Emo Phillips. He was walking across a bridge. It was late enough there was no automobile traffic on that bridge. In fact, there was no one on the bridge at all. So he was able to walk in the middle of the bridge. It was a high bridge. A bridge that stretched over a large river. It was high enough that anyone who fell off of that bridge would not survive the impact, even if they landed in the water.
He saw a man standing on the outside of the guardrail as if getting ready to jump. He knew based on the height of the bridge the man wouldn't survive the fall and he surmised the man was contemplating ending his life. Determined not to allow this to happen, Emo stopped and engaged the man in conversation.
He asked first if the man were a believer, if he believed in God. The man said, yes. Emo said, me too. He said, are you a Christian? The man said, yes. Emo said, me too. He asked the man if he were a Baptist. The man said yes. Emo said, me too.
“Are you a northern Baptist or southern?” “I'm a northern Baptist.” “Me too!”
“Are you a northern fundamentalist Baptist or reformed Baptist?” “I'm a northern fundamentalist Baptist.” “Me too!”
“Are you a northern fundamental Baptist of conference 1812 or 1857?”
He said, “northern fundamental Baptist of conference 1857.”
And I said “Die heretic!,” and pushed him off the bridge!
As values voters we must remember that it is far more important to keep our eyes on potential conservative converts – rather than heretics. You see, the principles that unite us are also the principles that position us to win the hearts and minds of voters across the country.
Too often in this town we stop thinking about the things that matter most. We get so caught up in the thick of things that we not only stop thinking big – we often stop thinking at all – which leads to other things - like $17 trillion debt, widespread dysfunction, and much more.
To illustrate the point, I want to tell you a story about my boys. I've got twin boys, 18 years old, their names are James and John. These sons of thunder as I sometimes call them are good boys. They go to church, they read their scriptures, they are 4.0 students.
On this particular day we were listening to the radio in my car. We were listening to a song on the radio, a song we had heard many times, a song that I hadn't listened to very carefully in the past.
All of a sudden for one particular reason or another, I started listening to the words this day. And I realized that these words were not necessarily good. They were not the words that any god-fearing father of teenage boys would want his kids hearing. All of a sudden I pointed out to them, this is a raunchy song, this is terrible. My son John without batting an eye said, “Dad, it's not bad if you don't think about it.” All of a sudden the horrific thought occurred to me, my son John must be advising the President of the United States!
You see, a $17 trillion debt isn't bad, but only if you don't think about it. Adding to that debt at a rate of a trillion dollars a year isn't bad, if you don't think about it. And a massive government takeover of our health care system isn't bad if you don't think about it.
If you do think about it, of course, all those things are horrible. If you do think about it, the very best argument against Obamacare is the president's conduct during the first ten days of this shutdown. I mean, look what's happened. The president is using the immense power of the federal government to hurt the American people. Why? In order to win a political argument. What happens then when we turn over some of the most private, intimate decisions in our lives, our health care system, to the government? When will that be used as a tool against us? We must stop it it, we must defund it, we cannot accept it.
You are here today because you ARE thinking about it.
The Republican Party is at its best when we are thinking about it. Unfortunately some people succumb to the notion that we can’t think deeply in the middle of big battles on heated issues. I say this is exactly what we should be doing – TODAY! And every day. Because when we stop and think we come back home to being the party of big ideas. Throughout our party’s history, the bigger our ideas, the more we have succeeded.
Ronald Reagan’s conservative revolution. The 1994 Contract with America. George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism.”
Whatever you might think of each of the above, they all showed in their time that it is ideas and principles – rather than personalities or interest groups - that unify the Republican Party and propel it to both electoral and governing success.
Lately we haven’t had much of either.Some say it’s because we need better candidates. Some say we need a better message. Others say it’s a dispute about tactics and strategy, or technology.
And certainly they all play a part.
But to my mind, what the Party of Ideas is really missing… is the ideas. For too long, Republicans have put off the difficult work of developing a modernized, principled conservative reform agenda to meet many of the new challenges of the 21st century.
