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Posted by
Staff
on
August 19, 2011
Over the past two weeks, Congressman McHenry shared the following presentation with constituents at his Town Hall meetings across the 10th District:
Posted by
Patrick
on
July 26, 2011
 Guest Column Published: July 26, 2011 As we approach the Aug. 2 deadline for raising our debt ceiling, we must consider one of the only things both sides agree on – the national debt limit should represent our nation’s commitment to sound fiscal management of our government. Therefore, we must admit that the act of raising the debt ceiling proves that Washington has failed fiscally and economically to manage the American taxpayer’s money. Ironically, if the United States is able to raise its ceiling, clearly the ceiling was artificial to begin with. Apparently $14.3 trillion is not America’s borrowing limit. If we do nothing, our debt is on track to soar past 80 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP), a level not seen since WWII. Should we fail to immediately institute meaningful spending cuts and policy reforms, our country is headed towards its true debt ceiling in a matter of years. In simple terms, if we do not solve our debt problem now, raising the debt ceiling will no longer be an option in the future – a reality that faces nations like Greece and Portugal. Our $14 trillion (and rising) national debt is not just a bill for tomorrow’s generation – it has damaging effects on today’s economic environment. The relationship between high national debt and low economic growth is not just a coincidence. The country’s fiscal situation is, at its core, not difficult to comprehend. Even though the Administration announced the end of the recession in mid-2009, we have experienced over two years of slow economic growth and a national (and North Carolina) unemployment rate of over 9 percent. Consequently, this has caused a drop in the Federal government’s revenue. If we stop right there to consider this reality the same way any family must in order to balance its budget, the solution is simple: find ways to make do with less. The world invests in the U.S. because we have a history of honoring our obligations, and have always had the fiscal capacity to do so. However, just this year, the Big Three credit rating agencies (Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings) issued warnings or negative outlooks on the AAA rating for the United States government, which influences everything from the value of the dollar to mortgage interest rates. If we continue to allow our debt to consume our economy without producing a credible plan to balance our budget and pay our bills, we risk foreign investors becoming reluctant to buy our debt. This will cause interest rates to rise, making it harder to finance our trillion dollar deficits (which, annually, already cost taxpayers hundreds-of-billions of dollars in interest) without raising taxes and further crippling our economy. This global impact will be felt at the local level. The cost of borrowing for families and businesses will rise, diminishing the ability of small companies to invest and grow, resulting in fewer jobs and an indefinite recovery. This terrible scenario can be avoided, but we must be honest with ourselves and act now. The Federal government has grown to an unsustainable level, and we can’t be scared to cut programs that benefit a select few when the health of our economy hangs in the balance. Last week, House Republicans took the lead towards restoring certainty in our economy by passing the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. I have cosponsored this legislation, which makes the real cuts and reforms needed to get the debt under control and protect the economy from a loss of our AAA credit rating. Cut, Cap and Balance will cut nearly $6 trillion from the budget over the next 10 years, place enforceable caps on federal spending, and require Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment before the debt limit can be raised. Today’s face-off over the debt ceiling is simply a warm-up for a rapidly approaching realization of our genuine debt limit, which will force the United States to restructure its debt or default, compromising our economy and future. Balancing the budget isn’t rocket science – and it’s time for Washington to stop treating it that way. Rep. Patrick McHenry represents the 10th Congressional District in the US House. Read this column at the Hickory Daily Record website here.
Posted by
Team McHenry
on
July 08, 2011
This week, Congressman McHenry released "A Skyscraper of Debt," a new video where he breaks down the consequences of our nation's debt crisis for families and small businesses. In the video, Congressman McHenry outlines the realities facing our national economic outlook should we fail to enact meaningful spending cuts along with any increase to our debt limit.
This video has made some waves on the internet so far and was featured on both HotAir.com and TownHall.com. So, if you like what you see, please share this video with your family and friends - let's make it go viral. And as always, your feedback is welcomed and appreciated, so please leave a comment below or visit the Congressman's Facebook page and post on our wall!
Posted by
Patrick
on
June 19, 2011
This past Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Obama Administration’s “Recovery Summer,” the three month “victory lap” designed to celebrate the “success” of their stimulus plan. Senior Advisor David Axelrod touted their summer campaign, stating, “Just over a year later, the Recovery Act is putting millions of Americans to work and helping the economy grow again.”  [Click on above image to view video]
FACT: Since the passage of the stimulus, the U.S. economy has lost 1.9 million jobs. Now is not the time for celebration. Now is the time to continue pushing past the failures of the Obama Administration’s failed “stimulus” with a jobs plan that focuses on empowering small businesses by cutting the bureaucratic red tape holding them back. Through AmericanJobCreators.com, we’re hearing from our job creators on the front lines – they tell us what regulations hurt their ability to create jobs – and we listen. We’re working to create an efficient, effective government that works for you, and allows our country’s proven job creation experts to do what they do best – innovate and build a first class workforce that will lead us out of this “Recovery Summer” and towards prosperity.
