Columns

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.

Never mind if that legislation allows an increase in spending with money we don't have, bypasses the proper legislative process and unsteadies the delicate balance of power that keeps our branches of government in check.

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.

This was the president's chance to offer guidance and deliver concrete solutions to the American people.

It was his chance to lead. But he took a different path.

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.

The following day, Chamberlain applauded the deal in a speech ironically titled "Peace for Our Time." He promised a renewed friendship between Germany and Britain — "a desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again."

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. But instead of responsibly studying the root causes of the crisis, Democrats in Washington rushed to regulate and threw a blanket over our entire financial system.

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.

Up until last week our state experienced a drought so severe that water levels were reduced to historic lows while conservation efforts were set to all-time highs. Lakes and reservoirs were bone dry. Wildfires were a constant threat.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we were delivered what we so desperately needed but far too much in far too short of time.

In a cruel twist of fate, Texas is now recovering from the worst flooding in recent history.

In 1939 a man started a car dealership to realize the American dream. When he died the ownership of the business was passed along to his son and so was a death tax liability equal to a significant value of the business' worth.
The son nearly declared bankruptcy.

Fortunately, he was able to pull the resources together to keep his father's dealership afloat. He still runs the dealership to this day and has more than 100 employees.

That son is me.

Earlier this month U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke in front of a group of CEOs in Manhattan and compared the U.S. economy to a "well-oiled machine."

One week later he testified before the House Committee on Financial Services, on which I serve, and I told him his statement bothered me.

Taking into account stagnant wages, the lowest labor participation rate since Jimmy Carter's presidency and a national debt of more than 18 trillion dollars, I explained I think we can do better.