There are many reasons why this is so. But I think the biggest is that in this city, conservatives often fall into a trap – defining ourselves by what we are against
Big government… debt… higher taxes and regulations… oh and I almost forgot - Obamacare.
But we haven’t invested nearly as much time and energy in communicating what we conservatives are for.
I’m talking about more than simply the policies we advocate. Conservatism is not about the bills we want to pass, but the nation we want to be. As you know, for conservatives, politics is just a means, not an end.The real goal - what conservatives are really for - is not an agenda for government. It’s a vision of society. A view of the world we want to build, together.
Together. That word, “together,” is an essential – and too often overlooked – part of what we conservatives believe.
We’re all committed to bedrock principles of individual liberty, individual rights, and personal responsibility.
But the reason we fight for individual freedom is the strength, vitality, and value of the communities free individuals form.
The alternative to big government is not small government.
The alternative to big government is a thriving, flourishing nation of cooperative communities – where your success depends on your service.
It’s a free enterprise economy where everyone works for everyone else, competing to see who can figure out the best way to help the most people.
And it’s a voluntary civil society, where free individuals come together to meet each other’s needs, fill in the gaps, and make sure no one gets left behind.
Conservatism has never been a vision of isolated loners.
Ours is a vision of husbands and wives; parents and children; neighbors and neighborhoods; volunteers and congregations; bosses and employees; businesses and customers; clubs, teams, groups, associations and friends.
We conservatives don’t simply want smaller government – that’s not enough. We want bigger citizens, stronger neighborhoods, and more heroic communities.
We understand what liberals do not. That in America, freedom doesn’t mean “you’re on your own.” Freedom means “we’re all in this together.”
The value we place on communityis based on the value we place on the first and most important human community of them all: the family.Conservatives have argued for years that the family must be at the core of our worldview.
On issues like school prayer, or the right to life, or traditional marriage, or home-schooling, conservatives have said protecting the family is the most important part of our moral agenda.
Today, some critics say that times have changed… and we have to change with them. They say we have to reach out to people beyond our conservative base. They say we have to change the way we think and talk about families.It may surprise some of you to hear… but I think they make a great point.
Times have changed. We do need to broaden our appeal, and change the way we think and talk about family.
But ultimately, the critics have it backwards. The problem is not that conservatives have focused too muchon the family -- but far too little.For the rapid changes we have seen in recent years in America have only made the family more important, not less.
The family is the foundation not only of our society, but of our economy, our culture, and our democracy as well.
The family is indivisible from any facet of America’s history or destiny.
Crises like divorce, fatherlessness, and social isolation – while moral in nature – have enormous social and economic consequences.
In the same way, economic problems like unequal opportunity; stagnant wages; and the spiraling costs of housing, health care, and education represent moral threats to family stability… and national success.
Working families today are bearing the brunt of all of the above. And as a result, too many are falling behind.
Abraham Lincoln explained that the role of government should be for every citizen at every stage of life:
“…to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.”
Lincoln’s insight offers an almost perfect distillation of what America - and the Republican Party, at its best - stand for: equal opportunity, for all, to pursue happiness.
Today, this fundamental American ideal is hanging by a thread.
Up and down American society – which used to be defined and driven by what Tocqueville called our “yearning desire to rise” - we find a new and unnatural stagnancy.
We find the underprivileged trapped in poverty, sometimes for generations.
We find the middle class caught on a treadmill, running harder every year just to maintain the economic security and social cohesion that were once taken for granted.
Meanwhile, at the top of our society, we find a political and economic elite that – having reached the highest rungs – has pulled up the ladder behind itself, denying others the chance even to climb.
From Wall Street to K Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, we find special interests increasingly exempted and insulated – by law - from the rigors of competition and the consequences of their own mistakes.
All of this points to what really is an inequality crisis in America today – a crisis not of unequal wealth or income… but unequal opportunity.
Progressives, from the president on down, say that inequality in America today is a failure of the free market… resulting from insufficient government intervention.
But if you look closely, you start to notice… the opposite is true.
Today, many of Lincoln’s “artificial weights” and obstacles blocking his “paths of laudable pursuit” are themselves dysfunctional government policies.
It is government policies, after all, that trap poor children in rotten schools; poor families in broken neighborhoods; that penalize single parents for getting raises, or getting married.
It is government policies that inflate costs and limit access to quality schools and health care; that hamstring badly needed innovation in higher education; and penalize parents’ investment in their children.
This opportunity crisis is absolutely real – sadly it is just as real as the liberals’ flawed, seductive, big-government proposals to create their version of opportunity.
It is not enough for us simply to oppose liberals’ ideas. We have to propose conservative ones.
True victory for values voters may be found a little ways down on that road less traveled, but it’s long past time for conservatives to take it. Our movement is at its best when we take on big challenges.
And the great challenge of our time is the challenge of the forgotten family: the honest, noble parents across the country trying to make ends meet in a society, economy, and democracy increasingly rigged by Washington against them and their children.
It is time for a new conservative reform agenda that levels the playing field and finally meets the challenges facing working families:
- to give underprivileged families a fair chance to work their way into the middle class;
- to give families struggling to stay in middle class their fair chance to make a good living and build a good life;
- to make it easier for couples for start families… for entrepreneurs to start businesses… and volunteers to start civic and charitable organizations;
- to help all Americans at every step along the path to success overcome the obstacles big government has put before them.
It is time for a new approach to taxes, to not only lower rates to spur economic opportunity, but to eliminate tax discrimination against parents and families. I am working on a bill designed to do just that.
It is time for a new approach to education, to break up the special-interest cartels that hold back our young children, and our young adults. Education is opportunity, and government has no business telling students where they can and can’t go to get it.
It is time for a new approach to transportation. New roads mean new neighborhoods, new communities, new jobs, new families, and new opportunities.
Yet today, infrastructure money states could be spending on those opportunities, Washington instead spends on bureaucratic waste and special-interest giveaways.
It is time to rethink a dysfunctional welfare system that holds poor families down. And to reform a corrupt corporate welfare system that props big businesses up.
We need to find new ways – conservative ways that rely on free enterprise and civil society -- to help young couples:
- get married,
- afford a home,
- raise and educate their kids,
- get good health care,
- take care of their elderly parents,
- and retire with security themselves.
Our movement has always identified with those Americans who through hard work and determination have climbed the ladder of success. And we always should.
But our ideals demand we identify even more with those Americans still on the bottom rungs, where the climbing is harder, dangerous, and lonely.
We need to stand up for those Americans no one else will:
- for the unborn child in the womb;
- for the poor student caught in the failing school;
- for the reformed father languishing in prison and the fatherless son facing alone the dangers of the street;
- for the single mom working two jobs but still ensnared in big-government poverty traps;
- for the elderly and the disabled, dehumanized by bureaucracy;
- and for the splintering neighborhoods that desperately need them all.
These families, these moms and dads and grandparents and kids: they’re waiting for us.
They know more government isn’t the answer. They know government only divides them.
But they also know that too often… our party has ignored them.
That has to change.
And it has to change today… right now… because every hour, every day, big government leaves more and more American families behind.
It is time for conservatives to remember those forgotten families. In word and deed, in our hearts and in our agenda.
It is time to remember that the most audacious entrepreneurs in America are not high-tech CEOs in Silicon Valley… they’re a young couple at a church back home, saying “I do.”
It is time to remember that the most important investments in our nation’s future are not issued on Wall Street… but are sleeping in their mothers’ arms at the maternity unit of your local hospital.
To be truly pro-growth and pro-opportunity, our agenda must be truly pro-family.
Not just on some issues, but all of them.
I believe if conservatives look anew at the challenges facing the family, we will quickly discover opportunities to meet - united and undaunted - the challenges facing our movement… our economy… and our nation.
