Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce

A Weekly e-Newsletter from
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

January 16, 2010

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged the nation of Haiti.  I continue to pray for the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake that has devastated their country, and I am heartened by the outpouring of cash donations, supplies and medical volunteers from America and from across the globe.

There are still many Americans who are missing in Haiti, including some from Georgia. Today, Senator Chambliss and I sent a letter to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development requesting that each of them do everything in their power to continue the search and rescue mission as long as possible and make sure that every American missing in Haiti is accounted for and returned home.

The need in Haiti is overwhelming, and I encourage Americans who would like to assist in the relief efforts to make donations to help Haitians in dire need of medical attention, food and water and other vital resources to help save lives and to stabilize the impacted areas.

There are multiple ways in which you can assist the people of Haiti. One way to donate is through the fund that was announced Saturday by former presidents George W. Bush and William J. Clinton. Donations to this fund will be distributed to the many organizations providing assistance to the relief efforts. The fund’s website address is http://clintonbushhaitifund.org/ . You can also donate directly to the many relief organizations that are helping the victims in Haiti, including the Red Cross ( www.redcross.org ), the Salvation Army ( www.salvationarmyusa.org ), CARE ( www.care.org ) and Habitat for Humanity( www.habitat.org ).

Health Care Reform Debate
There have been significant developments on this issue. As you may recall, the Senate passed Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform legislation on Christmas Eve. I voted against this legislation, because I firmly believe it will raise taxes, increase health care premiums, cut benefits for America’s seniors and place a massive unfunded mandate on Georgia and other states to pay for a proposed expansion of Medicaid. When Congress returned to Washington after the holidays, final passage of health care reform seemed imminent as the House and the Senate attempted to reconcile the differences between their two bills.

However, on Jan. 19, the people of Massachusetts sent a clear message to Washington when they elected Republican Scott Brown, who opposes the Senate health care bill, to represent them in the United States Senate. Brown’s election means that the Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority in the Senate, so the fate of the Democrats’ health care effort is very uncertain. While it is important to find ways to provide access to affordable health care to individuals who lack access to health insurance through an employer, I believe Congress needs to focus first and foremost on getting our faltering economy back on track.

Many Americans also have concerns about the constitutionality of certain provisions within the Democrats’ health care reform legislation. I believe these concerns are legitimate, including the concern over special deals for the state of Nebraska and Medicare Advantage enrollees in Florida. Should this bill become law, I believe it would certainly face challenges in our courts. I have asked Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker to review the Senate’s health care reform bill to see if the Nebraska provision or any other provisions might be unconstitutional.

Christmas Day Terror Attack
The arrest of the Nigerian man who tried to blow up a plane headed for Detroit on Christmas Day was a frightening reminder that terrorists remain intent on harming Americans and that our national security system is still lacking.

I am troubled by the failure of our intelligence agencies to share the information they had on this suspect and I am concerned over the flaws in our airline security system that allowed this man to board a plane in the first place.

As a result, I co-sponsored legislation this week that would close critical security gaps in our current visa screening process, which, had they been addressed prior, could have prevented Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding the plane to Detroit on Christmas day.

I look forward to learning more about how this incident happened and to immediately correcting these problems.

Raising the Debt Limit
This week, I voted to end the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, which was designed to assist troubled banks, financial institutions and automakers, but now is being eyed by Democrats as a way to fund their new spending initiatives.

The amendment would have prohibited the Treasury Department from making any further commitments to spend TARP funds and would mandate that all returned TARP funds be used to lower our national debt. It required 60 votes to pass but failed by a vote of 53-45. I was a co-sponsor of the amendment, which sought to amend legislation to increase the federal debt limit.

In December, Congress approved an increase to the debt limit by $290 billion, for a total of $12.394 trillion. I voted against this increase. Senate Democrats want to boost the debt limit again to increase it to a level that would avoid the need to bring up the issue again until 2011.

I believe that it is irresponsible to be increasing the federal debt ceiling without a plan to begin curbing federal spending and lowering our debt. The Treasury Department has more than $300 billion in unused TARP money, and the administration as well as House and Senate Democrats have begun eyeing the fund as a way to pay for their new spending initiatives.

It is time for the federal government to stop using the Troubled Asset Relief Program as a slush fund to spend whenever and wherever the White House sees fit. Ending TARP is absolutely essential to decreasing the federal debt and reducing the need to increase the debt limit.

Balancing the Federal Budget
I have also signed on again as a co-sponsor to a constitutional amendment that would allow the President to use the line-item veto to either eliminate or reduce appropriations in any bill passed by the Congress. The amendment would also require Congress to balance the federal budget.

As a businessman, I more than recognize that the way the government is operating is not only unsustainable, it is a recipe for disaster and failure. This amendment will force Congress to become better stewards of the taxpayers’ money and give the President much-needed authority to remove items from appropriations bills that are considered wasteful on a national perspective.

One of the problems we have in America with deficit spending is spending money on projects that by anybody's definition are unnecessary projects. We need to have politicians justifying what they just spent rather than promising what they will spend.

Congress passed a line-item veto bill in 1996, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. The 1996 bill allowed the president to cancel, but not reduce, spending items in appropriation bills. The legislation I have co-sponsored would give the President more flexibility by allowing him to cancel or reduce any appropriation passed by Congress.

What’s on Tap?

Next week the Senate will continue consideration of H.J. Res. 45, the Debt Limit Extension.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson