Texas Republican Accuses Obama Of Missing Important Stimulus Benchmark

By Justine Rellosa- Talk Radio News Service

On the eve of the release of new unemployment data, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who serves as the senior House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee, criticized President Barack Obama Thursday for failing to adequately revive the employment situation in the private sector through the Recovery Act.

"9% of ... job loss has been in the private sectors," said Brady during a telephone conference with reporters. "The only jobs that have [been] gained have been in the government sector."

Brady noted nearly 4 million private sectore jobs have been lost since the passage of the Recovery Act.

Healthcare Fight Not Over, Say GOP'ers

Although President Barack Obama will soon sign the main health reform bill passed by the House last night, Republican lawmakers aren't convinced that their window of opportunity to 'kill the bill' has closed. Hours after the House passed the Senate's bill, as well as a subsequent reconciliation bill, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) drafted legislation to repeal them.

“Americans across the country are outraged that liberals have made an unconstitutional bill full of special interest bribes the law of the land. Democrats will pay a price for their overreach. This fight is far from over. Now the work begins to repeal this monstrosity and restore the principles of freedom that made America a great nation," said King in a statement released Monday morning.

King's effort will most likely enjoy support from at least a few on the other side of Capitol Hill.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has already said he will introduce a repeal measure in the Senate, and during an appearance on ABC this morning Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) vowed "we're going to repeal this."

Realistically, Republicans will more than likely have to win control of both Houses this fall in order to have a shot at repealing the soon-to-be laws. Additionally, without 60 seats in the Senate, Republicans would have to use the same reconciliation process they have assailed Democrats over the past few months for using. However, while attaining a super-majority is out of the question, Republicans are betting on the fact that Obamacare will pay dividends for their candidates later this year.

One such candidate is Rev. Isaac Hayes (R), a youth Minister from Chicago, who sees healthcare as a way to defeat Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) in his race to get re-elected to the House.

"I believe the process by which health insurance reform has been jammed down our throats will be the centerpiece of the November election...America knows this is a government grab of one-sixth of the economy and they are encouraging Republicans to repeal this bill the moment we are sworn in as the 112th Congress," Hayes told Talk Radio News Service on Monday.

Sunset Caucus To Shed Light On Government Spending

By Aaron Richardson-Talk Radio News Service

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) introduced the formation of the Sunset Caucus today. Rep Tom Price (R-Ga.), the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee described the Sunset Caucus as “A new inititive that will continue to bring sensibility to Washington spending.” The Sunset Caucus is made up of Republican House Representatives from across the U.S. including Kevin Brady (R-Texas) who is the co-chairman, and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va).

The members of the Sunset Caucus plan to review certain federal programs and end those deemed wasteful, inefficient, or dangerous. Goodlatte named one program he was anxious to cut.

“The visa lottery program was established in 1990 and awards approximately fifty-thousand permanent resident visas to foreign nationals each year. The State Department’s Inspector General has testified that this program poses a serious national security threat to the U.S," said Goodlatte.

Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) spoke about against funds going towards the island nation of Palau.

“Our government pledged $200 million in development assistance to Palau. That comes to $12 million per individual detainee. That's $200 million equals the annual college tuition for over 2,000 students," Posey stated. "The new slogan for Palau will be: Come tan with the terrorists and pay low.”

For information about the RSC or the Sunset Caucus visit www.rsc.price.house.gov

The Future Of Energy and Oil Dependency Is Decided Today

By Michael Combier - Talk Radio News Service

New alternatives of energy needs to be found by the United States to be less dependent on oil and the dictate of political regimes in Venezuela, Russia or in the Middle East. Additionally, US economy will be hit less severely by rising oil prices if other energy options are provided to the population.

The Joint Economic Committee chaired by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) held a hearing this morning entitled “Oil and the Economy: The Impact of Rising Global Demand on the U.S. Recovery”. The hearing dealt with the impact of last year’s impact of oil prices on U.S. economy.

“Last year’s oil shock showed us that right now it takes a very large increase in gasoline prices to reduce our consumption of oil. Part of the reason is because many consumers have no alternatives to their gasoline powered cars”, Maloney said,adding that “in the long run, energy policies that increase alternatives to using a gas-fueled car - whether they are different modes of transportation or alternative fuels for cars - will help minimize the impact to the economy of a rise in the price of oil.”

To explore policy options and alternative energies, Dr. Daniel Yergin and Dr. James D. Hamilton were invited to testify. Yergin pointed out that “oil prices are among others a barometer of the world economy” while also adding that because the U.S. uses 46 million barrels of oil a day, the country can still face difficulties in four or five years when the economy will be totally recover and oil prices will rise to a level experienced in 2008.

The diversification of the country’s energy with wind mills, solar energy, nuclear and new efficient automobiles will protect the country in the future on high oil prices. By changing the country’s habit on oil and by focusing on domestic productions, “it will create jobs in the U.S. and activity here rather than revenues going to the treasury of other countries,” said Dr. Yergin.