Blog
Lou's not hiding
by Shawn Kelly - No CommentsPosted on July 13th, 2010 9:36 am
The past week has been a very busy one for Mayor Lou Barletta. He’s been taking his message directly to the people in very public forums (unlike his opponent, a 26-year incumbent who refuses to hold in-person town hall meetings).
First, on Thursday, July 8, Lou visited the studios of WILK News Radio in Pittston Township. There, he spent two hours on the Webster & Nancy Show. Lou fielded questions from the hosts and from callers. Lou was supposed to appear for just an hour, but he decided to spend a second hour answering questions from callers.
Lou also brought some of Hazleton’s famous “pitz” for Steve Corbett (in the interest of fairness, Lou tells Corbett the cost so Corbett can make a charitable contribution – no gifts exchanged for positive coverage). Lou also filmed a short video about Corbett’s “pitz” and made a recommendation for the Friday Morning Beer Buzz on Webster & Nancy. You can listen to the whole two-hour appearance and watch the video at www.wilknewsradio.com.
Then on Friday, Lou headed out to one of the eastern-most parts of the 11th District – Delaware Water Gap, Monroe County. Lou held his first in-person town hall meeting of the summer. More than 90 people – including a high-ranking member of the county Democratic Party – came out on a muggy Friday evening to talk about the important issues facing our country and our district. Lou answered questions from about 20 attendees during the public portion of the event; questions covered topics including taxes, job creation, increasing our manufacturing sector, illegal immigration, and term limits. Lou also attended the social hour so attendees could talk with him one on one.
Lou Barletta is one of the most accessible elected officials in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He loves meeting district residents and answering their questions. We’re looking forward to scheduling more town hall meetings. Hope to see you at one near you!
The Gulf needs relief, not government
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on June 17th, 2010 8:55 am
Ronald Reagan used to say the nine most terrifying words in the English language were, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
For the millions of folks along America’s Gulf Coast, that saying is all too true.
As I write this on Day 58 of the ongoing oil spill, there are 17 separate federal government agencies that share oversight of the leaking well and the cleanup efforts.
To make matters worse, shortly after President Obama met with BP executives – for just 20 minutes on the 58th day of the spill, I might add – he announced the creation of a three-person panel to divvy up $20 billion BP set aside to compensate fishermen, the tourism industry, and others affected by this disaster.
It’s exactly what the people of the Gulf don’t need – more bureaucracy.
They’re already drowning in a red-tape nightmare that, as ABC’s “Good Morning America” discovered on June 15. A news crew arrived at a marina that was just starting to discover tar balls in its slips. The boaters asked to install barriers and clean up the oil on their own before the situation got worse. Instead, they were told they had to contact the appropriate agency and wait for help to arrive. Hours passed, and oily goo continued to seep into this marina.
I’m tempted to ask how our country became so cripplingly over-reliant on the federal government, but I must also ask how the government became so woefully inept at handling a crisis.
This oil spill has exposed serious flaws in our government, just as Hurricane Katrina did in August 2006.
In this case, private industries clearly made serious mistakes. But our government has failed us – and continues to fail us in this area on a daily basis.
It pains me to say that the president failed to lead during this crisis. His response and that of his administration has been too slow, too disorganized, and too scattered. The Obama administration is so concerned about playing the Washington Blame Game that plugging the leaking well seems to be a secondary concern.
What’s even more troubling is that Congress is getting ready to take up so-called energy legislation – under the guise of environmental stewardship – that will increase your energy costs and kill millions of jobs nationwide.
A leaking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico does not justify the sinking of billions of dollars in a cap-and-tax scheme that will raise your electricity rates and drive manufacturing jobs overseas.
The Deepwater Horizon rig accident is a terrible, ongoing tragedy that claimed 11 lives. Millions more had theirs forever changed, and they face an uphill battle to preserve their livelihoods and their way of life.
BP and other private firms should be held accountable for whatever damages they caused.
But the federal government’s first priority should be stopping the leak and cleaning up the damage. Next, it should determine what went wrong and make sure a similar tragedy never happens again.
There will be time for criminal investigations and federal probes. For now, the Obama administration should keep political scheming at the water’s edge.
National Day of Prayer
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on May 6th, 2010 2:52 pm
Today is the National Day of Prayer, which is a day when Americans of all faiths can come together to pray for the nation. I think this is a noble idea, particularly nowadays. The United States of America faces many challenges, and our elected officials need strength and courage to make difficult decisions and do the right thing. I would respectfully ask that we pray for the men and women serving in the armed forces. But more than that, the National Day of Prayer is a time to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, particularly our freedom of religion. I would like to commend everyone who participated in the National Day of Prayer, and I would like to personally thank those who prayed for elected officials, including me. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Government Spending
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on May 5th, 2010 2:48 pm
Most Americans don’t know where their tax dollars go.
