THE PROBLEM: In 2007, the Democrat-led Congress approved legislation to temporarily phase down the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans made to undergraduate students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over four years. Once the law expired in 2012, the interest rates would jump back to 6.8 percent. Despite a one-year extension of the lower interest rate, students and families could see interes... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: For many Americans, balancing the demands of family and the workplace can be difficult. State and local government employees have long been able to choose paid time off as compensation for working overtime hours, allowing these public-sector employees greater flexibility to meet family obligations. However, the federal government prohibits private-sector workers from enjoying this sa... Read more »
To help Americans balance the needs of family and work, Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) introduced the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013 (H.R. 1406). This commonsense legislation would allow private-sector workers to choose paid time off or ‘comp time’ instead of cash wages as compensation for working overtime hours. Public-sector employees have enjoyed this benefit for almost 30 years; it’s time p... Read more »
Winter may be over, but more dark days are await the Democrats’ health care law. Contrary to the Obama administration’s promises, headlines suggest more tough times lie ahead as the nation grapples with the consequences of ObamaCare: Health care costs on the rise Medical claims costs – the biggest driver of health insurance premiums – will jump an average 32% for Americans' individual polices unde... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: In January 2012, President Obama installed three so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board while Congress was not in recess. In the wake of the president’s unprecedented action, efforts to overturn board rulings were initiated in various federal courts on the basis that the board itself was no longer legitimate. In a unanimous decision by the U.S. Court of A... Read more »
Courtesy of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and the Workforce BACKGROUND: Seventeen years ago, a Republican-led Congress worked with President Bill Clinton to fix a broken welfare system. President Clinton rallied the nation to “end welfare as we know it” and his call to action was well founded. Under the old system, 65 percent of families were dependent on welfare for an average of... Read more »
To get the nation’s fiscal house in order, the American people shouldn’t have to choose between higher taxes and indiscriminate budget cuts. Yet that is precisely the false choice President Obama wants the country to make. House Republicans have twice advanced a responsible alternative, one that addresses Washington’s addiction to reckless spending. Instead of across-the-board cuts that will hurt ... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: Roughly 12 million Americans are unemployed and searching for work, yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports millions of job openings remain unfilled. One reason for this startling fact is a broken workforce development system. Despite a multi-billion dollar annual taxpayer investment in federal job training programs, employers continue to struggle to find workers with skills neces... Read more »
When President Obama called for expanded access to early childhood education during Tuesday’s State of the Union address, House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline warned, “Before we spend more taxpayer dollars on new programs, we must first review what is and is not working in existing initiatives, such as Head Start.” House and Senate Republicans have raised questions ab... Read more »
As it turns out, President Obama’s controversial plan to rewrite K-12 education law via executive fiat isn’t as popular as the administration thought. A growing number of education leaders and policy experts have recently come forward to express their doubts about the president’s waiver scheme, noting the waivers fail to provide the lasting, meaningful reform our nation’s children deserve: Marc Tu... Read more »
