Could you imagine if the federal government ran the Olympics? The Department of Competition would determine winners and award medals. They’d subsidize some competitors and punish others. As a result, athletes would spend less time training and more time making political connections. Liberals might even tax you if you refuse to watch, although they won’t call it a tax, of course.

These ideas sound absurd, but they’re closer to reality than you might think. Consider the Department of Energy program that gave gold medal loans to now-bankrupt companies like Solyndra and Beacon Power. It didn’t take long to show these “winners” couldn’t actually compete.

The list goes on. Our tax code creates an uneven playing field for families and businesses alike. The federal government has grown so large that most industries see good reason to divert money from production to lobbying. As for the president’s health care law, the tax Democrats promised wasn’t a tax prevents real competition and fails to reduce costs.

How is any of this fair?

In the Olympics, only the best will come home from with gold. The competition is tough, and the winners truly earn their success. Frankly, the liberals trying to run our economy from Washington, D.C. could learn a lot by watching our athletes compete.

God Bless,

Congressman Jim Jordan

Chairman, Republican Study Committee

RSC Media Activity – RSC members work hard to ensure that the conservative viewpoint is well-represented in all corners of the media. Visit our Media Center for more.

·         Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05): Health Care Act: Guilty as Charged; The Record, July 30.

·         Rep. Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) with Mr. Michael Needham: The 'Farm' Bill Is No Such Thing; Wall Street Journal, August 1.

·         Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22): Obama’s Reforms Will Lead to Ruin; The Hill, August 1.

·         Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-07): ‘ObamaCare’ Burdens Poor, Middle Class with Tax; Politico, August 1.

·         Rep. Sam Graves (MO-06): Stop the Tax Hike on Small Business; CNBC, August 1.

·         Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-49): Rep. Issa Speaks about the New ObamaCare Regulations that Give Unprecedented Power to the IRS; Fox News, August 2.

·         Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-09): Avoid 'Taxmageddon:' Low taxes help all Americans; The Tampa Tribune, August 7.

RSC Member Activity – RSC members make it a priority to introduce productive, conservative solutions for America’s future.

·         Rep. Steve King (IA-05) introduced H.R. 6333, the Sunset Act, which would require Congress to take an up or down vote on all new rules and regulations put forth by federal departments and agencies. It also would require that all current regulations be sunsetted and voted on by Congress for renewal.

·         Rep. Mike Pompeo (KS-04) introduced H.R. 6345, the General Duty Clarification Act, which would require EPA to clarify the General Duty Clause before using it again.

House Floor Activity – The following key legislation came through the House of Representatives recently.

·         On August 1, the House approved H.R. 8, the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012, which would prevent an enormous tax increase at the end of the year by keeping in place current rates on individual income, capital gains, and dividends.

·         On August 2, the House approved H.R. 6169, the Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012, which would speed up the process of achieving tax reform next year.

·         Also on August 2, the House approved H.R. 6233, the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012, which would provide supplemental funding for drought relief by retroactively reauthorizing expired disaster assistance programs for fiscal year 2012.

Outlook – A quick look at what’s on the horizon.

·         The House will reconvene on Monday, September 10 after the August District Work Period. The House will reconvene earlier if Senate Democrats pass legislation in the next 5 weeks to prevent the tax increases looming at the end of this year.

RSC Reports

·         The RSC recently published a Policy Brief which summarizes the ObamaCare decision and provides insight and analysis into its remaining questions.

·         RSC Updates are now online! Looking for one of our recently released charts and graphs? Click here.

·         Stay up to date on budget and spending news with reports from the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force.

·         Check out the RSC Sunset Caucus’ work to shrink the size of government and the Repeal Task Force’s work to eliminate bad laws and regulations.

·         House rules now require sponsors of legislation to provide a Constitutional Authority Statement that explains how Congress has the constitutionally-derived authority to enact their proposals. Click here to see liberals’ highly questionable attempts.

·         Read the RSC Money Monitor to track how bills passed by the House affect budget authorizations, mandatory spending, and federal government revenue.