Building a new conservative agenda of reform around these moms and dads and kids – remembering America’s values and especially America’s forgotten families – is the path to restoring the greatness of our nation.
And if – at long last – conservatives finally take that road less traveled, it will make all the difference.
Thank you for everything you do. Keep the faith. And may God bless you all.
Mike Lee's Letter to America
Oct 10 2013
Here is what others are saying about the pro-growth, pro-family tax reform plan that Senator Lee introduced at AEI:
Tea Party Communitarian
by Johathan Coppage | The American Conservative
For a GOP long seen as the party of entrenched financial interests, populist credibility must be won back, and a deregulation agenda alone won’t cut it. This is where Lee’s rugged communitarianism is especially vital to his cause.
Mike Lee Introduces Pro-Growth, Pro-Middle-Class Tax Reform
by Patrick Brennen | National Review Online
Today at AEI, Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced an idea that’s been missing in Congress for a long time: A conservative tax-reform plan that aims to improve opportunity and reduce the bias against families inherent in the U.S. tax code.
It would significantly simplify how individual income taxes work, and result in a large tax cut on families with children, especially married ones: The system would be reduced to just two brackets — 15 percent on all income below $87,850 (at which the rate currently jumps from 25 percent to 28 percent) and 35 percent on all income above that. Most interestingly, though, it would provide much more compensation in the tax code for raising children: “The centerpiece” of the plan, as Lee put it, is a $2,500 tax credit per child under the age of 16, which would reduce what parents owe in income taxes dollar-for-dollar, and if that’s reduced to zero, what they owe in payroll taxes, too. (The tax code currently provides a combination of a tax deduction for children, which only reduces the amount of one’s income that’s subject to the income tax and isn’t, for most couples, nearly as valuable per dollar, and a smaller tax credit.) ….
“For a political party too often seen as out of touch, aligned with the rich, indifferent to the less fortunate, and uninterested in solving the problems of working families, Republicans could not ask for a more worthy cause around which to build a new conservative reform agenda,” Lee said today. He’s right, and it’s heartening to see a concrete proposal for it introduced in Congress, especially by Lee — a key proponent of the conservative defund-Obamacare effort who was elected in the 2010 tea-party wave.
That might esuggest, to the most optimistic among us, that we can expect plenty more conservative, pro-growth, middle-class-friendly innovations to come.
Leading on Tax Reform
The Editorial Board | National Review
Yesterday Senator Mike Lee, the Utah conservative, announced an ambitious plan to reform taxes — much the most attractive one we have heard from any Republican for a long time.
The plan would cut tax rates, simplify the tax code, and rid it of several features that distort our economy and society. The tax increases that have taken place under President Obama would be undone. The mortgage-interest deduction would be scaled back. And the deduction for state and local taxes would be eliminated: Low-tax states would no longer subsidize high-tax ones, and the federal government would no longer soften voters’ incentives to elect less-profligate state politicians….
With this plan, the senator has taken an important step toward limiting government, promoting growth, and creating a conservative electoral majority.
Can Republicans become the party of the people?
by Timothy P. Carney | The Washington Examiner
Some conservative Republicans are beginning to get it.
“Today … we find the underprivileged trapped in poverty, sometimes for generations,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Tuesday. “We find the middle class caught on a treadmill, running harder every year. ...”….
First, Lee’s plan isn’t a flat tax. He calls for a 15 percent rate and 35 percent rate. He puts much more emphasis on making the tax code clean and simple – eliminating deductions, streamlining returns – than on flatness. This tacitly accepts the notion of a progressive income tax code. He’s agreeing that the rich ought to pay a higher portion.
Along the same lines, Lee’s tax plan would cap the mortgage interest deduction at $300,000. Most homeowners would see no difference, but lobbyists living in Northwest Washington and Chevy Chase would see their deductions shrink.
Most importantly, Lee rejects the notion, persistent among some conservatives, that there’s something bad about knocking low-income families off the tax rolls. The centerpiece of Lee’s bill is an expanded child tax credit that would not only reduce income taxes to zero, but also offset payroll taxes….
