Recovery Summer?

This week, I spent time in North Texas meeting with constituents, small business owners, and community leaders about what federal policies mean for them.

On Tuesday, I met with members of the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce -- comprised of small business owners, entrepreneurs and business professionals from East and Northeast Dallas, as well as the surrounding areas.

As the keynote speaker for their August monthly meeting, I provided an update on our nation's current fiscal state, including debt, spending, and taxation levels brought on by the fiscally-reckless agenda of this Democrat Congress. In contrast, I highlighted a few of the tax relief solutions that I support for working families and small businesses.

Each year the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce gives the "Pete Sessions Leadership Award" to individuals in the organization who have served with exemplary volunteerism. I am honored to be a part of this award, and the 2010 award winners are Mark Shank and Tom Buechel. I have known Mark Shank for many years and appreciate his deep commitment to the community, providing many hours of pro bono legal counsel to the chamber and other organizations. And Tom Buechel, a CPA, has invested a great amount of time and effort as Treasurer of the chamber to ensuring its current and ongoing success. I congratulate Mark and Tom on their recognition.

Henry Holmes Breakfast Group

On Wednesday, I met with nearly 50 members of the Henry Holmes Breakfast group, comprised of community leaders and local officials in Irving who meet once a week to discuss issues and solutions in our community.

Our discussion primarily centered on America's rising debt problems resulting from this Congress' spending sprees. Like many North Texans I have spoken with recently, the members of the Breakfast group were very concerned about the long-term consequences of Washington's fiscal irresponsibility.

Additionally, I spoke about how federal policies are affecting jobs in our community and across the nation. Attendees also asked about the Republican policy agenda for the future, and I highlighted our commitment to job-creating tax relief, eliminating unnecessary spending, balancing the budget, and other policies that empower the American people -- not the federal government.

TEXO

On Thursday, I spoke at a luncheon hosted by TEXO, the Construction Association representing commercial contractors in North and East Texas. The event was held in conjunction with the Construction Financial Management Association and Lane Gorman Trubitt, L.L.P.

In my speech, I focused on the new 2,700-page healthcare law and how it will affect contractors -- most of whom are small business owners. Here are a few provisions of the law for which employers need to be prepared:

* A requirement to offer "acceptable" health coverage or pay a "fair share tax" of $2,000 per full-time employee.
* An additional 3.8% Medicare payroll tax on all investment income over $250,000.
* A requirement to file a 1099 form for each purchase of goods or services of $600 or more per year.
* No tax deductibility for employers offering prescription drug coverage to their retired workers.
* New contribution and service restrictions on Health Savings Accounts and Medical Savings Accounts.
* An estimated average $2,100 increase in health care premiums per person, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Following my presentation, Brent Cooper, an attorney with Cooper & Scully, PC, discussed the health care law from a legal implementation prospective. Brent was able to further explain how small businesses across the 32nd District will be negatively impacted by this costly new law.

As you know, I strongly oppose this government-takeover of health care, and I continue to support repealing and replacing this job-killing law with real health care reforms that will provide Americans with access to quality, affordable health care of their choice. The reforms I support include universal access for pre-existing conditions, tort reform, small business health plans, plan portability, expanded use of Health Savings Accounts, and pre-tax dollars for all health care expenditures.

August: America Speaking Out

The August District Work Period is always a very busy time of meetings in the district. This year, as a part of the America Speaking Out initiative, House Republicans are making an even more organized, decisive effort to ensure that we are hearing from the American people.

As you may remember, in May House Republicans launched AmericaSpeakingOut.com to engage the American people in developing a new national policy agenda. Thousands of people have posted their ideas, voted on others' ideas, and provided much-needed feedback on proposals that Members of Congress have offered.

As we enter the final months of this Congress, I hope that North Texans will continue to be a part of this important discussion online about how to proceed with policies that can create jobs, balance the budget, strengthen our values, and secure our nation. Visit AmericaSpeakingOut.com today to make your voice heard in the national debate.

Recovery Summer?

This summer, the White House launched its "Recovery Summer" public relations campaign, still attempting to sell the American people on the failed trillion-dollar "stimulus" program and tout how well the economy is recovering. Except it isn't. And over 15 million unemployed Americans are painfully aware of this fact to which President Obama and his administration appear strangely disconnected.

Last week, new jobless claims rose to the highest level in nine months -- with 500,000 more Americans seeking unemployment assistance. While the economy has made tepid recovery in areas, Americans are still asking, "Where are the jobs?"

In Texas, where overall we have fared better than the rest of the nation, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in July at 8.2 percent, according to data released today by the Texas Workforce Commission. Similarly, the unemployment rate in North Texas stayed the same at 8.5 percent -- slightly above the state average but below the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent.

I continue to believe that the policies of this Democrat Congress have discouraged needed economic recovery and job growth. This Congress has assaulted the free enterprise system with unprecedented taxation and burdensome regulations and then has the audacity to wonder why the private sector isn't hiring. Not surprisingly, their War on American Business is not producing jobs.

I remain committed to supporting pro-growth tax relief policies that will empower American businesses -- especially small businesses as the engine of our economy -- to grow, invest, and hire more workers. It's past time to utilize proven, common-sense solutions for real job creation and economic growth.

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