All too often in State of the Union addresses we hear a political agenda for the party in control of the White House and not much else. In a divided government though, that’s not a blueprint for action, it’s a blueprint for more of the same gridlock in Washington. A “my way or the highway” attitude from the President won’t cut it. The President called for a “year of action” in his annual address. For this year to be any different – for our country to move forward – we have to be realistic about ... Read more

The quote "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" has been attributed to many famous figures from Ben Franklin to Albert Einstein to Rita Mae Brown. Regardless of who actually said it, it certainly applies to Washington, DC. For decades, our national government has spent much more money than it brings in. Save for a few years in the mid-nineties (when, incidentally, we had a Democratic President and a Republican House as we do now), our debt has grown to ... Read more

In just a few days the current fiscal year ends and unless the Senate passes a continuing resolution to keep the government open, we will face a government shutdown. If the Senate takes up and passes the House-approved bill, a shutdown would be avoided and our military and veterans would continue to receive their pay and services as they should. Unfortunately that scenario is far from certain. With so many variables in the days ahead, my focus right now is ensuring pay continues for our military... Read more

Feeding the hungry is one of the ways in which we care for our neighbors, and we encourage you to support local food pantries and organizations which help the needy. As citizens and taxpayers we also support the needy and the programs designed to assist them through our taxes. Although the federal food stamp program provides support to millions of Americans, well-documented abuses with the program highlight the need for strong and effective reforms to ensure those who truly need assistance are a... Read more

By Congressman Tom Reed and Gary Mervis of Camp Good Days and Special Times As parents, so many of us have personal stories of how diseases and various disorders have impacted our children and the lives of our families. We are constantly looking for ways to promote awareness and research to the best of our ability. When our children are suffering, we have a duty to help them and Congress has a role to play. We’re excited to be joining forces again in support of another important initiative for c... Read more

As unfortunately happens in Washington, facts are often sacrificed as politics prevails. With regard to the debate on student loans, there are three facts people need to know: 1) Congress has until the end of June to prevent an interest rate spike; 2) the House of Representatives passed legislation last month to prevent this spike and provide lower rates to a majority of recipients and; 3) the Senate has failed to pass any legislation that would prevent the rate spike. We are now calling on the ... Read more

At a recent House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee hearing, I had the opportunity to question Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, about the President’s Budget and commitment to ensure Medicare is solvent for generations to come. To my surprise, her testimony said the best the President could do in his budget is provide an additional four years of solvency under the Medicare Part A Trust Fund. This floored me. The best the President can do is give seniors four mo... Read more

In 1996, a Republican Congress and a Democrat President reformed our nation's welfare system, creating the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to replace the floundering Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Established in the era of the New Deal, AFDC had grown heavy with waste and fraud and gave recipients no incentives to leave welfare and lift themselves out of poverty. Instead, it became a trap, with AFDC recipients spending an average of eight years col... Read more

By Rep. Tom Reed Last week Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 to avoid the much-hyped “fiscal cliff.” I ran and was elected on a pledge to taxpayers that I would not raise taxes, and this act secured permanent income tax cuts for 99 percent of our district, while the one percent tax levels remained at the level the law required. I believe Americans can make better spending decisions with their money than people in Washington can. Therefore, I voted to protect as many famil... Read more

By Rep. Tom Reed The edge of the fiscal cliff is in sight. Unless action is taken, all Americans – from those in the lowest tax bracket to those in the highest tax bracket – will see income rate tax increases. Much attention is being paid to tax rates, but changing tax rates as proposed does nothing but throw pennies at the multiple crises upon us. Increasing taxes is not a long-term solution and it gives Americans a false sense of security that somehow the crises have been resolved. In 2011, t... Read more