-- Randy's Roundup --

A Weekly Newsletter from Congressman Randy Neugebauer

March 26, 2012

Supreme Court Hearings Begin Today on Obamacare

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court began its review of Obamacare and I am hopeful they will find this law unconstitutional. I am encouraged that, in the first day of consideration of this case, the Supreme Court justices have signaled they will decide the core issues now instead of waiting until after 2014. This is extremely important given the timeline for implementation. This law has been in effect for two years, and the only things we’ve gained from it are more regulations, more costs, and more cumbersome and complicated hoops for patients, doctors and small businesses to jump through.

Recently, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released revised cost estimates on Obamacare. They estimate that it will cost Americans $1.76 trillion over the next ten years, almost double its original estimated cost of $900 billion. I am not surprised that these cost estimates have grown, and will likely continue to grow. I remain committed to repealing all of Obamacare. This is, and will remain, one of my top priorities in Congress.

Financial Services Oversight, MF Global and Protecting Futures Markets for Farmers and Ranchers

On Wednesday, the Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which I chair, will hold a third hearing on the bankruptcy of New York brokerage firm MF Global. We will focus primarily on the decisions and events the week before MF Global’s bankruptcy, particularly those which led to the disappearance of up to $1.6 billion in customer funds. One of the goals of our investigation is not only to find out where the money went, but to identify what went wrong in order to prevent this from happening again. We owe it to the thousands of customers of MF Global – the ranchers, farmers and investors who lost money – to get to the bottom of how this happened.

The futures market is a critical mechanism for price discovery that producers use to hedge risk and make decisions.  Futures prices are also relied on heavily in the federal crop insurance program.  It is critical futures markets function with integrity so farmers and ranchers, whether they are hedging cattle or cotton, know they count on their contracts to function correctly. You can visit the House Financial Services Committee website to learn more.

House Republicans’ Budget for 2013

This week, the House will consider Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. This budget would cut spending over the next decade by $5.3 trillion compared to the President’s budget.

We are currently faced with two options that will lead down two very different paths. President Obama’s plan will increase taxes and never balance the budget. The House Republican budget will begin to lift the crushing burden of debt in the next decade, reform the tax code to make it simple and fair, and make commonsense reforms that will extend Medicare’s solvency for future generations. We have kicked-the-can down the road long enough. It’s time for us to have an honest discussion about the future of this country, and I urge the President and Democrats to work with us on addressing our nation’s budget problems.