Lee said the U.S. economy is increasingly “rigged for big government, big business, and big special interests. And rigged against the ordinary citizens and forgotten families who work hard, play by the rules, and live within their means.”
Remember, this sort of talk isn’t coming from the squishy center, but from the Red Meat Right – from Utah, to be precise. And it could represent a much-needed libertarian-populist wave in the GOP because it comes from the same well from which the Tea Party sprung.
Lee came to Washington by beating the GOP establishment and K Street in his 2010 primary against “Bailout Bob” Bennett. Others who won in similar fashion – with the lobbyist and business PAC money aligned against them – include Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey.
If Lee's ideas gain steam, we could see a Tea Party for the People.
Making Parenthood Pay: Should Washington Pay Parents to Raise Future Taxpayers?
W. Bradford Wilcox | The Atlantic
To help American families, Senator Mike Lee is proposing a $2500 child tax credit that would apply to both income and payroll taxes (above and beyond existing child deductions and the $1000 child tax credit). Because many working-class and poor families pay little or no federal income tax, his focus on payroll taxes would put real money in the hands of these families. As sociologist Andrew Cherlin and I wrote in a recent policy brief for the Brookings Institution, a policy move like this is likely to: “increase marriage rates and marital stability among low- and moderate-income families who would benefit from the economic security such a policy would provide to their family finances. It would also signal to them that the nation values the parental investments they are making in the next generation, who—it should be noted—will be helping cover the cost of Social Security and Medicare in the near future.” Indeed, experimental efforts to boost the income of working parents in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been linked to higher marriage rates and lower divorce rates among low-income couples.
Senator Lee’s proposal is only one step in the right direction. But what’s particularly encouraging about his proposal is that it would lift the sagging economic fortunes of many working-class families by targeting their payroll taxes. Let’s hope more Republicans (and Democrats) take a page from Lee’s playbook and seek policies that renew the flagging economic fortunes of family life in all too many of our nation’s poor and working class communities. Without strengthening these foundations, the United States is not likely to see the institution of marriage—and the stability, security, and opportunity it offers to the nation’s children—on the mend in the very communities that need marriage the most.
Sen. Mike Lee's plan to bolster middle-class parents
by Reihan Salam | Reuters
It is worth noting that Mike Lee isn’t exactly the most likely messenger for family-friendly tax reform. He first emerged on the national scene when he challenged three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett, a Republican widely lauded for his willingness to work across the aisle, in a hard-fought primary race. Lee, a constitutional lawyer with a distinguished resume, ran as a Tea Party stalwart. As a senator, he has led the fight for a balanced budget amendment and against new gun control laws. Most recently, he has rallied Senate conservatives around the idea of defunding the Affordable Care Act, an effort that has been condemned by the Wall Street Journal editorial page and key members of the congressional Republican leadership as reckless and irresponsible. No one questions Lee’s conservative bona fides. What is new is Lee’s willingness to venture outside of his comfort zone. While many leading Republicans have insisted that conservatives do more to better the lives of middle-income voters — the bedrock of the GOP coalition — Lee is actually putting his money where his mouth is with his new tax plan.
Conservatives will find much to like in Lee’s plan. Though it is not a flat tax, an idea Lee has championed in the past, it does reduce the tax code from seven individual income tax rates to two, set at 15 percent and 35 percent. The first rate applies to income up to $87,850 for single filers and $175,700 for joint filers, and the second applies to all income above those thresholds. As of 2010, a single filer earning $87,850 would find herself in the 95th percentile of individual earners, while a married couple earning $175,700 would find themselves in the 87th percentile of married households. The plan also eliminates the taxes included in the Affordable Care Act and the Alternative Minimum Tax, the goal being to improve incentives to work and save.