That’s because the federal government has done a good job at keeping that information hidden. Most of your tax burden comes out of your paycheck, and all you see are the payroll deduction section on your pay stub.
This year, Washington will collect more than $18,000 in taxes from each American household, according to the Heritage Foundation.
But, as Heritage points out, Washington will spend more than $31,400 per American household.
Adjusted for inflation, that’s the highest level ever.
It doesn’t take a math whiz to see there’s a $13,000 difference between what the federal government collects and what it spends.
That $13,000 per household is this year’s debt. Add it to the other debt the federal government accrued over the years and you can see the massive burden we’re leaving for your children, grandchildren, and a number of generations after that.
Federal spending is out of control. Since 2008, it has increased by $5,000 per American household.
So where do your tax dollars go?
Of the $31,400 in per-household federal spending, almost one-third of it ($9,949) goes to Social Security and Medicare. This huge expenditure shows why reform of both programs is necessary.
The next $6,000 goes toward defense, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, military pay, and research and development.
Close behind are anti-poverty programs, which draw $5,400 of the per-household spending. These include food stamps, housing subsidies, and the federal subsidies of state programs. Former President George W. Bush increased this spending to record levels during his terms, and it grew another 32 percent under President Obama (since 2008).
The next commitment is more than $1,600 for unemployment benefits. During the current recession, this cost grew more than 400 percent.
The last big-ticket item is the $1,585 per-household to pay interest on the federal debt. The federal government is $13 trillion in debt. Politicians in Washington raided the Social Security Trust Fund and other federal agencies to get about $4 trillion of that, but the rest of the debt is publicly held. We’ve been fortunate that low interest rates have kept those interest payments down.
However, the national debt is expected to double by 2020, according to Heritage. Combined with higher interest rates and the annual interest costs will quadruple to $6,000 per household.
It has to stop.
Our greedy politicians in Washington cannot keep writing blank check after blank check. They’re spending us past the point of no return.
When you look at the facts, it’s no wonder that Washington politicians support tax increases.
But tax increases only go so far, so they look to initiate other punitive schemes, like the tolling of Interstate 80. This is just another form of taxation, and it will increase traffic on local roads, like Route 11, Route 940, and Route 93. The increased traffic on local roads will lead to more accidents and it will break down those roads faster, leading to increased and accelerated repair costs, and that will increase the local and state tax burden. Those are just some of the reasons why I vehemently oppose the tolling of I-80.
So far, the plan to toll I-80 has been rejected three times, but that doesn’t stop its advocates. There’s talk of taking a fourth crack at getting the plan approved.
This persistent battle indicates just how far and how long politicians are willing to fight to take more of your money.
Politicians in Washington are greedy and sneaky. They will continue to spend more of your tax dollars – and the tax dollars of your children and grandchildren, then they will continue to come up with innovative ways to make you pay for that spending.
Greedy Washington politicians are addicted to spending your money. In November, if you vote them out of office, you can take away their checkbook.
Bureaucrats?
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on April 22nd, 2010 1:51 pm
Yesterday, my opponent, Paul Kanjorski, was on Steve Corbett's radio show and made the following remarks:
KANJORSKI: I know it's nice to campaign against lobbyists, its...in the same way it's nice to campaign against quote bureaucrats, but the reality is the bureaucrat you're campaigning against is the guy that delivers your mail every day. It's the guy that is protecting us over in the battlefields of Europe, these...uh... or the Middle East. These are all the people that perform governmental functions whether they be in the military of the civilian force of the United States.
(Click here to download the audio file and hear for yourself)
Once again Paul Kanjorski shows just how out of touch he is with his constituents. He actually said that the brave men and women serving in our military are bureaucrats. Personally, I think they are heroes - citizen soliders who volunteer to protect our way of life. I guess after 26 years of living in Washington, Kanjorski either sees people as bureaucrats or funding sources
Thoughts on Earth Day
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on April 22nd, 2010 9:45 am
Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, which is traditionally recognized as the start of the modern environmental movement. It also ushered in a new era of conservation and protection of our natural resources.
The environmental movement has largely been successful in increasing our awareness of man's impact on the planet.
And, for the most part, there have been beneficial changes. Our air is cleaner. Our water is cleaner. Americans are recycling household goods and conserving energy.
Companies have followed new regulations to produce goods that are more environmentally friendly. For example, a car manufactured today produces 20 times fewer emissions than a car made in 1970. Industries use recycled materials in the items they produce.
As a nation, we are more in tune with the environment than ever before. We have protected and continue to protect endangered species. We have taken steps to ban harmful chemicals to protect our land, our air, and our water.