Posted by
Ryan Minto
on
June 09, 2011
Washington, D.C.-Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs, issued the following remarks regarding the Treasury's decision to halt federal payments to mortgage servicers: “The Making Home Affordable Program has been an abysmal failure that has hurt more homeowners than it has helped. During his tenure of service, former SIGTARP Neil M. Barofsky pleaded with Treasury to make significant changes to improve HAMP. The fact that Treasury has finally decided to act is an affirmation of HAMP’s failure, one that is unfortunately too late for the millions of homeowners who could have been helped if Treasury had acted sooner. The Senate needs to act now to pass the HAMP Termination Act."
Posted by
Ryan Minto
on
June 09, 2011
Washington, D.C.-Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs, issued the following remarks regarding the SEC’s proposed rule changes for credit rating agencies: “As mortgage products were packaged and sold as securities during the boom in the housing market, the credit rating industry consistently gave undeservedly-high ratings to many of these securities. This was a significant contributor to the financial crisis that followed. “The SEC’s proposal today is an important first step towards greater transparency and disclosure from the ratings agencies.” ###
Posted by
Staff
on
May 26, 2011
 Heard on the Hill: It’s Been a Slow Couple of Months By Neda Semnani Roll Call Staff May 26, 2011, Midnight During a now-infamous House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing, Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren testified that her calendar is “an open book.” Unfortunately for the professor, it is also in some cases a blank book. Warren, adviser to President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, got caught up Tuesday in a fairly testy line of questioning with the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). At one point, the chairman asked Warren to disclose dates of any mortgage settlement meetings that she had attended. “Congressman, I believe that my calendar is an open book,” she responded. “We’ve been posting my calendar since last October, last November.” “I can say my calendar is an open book,” she repeated driving the point home. But when HOH clicked over to her online calendar, we couldn’t help but notice that it has been blank since March. October and November of 2010, when she testified the online calendar was first posted online, were also blank. This week was bad in technology for McHenry as well. Warren’s supporters spent Wednesday slamming the Congressman all over his own Facebook wall and Twitter. But his spokesman, Michael Babyak, puts it in perspective: “The only thing better than receiving over 1,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook is knowing that ‘dislike’ is not an option.”
Posted by
Staff
on
February 25, 2011
By John Dayberry Published: February 25, 2011 HICKORY -- Uncertainty about government regulations already in place and others that may be coming are hampering economic growth and stifling efforts to create jobs, area business leaders said Friday. About two dozen representatives of various business and industry sectors in the Greater Hickory Metro voiced their concerns to U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R, 10th District) during a luncheon meeting at the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce. Participation in the roundtable discussion was by Chamber invitation. Discussion topics ranged from The Durbin Amendment, which would allow the government to control the swipe fees set by large credit card companies; to the Industrial Boiler MACT Rule, which regulates boiler emissions at thousands of U.S. manufacturing facilities. A common concern was health care reform. From bankers to health care administrators, participants in Friday’s discussion said that while they recognize that health care overhaul is necessary, new reforms under President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are cost-prohibitive to business, and will probably cause some companies to drop health care coverage of their employees. “Are we stuck with what we have?” asked David Boone, chief financial officer of Catawba Valley Medical Center. “Laws can be undone,” McHenry said. “It’s really up to the American people.” McHenry said that while a bid to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed, efforts to undo pieces of the legislation and to delay implementation dates have been more successful. “We encourage you to chip away at it if outright repeal is not possible,” said Phillip Moore of Wells Fargo Bank. Dean Proctor, owner of United Beverages of N.C., said the government’s health care overhaul did not address the financial impact of obesity and smoking, and asked if it isn’t time the federal government addressed those issues. McHenry said rather than give the government control in such matters, people should maintain the right to smoke and overeat, but should have to pay through higher insurance premiums. He said the Affordable Care Act is but one component in a flawed system of entitlements that will have to be addressed by Congress. Bill Parrish, regional director for the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center, said health care reform is a big issue, but that the uncertainty caused by government regulation is an even bigger issue. “The continued debate and its longevity is having a detrimental effect on capital markets and consumers alike,” Parrish said. “To the people here today, it’s something very real.” In response to a question about trade imbalances, McHenry said the United States must develop a cohesive manufacturing agenda that cuts health-care costs, limits government regulation, creates a business-friendly tax structure and decreases the threat of groundless lawsuits. “Even with all our problems, we’re still three times larger than the next largest economy,” McHenry said. Michael Durham of Piedmont Natural Gas asked McHenry if Congress will likely take up new energy legislation. “I think we’ll definitely see action when it comes to energy,” McHenry said. “Most of my constituents drive and are very concerned,” he said. “Domestic exploration of oil and gas where it is, new refineries. I do think you’ll see this approach. It’s what I’ve been pushing.”
Posted by
Patrick
on
February 18, 2011
On Monday, President Obama sent his FY2012 budget proposal to Congress. Simply said, this $3.73 trillion proposal spends too much, borrows too much, and taxes too much. Meanwhile, House Republicans have worked this week to make $100 billion in cuts to current year spending – and we’re just getting started. This is a down payment on the long term deficit reduction plan we will undertake beginning with the budget process in March.
I’d like to share the following video with you – where just some simple math helps put the massive size of the President’s budget into perspective. If you like it, please pass it along to your family and friends. And as always, I’d love to hear your feedback.
Posted by
Staff
on
January 19, 2011
Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued the following video statement prior to his vote to repeal the health care law signed by President Obama last year. H.R. 2, the Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 245 to 189.
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