Contrary to the President’s statement at last week’s press conference, the private sector economy is not “doing fine.” Just this week, we received another poor jobs report for Pennsylvania. For the second month in a row, Pennsylvania lost jobs. Employment declined in the month of May by 5,100 jobs. The unemployment rate in the state remained unchanged at 7.4 percent. Over 30 jobs bills, most of them bipartisan, have passed the House and are waiting in the Senate. It is far past time for the Senate to at least put these measures to a vote. To hear Speaker John Boehner speak more about these bills, CLICK HERE.
The President has announced a change in immigration policy undertaken without the consent of Congress. Under the new policy, illegal immigrants who came to the United States when under the age of 16 would be permitted to stay and apply for a work permit. Individuals up to age 30 who can claim they were brought as children would be allowed to apply. At this point, it is not clear how immigrants will document when they illegally entered the country. I am very concerned that this change is a backdoor way to enact laws that have failed in Congress. The President does not have the authority to change the law by himself.
Next week, on June 20th, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will meet to consider a report holding the Attorney General in contempt. Despite repeated requests Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to turn over critical documents that could reveal how much high-ranking officials at the Justice Department actually knew about Fast and Furious. Holder has been refusing to comply with a subpoena first issued last October. The Committee repeated its request in May. The Justice Department has simply refused the request without citing executive privilege or any other valid reason. It’s long past time that we knew the full truth about who ordered and approved this botched operation that resulted in the death of a border agent.
Last week, the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Committee revealed more e-mails detailing the deal made between the White House and drug makers to support the health care bill. As part of the agreement reached with the White House, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) promised to contribute $150 million to an advertising campaign. The groups PhRMA contributed to had innocuous sounding names like Healthy Economy Now and Americans for Stable Quality Care. This kind of arm-twisting and shady third party advertising might be routine in Washington, but that is not what the American people were promised in 2008. Read this week’s op-ed for more.
On July 7, 2009, representatives from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) visited the White House. They walked out having met with top administration officials to conclude months of negotiations over the pending health care bill. READ MORE

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