Those are important things, to be sure, but we must be vigilant so that environmental advocacy does not infringe on personal freedom and American traditions.
An oceans and Great Lakes management policy proposed by the Obama administration, for instance, that could ban Americans from fishing in the Great Lakes, on our coasts, and even in some inland waters. The proposed cap and trade bill could place punishing taxes on American businesses, stifling the economic recovery and jeopardizing millions of jobs.
Environmental responsibility must be balanced with the realities of personal freedom and the American economy.
Burdensome overregulation of both businesses and individual citizens is not the best way to protect our resources.
Instead, we need commonsense approaches to environmental policy, our eye constantly focused on the freedoms and liberties granted to us by the Constitution and our American heritage.
How not to save the Economy
by Lou Barletta - No CommentsPosted on April 20th, 2010 5:41 pm
Ronald Reagan used to say that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Nowadays, that seems to resonate with most Americans. On Monday, a Pew Research Center poll showed that nearly 8 in 10 people don’t trust the government and have little faith it can solve any of our problems.
Only half of Americans believe the government runs programs efficiently. More people believe the government negatively affects their daily lives than believe the government positively affects their daily lives.
And, by a wide margin, more Americans have a favorable impression of the IRS than they do of Congress (47 percent to 25 percent).
Our elected officials have given us little reason for hope. Despite their spending of billions of dollars on a so-called stimulus package, our economy is still sputtering. The government is working hard to redefine traditional “unemployment” to keep the rate from reaching double digits while their own statistics show that 17 percent of Americans are underemployed – or have given up looking for work altogether.
Here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, thousands of people wonder each day how they’re going to feed their families, pay their bills, put their kids through college, and plan for retirement.
How do our Congressmen want to solve our economic problems? Spend billions more. Create new bureaucracy and new, expensive government programs. And keep adding weeks of unemployment benefits for those unlucky millions who cannot find work.
As most Americans have already discovered, Congress is on the wrong track. We saw during the nationalized health care debate that we cannot trust our Congressmen to do what is right, let alone what we implore them to do.
We need to fix our struggling economy now. Increasing government spending is not the solution, but the government can be part of the solution. It can start by getting out of the way.
Uncle Sam isn’t going to save our economy, but Moms and Pops across America will. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of this country. We need to improve our business climate so that small businesses can thrive again and create jobs again.
The best way to create jobs is to reduce the high taxes and burdensome overregulation of small businesses. Business owners cannot hire new workers because of uncertainty over pending taxes and regulatory policies. Increasing taxes and regulation will only stop their growth and stall our economy.
Huge stimulus packages are not the answer because, as we have seen, they do not work. We should immediately return any unspent stimulus money to the people that fronted the cash in the first place – you, the taxpayers. That will revive our economy because it puts more cash in your pockets.
The government should cut wasteful spending in order to shrink its budget, shrink its tax burden, and grow the economy. We all have to balance our checkbooks. Congress doesn’t. Congressmen think the solution to every problem is to throw money at it. Well, they threw the largest sum of money ever at a problem with little or no positive effect. Now they ask us to just trust them a little more, let them spend a little more – and conveniently, this spending happens to occur around election time.
Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, wrote, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
As more and more Americans are constantly discovering, when it comes to the economy, Congress cannot lead effectively. It will not follow the will of the people.
The best thing Congress can do is get out of the way and let the American people save our economy.
Tax Day
by Lou Barletta for Congress - No CommentsPosted on April 15th, 2010 6:45 pm
Today is April 15, Tax Day, and all across the United States, citizens are hurrying to file their income tax forms.
Just four days ago (April 11), Pennsylvanians marked Tax Freedom Day, the day when Americans have earned enough money to pay all their federal, state and local taxes before they can pocket the rest of their earnings for the rest of the year.
You have to work 24 days just to earn enough money to pay your federal income tax obligation. It's hard to believe, but on average, Americans will pay more in taxes in 2010 than they will spend on food, clothing, and shelter – combined. It's going to get much worse.
Our representatives in Washington keep spending our money on a failed stimulus package and more government bureaucracy. They're spending so much that, if every American had to pay for all government spending – including our massive budget deficit – we wouldn't start earning money for ourselves until May 17.
Enough is enough.
We need financial discipline in Washington. And if we're serious about creating new jobs, we need to cut taxes on our businesses, especially our small businesses. When you remove the high taxes and crushing over regulation from businesses, they will start hiring again. Our economy will start growing again. Higher employment rates. Lower taxes. Responsible federal spending levels.
Wouldn't that be a day to celebrate.
Tags: lou barletta, congress, 2010, tax day
Welcome
by Lou Barletta for Congress - No CommentsPosted on February 17th, 2010 12:44 pm
Welcome to our campaign website. Check back for updates.
Tags: lou barletta, congress, 2010
