Op-Eds

As the flu season draws nearer, we are working to prevent widespread infection of the H1N1 flu virus.

I believe Oklahomans are ready to lead the way forward on healthcare, developing real reform that would cut costs without decreasing quality or levying devastating tax increases.

Congress is about to begin debating health care reform. We know it's needed, but the devil is in the details – especially those surrounding the administration's proposal for a "Medicare for all" public health insurance program that would quickly come to dominate health insurance in America.

This July 4 marks 233 years of American freedom.

For the first time in the long history of American automobiles, the federal government now owns a majority stake in one of our largest car companies, General Motors.

Under the president's plan, many Gitmo detainees would be transferred to federal prisons – perhaps even some in Oklahoma – while others would be released overseas.

Spending increases today will produce higher taxes for our children and grandchildren, who have no represenation and no recourse to the actions taken now by the Obama administration.

The administration is charting precisely the wrong course on immigration enforcement at a time when we can least afford it.

April 15th is the deadline for filing taxes – a day that has especially ominous meaning this year as spending continues to rage out of control in Washington.

The Obama Administration is planning dangerous cuts in our military budget.

Rather than working to control energy costs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, the Obama administration is aggressively working to hamstring our oil and gas industry and raise taxes on energy.

President Obama's bizarre flirtation with billing private insurers for health care extended to wounded military veterans has created an understandable firestorm among veterans groups.

The gun grabbers are back. A measure introduced in Congress would enact the most rigorous and oppressive gun control rules in American history, creating a national licensing and registration system that would severely impinge on Second Amendment rights.

Everything government does has consequences – sometimes unintended ones. Let's look at some of the policy shifts currently underway in Washington and see what unintended consequences might emerge from them:

The pattern is clear: to address a very real economic crisis caused in large measure by irresponsible spending in both the public and private sectors, we are being asked to engage in more irresponsible spending.

The latest spending bill was more about big government than fixing the economy.

The dangers of moving Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil are obvious and should prompt some serious rethinking by the new administration.

What Roe v. Wade did, no matter what the intentions of the Supreme Court, was to make some innocent lives disposable.

Stimulate the economy with tax relief for working Americans and incentives to invest.

Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas.

Any economic stimulus spending in 2009 needs to create jobs and wealth in 2009. It should not be rushed.

Opponents of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge suggest that developing new oilfields there would damage wildlife and the environment. Sadly, few of those opponents have ever seen ANWR in person, and even fewer have seen the remote, empty coastal plain where drilling would actually occur.

recently had a chance to visit one of the true hot spots in America's effort to control illegal immigration, the U.S./Mexican border near San Diego. For two days I walked the border fence and observed traffic at border crossings with officers from the Customs and Immigration services.

We already own one of the largest potential oil reserves on the planet. If we fail to use it, the alternative is clear – increasing dependence on OPEC oil, ever-higher prices and a return to the energy crisis of the 1970s.

You may have read or heard that I have cosponsored three bills that would dramatically increase American energy production. Taken together, the legislation would open portions of both the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas production as well as repeal limitations on the development of American oil shale.

The Democrat leadership in Congress has proposed a number of tragically misguided ways to address rising energy prices.

I propose taking 5 steps to help control gas prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

In the coming year, lawmakers at every level of our government should come together to demonstrate a real commitment to the modernization of our transportation systems.

The economic growth package is a good first step, but still only a short term fix.

The Architect of the Capitol should not be in the business of religious censorship.

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about the various uses and abuses of "free speech." Two events in particular have sparked a great amount of controversy.

Our country now faces a deficit of historic proportions due to the failure of Washington politicians to make the same kind of spending decisions that their constituents make every day.