If Lee left it at that, his plan would closely resemble every other Republican tax reform of the last decade. But the heart of the proposal is a new $2,500 per-child tax credit, which can be used to offset payroll taxes as well as income taxes. This is on top of the existing $1,000 child tax credit, which Lee leaves in place, along with a number of other tax benefits for low-income parents. In one stroke, large numbers of middle-income households with children will be removed from the federal income tax rolls altogether….
What remains to be seen is whether other Republicans will follow Lee’s lead. In 2014, the GOP has a decent shot at winning a Senate majority, not least because the president and his Democratic allies have been struggling amidst a weak recovery. Winning, however, will require convincing middle-income voters that Republicans are looking out for their interests. Getting behind an expanded child tax credit would be a great way to deliver that message.
Amazing
by Pete Spiliakos | First Things
I can't say enough good things about this speech on family-friendly tax reform by Utah Senator Mike Lee. It is a beautifully written argument for a Republican tax agenda that prioritizes the interests of middle-class and struggling working parents/ Lee's speech also contains some powerful but very civil criticisms of the ideas underlying Romney's 47% commend and Rand Paul's flat tax proposal. Lee's identity as an insurgent, constitutionalist, Tea Partier allows him to position middle-class-oriented populism as authentically conservative. This is a huge step toward making the GOP a more middle-class-friendly party.
FINALLY: A Republican Tax Plan That Doesn't Suck
by Josh Barro | Business Insider
Credit where it's due: Lee is out with a new tax plan that's much better and actually addresses the needs of the middle class. Unusually for Republican tax plans, his new plan cuts taxes for the middle class and finances that with a tax increase on the wealthy.
Republicans usually get caught in a trap on tax policy. They feel they need to sharply cut the top income tax rate, which means a tax cut for the rich. Then they have to pay for that somehow, and they end up calling for tax increases on the middle class. Then, if they're Mitt Romney, they try to deny it.
Lee's new plan avoids that trap by going for simplification through the elimination of deductions and credits (a good idea) but retaining a graduated rate structure. Lee would have two income tax rates: 15% for most filers, and 35% for incomes over $87,850 ($175,700 for married couples.) The standard deduction would be replaced with a standard credit of $2,000.
He would then give new, generous tax credits to people with young children. That would mean big tax cuts for middle-income families with children ($5,000 for a family of four earning $51,000, Lee says).
Why Republicans Should Embrace FFOTRA
by Reihan Salam | National Review Online
FFOTRA represents a significant departure from traditional GOP tax policy. But I can see it taking off among Republican candidates in 2014. To understand why, consider the subjective experience of middle-income voters in politically important states. The estimated U.S. median income for four-person families is $74,964. Then consider the estimated U.S. median income for four-person families in the states where the GOP hopes to make gains in U.S. Senate races next year: South Dakota ($69,221), West Virginia ($60,825), Montana ($69,221), Arkansas ($56,975), Alaska ($86,658), Louisiana ($66,896), Kentucky ($64,119), North Carolina ($66,978), Georgia ($67,276), and Iowa ($73,972). These numbers don’t tell us much in themselves, but in 2010, the U.S. Department of Commerce constructed stylized household budgets for three married-couple two-parent two-child families a the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the income distribution respectively. It should go without saying that these families represent a minority of all household types, but they represent roughly a fifth of all U.S. households and a larger share of all voters….
Ultimately, middle-income tax cuts aren’t the best way to improve the economic position of low- and middle-income households. Rather, we need policies that are designed to increase long-term growth and achieve full employment. But measures like FFOTRA can make a positive long-term difference, and they promise palpable benefits for a large number of Americans. FFOTRA will give GOP candidates a meaningful way to talk about the anxieties plaguing middle-income families, and it offers a solid foundation for other proposals designed to attack worklessness. This is a big deal.
Finally, A Tax Plan That Will Help Republicans
by Ramesh Ponnuru | Bloomberg
Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, has a new proposal for tax reform that includes an expansion of the child tax credit. Elsewhere I have defended this idea. Here I want to talk about why it's an important political step for Republicans.
