Columns
Deficits are down and the stock market is up – that premature victory chant by President Barack Obama couldn’t be further from the truth today.
This week, President Obama is going around the country to re-hash some of the themes from his State of the Union. I have a better idea: how about he start apologizing for the last seven years?
I have always said that I believe the role of government is to defend the borders, build infrastructure, collect our taxes and then get out of the way. Under President Obama, we have witnessed an executive branch that refuses to enforce immigration law but has expanded government like never before while our roads and bridges crumble beneath us.
As we approach the new year, it is a great time to reflect on 2015. While the past year has brought much frustration and disappointment from Washington, it is the Texas spirit of resolve, determination and willingness to confront challenges head-on that give me hope for the future.
In his Oval Office address Sunday, President Obama made clear that he never misses an opportunity to advance his anti-gun agenda, the United States is still leading from behind, and he believes the American people are students in his lecture hall.
Special to the Star-Telegram
Reading the headlines, you would think that in Washington bipartisanship is the litmus test for determining what is “good” legislation.
Last week, just four hours after a gunman opened fire inside a western Oregon community college, the networks suspended their news coverage to give the president the airwaves.
The nation, looking for answers, was glued to radios and television screens as new details poured in. President Obama's audience was set. He would have their undivided attention.
In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain led a multi-nation effort to allow Adolf Hitler to seize a part of Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement, as it was called, was signed to avoid what the prime minister believed was the only alternative: war.
Five years ago, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law as one of the largest financial overhauls in our nation’s history. The American people were told the law was necessary to ensure stability in the financial sector and prevent future meltdowns.
The talk of tax reform in our nation’s capital is commonplace. Unfortunately, there is just not much substance to back up the rhetoric. Tax reform is a bipartisan issue, but the United States tax code has not been overhauled since 1986.