Expanding the child credit is popular. In May, the Republican polling company McLaughlin and Associates asked likely voters what they thought of expanding the current $1,000-per-child credit to $4,000, which is similar to Lee's plan. The results: 58 percent approved, 32 percent disapproved. Slightly more people "strongly approved" (33 percent) than disapproved at all. That's more support than Republicans get for many of the tax cuts they promote, such as the one on capital gains.
Strong Families and American Renewal
Strengthening Families through Tax Reform
But, bottom line: Raising kids is an investment in America’s future just as much as buying new machinery for a business is. “Some people say, ‘Well, maybe we shouldn’t allow expensing of plant equipment,’” Stein says. “And I think that’s kind of ridiculous. It’s an investment, just like raising kids is an investment. And we ought to treat them roughly equally.”
So time for a “human capital”–gains tax cut — and a Republican agenda that seeks to strengthen American families.
Defending the Child Credit
You’re more likely to get pro-growth reforms if they’re coupled with something as popular as an expanded child credit. And Lincicome is right that an expanded credit wouldn’t be large enough to get people to have kids they don’t want. It might, however, help people who want kids to have them.
Geographic Mobility As A Cure For Income Mobility
by Lori Sanders | Politix
Thankfully, some Republicans are now stepping forward with new plans to address the issue that focus on incentives to work and enticements to form and maintain stable families. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), has put forward a plan to significantly increase the child tax credit. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has offered plans to block grant aid to the states and to restructure the Earned Income Tax Credit as a periodic wage subsidy.
Family Fairness and Opportunity Tax Reform Act
Sep 17 2013
Utah Citizens Speak Out Against Obamacare
Sep 13 2013
During the month of August, I hosted several town hall meetings across the state of Utah. I had a great discussion with thousands of Utahns about a wide range of issues. However, the biggest take away from these events is that the people of Utah are overwhelmingly concerned about Obamacare. During each event, I received multiple questions about the steps that can be taken to protect Americans from the implementation of this law.
Here are some of the video clips of these questions. I invite you to become part of this discussion by helping me share these clips. You can also visit my Don't Fund It page to add your voice to the effort to defund Obamacare.
How can "we the people" restore the greatness of our nation?
Is delaying Obamacare a good idea?
What can medical professionals do to help others understand the dangers of Obamacare
How do you plan on succeeding in the effort to defund Obamacare?
Why won't Congress wake up and realize the disaster Obamacare is going to cause?
Why are my hours at work already being cut?
Putin vs. American Exceptionalism
Sep 12 2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the op-ed page of the New York Times to address the American people Wednesday on the situation in Syria and plead his case against military action there. I must admit, it was one of the most insightful things I have read in the New York Times in years. At his conclusion, President Putin warns of the danger of American exceptionalism, stating “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation”.
This is a very revealing statement. American exceptionalism is dangerous, especially for people like President Putin. For two hundred years, American exceptionalism has been dangerous to tyrants, terrorists, and totalitarian leaders all over the world. It was American exceptionalism that defeated fascism and imperialism on the battlefields of the Second World War and helped rebuild Western Europe and the Pacific in the aftermath. It was American exceptionalism that led the world in economic growth, technological innovation, and medical science in the twentieth century. It was our exceptionalism that freed Eastern Europe from the scourge of communism and gave Mr. Putin the opportunity to be elected to the position he currently holds.
Let's be clear, President Putin’s actions surrounding the crisis in Syria have nothing to do with the ideals he lauds in his editorial. The Russian government is solely interested in enhancing its power and influence in the Middle East, and protecting client governments like the Assad regime in Syria. While warning the American people against intervening in internal conflicts, Mr. Putin is directly and openly aiding the Assad regime. He has high praise for the United Nations and international law, while utilizing every tool at his disposal to keep it from working.
That Mr. Putin still finds the United States’ commitment to freedom and human rights so dangerous should put a smile on every American’s face. Mr. Putin may not like it, but American exceptionalism will continue being a positive force in our world. We should all hope that it always will be.
