House Republicans just won a major, unexpected victory in a battle with Obama

US District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ruled Wednesday against the Obama administration's motion to dismiss the case. Collyer said House Republicans do have the standing to pursue their challenge, which argues that the Obama administration violated the US Constitution by spending money on the law that had not been appropriated by Congress.

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The House’s Foolhardy Principles

National Review Online by Mark Krikorian
The Republican “Standards for Immigration Reform,” released today by the party at its congressional retreat, are pretty much what we’d been led to expect. They call for more enforcement, increasing legal immigration but orienting it away from family ties, and amnesty.

They’re really not that different from the Senate Gang of Eight’s original “Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform.” And look how that turned out.

Read more at National Review
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NRO: House Republicans Unveil Immigration Reform Principles

National Review Online/THE CORNER by Andrew Stiles
House GOP leaders on Thursday [Jan. 30] released the following one-page document outlining their “standards for immigration reform”:

PREAMBLE

Our nation’s immigration system is broken and our laws are not being enforced. Washington’s failure to fix them is hurting our economy and jeopardizing our national security. The overriding purpose of our immigration system is to promote and further America’s national interests and that is not the case today. The serious problems in our immigration system must be solved, and we are committed to working in a bipartisan manner to solve them. But they cannot be solved with a single, massive piece of legislation that few have read and even fewer understand, and therefore, we will not go to a conference with the Senate’s immigration bill. The problems in our immigration system must be solved through a step-by-step, common-sense approach that starts with securing our country’s borders, enforcing our laws, and implementing robust enforcement measures. These are the principals guiding us in that effort.

Border Security and Interior Enforcement Must Come First

It is the fundamental duty of any government to secure its borders, and the United States is failing in this mission. We must secure our borders now and verify that they are secure. In addition, we must ensure now that when immigration reform is enacted, there will be a zero tolerance policy for those who cross the border illegally or overstay their visas in the future. Faced with a consistent pattern of administrations of both parties only selectively enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, we must enact reform that ensures that a President cannot unilaterally stop immigration enforcement.

Implement Entry-Exit Visa Tracking System

A fully functioning Entry-Exit system has been mandated by eight separate statutes over the last 17 years. At least three of these laws call for this system to be biometric, using technology to verify identity and prevent fraud. We must implement this system so we can identify and track down visitors who abuse our laws.

Employment Verification and Workplace Enforcement

In the 21st century it is unacceptable that the majority of employees have their work eligibility verified through a paper based system wrought with fraud. It is past time for this country to fully implement a workable electronic employment verification system.

Reforms to the Legal Immigration System

For far too long, the United States has emphasized extended family members and pure luck over employment-based immigration. This is inconsistent with nearly every other developed country. Every year thousands of foreign nationals pursue degrees at America’s colleges and universities, particularly in high skilled fields. Many of them want to use their expertise in U.S. industries that will spur economic growth and create jobs for Americans. When visas aren’t available, we end up exporting this labor and ingenuity to other countries. Visa and green card allocations need to reflect the needs of employers and the desire for these exceptional individuals to help grow our economy.

The goal of any temporary worker program should be to address the economic needs of the country and to strengthen our national security by allowing for realistic, enforceable, usable, legal paths for entry into the United States. Of particular concern are the needs of the agricultural industry, among others. It is imperative that these temporary workers are able to meet the economic needs of the country and do not displace or disadvantage American workers.

Youth

One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children through no fault of their own, those who know no other place as home. For those who meet certain eligibility standards, and serve honorably in our military or attain a college degree, we will do just that.

Individuals Living Outside the Rule of Law

Our national and economic security depend on requiring people who are living and working here illegally to come forward and get right with the law. There will be no special path to citizenship for individuals who broke our nation’s immigration laws – that would be unfair to those immigrants who have played by the rules and harmful to promoting the rule of law. Rather, these persons could live legally and without fear in the U.S., but only if they were willing to admit their culpability, pass rigorous background checks, pay significant fines and back taxes, develop proficiency in English and American civics, and be able to support themselves and their families (without access to public benefits). Criminal aliens, gang members, and sex offenders and those who do not meet the above requirements will not be eligible for this program. Finally, none of this can happen before specific enforcement triggers have been implemented to fulfill our promise to the American people that from here on, our immigration laws will indeed be enforced.

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House Republicans Announce 2012 Agenda: 50,000 Jobs in Five Years

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2012
[OREGON] HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE 2012 AGENDA: 50,000 JOBS IN FIVE YEARS - Two-Part Agenda Includes Reforms to Reduce Red Tape, Bureaucracy Read press release... Read More......

House Republicans Unveil 'Pledge to America'

FOX NEWS, 9/23/2010 - House Republicans on Thursday rolled out their "Pledge to America," a sweeping conservative agenda that calls for reining in federal spending, permanently extending all of the Bush tax cuts, and repealing President Obama's signature health care law. Read more at Fox...

9/24 - But some conservatives denounce GOP ‘Pledge’ as sellout, inside job. Read More......

Oregon House: Bipartisan Legislation Passed in Special Session

In his March 5, 2010 newsletter, State Representative Greg Smith (R-HD 57) reports on bipartisan legislation passed during the February Special Session by the Oregon House of Representatives. See legislation...

• House Republicans pushed for legislation that would require legislators to wait before they can take high-paying positions in the executive branch. Though we were successful in passing the bill through the House, it was killed by Senate Democrats (HB 3638).
  
  
• To help unemployed workers, House Republicans supported extending unemployment
  benefits to an estimated 18,600 Oregonians who were about to exhaust their existing benefits (HB 3655).
  
  
• We supported giving tax credits to laid-off workers to obtain state tax deductions for investing their severance pay in starting an Oregon-based business (HB 3627).
  
  
• House Republicans supported legislation to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to sexual assault victims by treating their injuries as a preexisting condition (HB 3631).
  
  
• We worked to reform the Business Energy Tax Credit, which the Governor allowed to
  spiral out of control. We believe that savings from BETC reform should be re-directed to schools and other critical services (HB 3680).
  
  
• To fight waste and abuse in government, we supported expanding “whistleblower”
  protections for state employees (SB 996).
  
  
• House Republicans supported giving district attorney greater discretion in offering qualified veterans the option of diversion programs when convicted of certain crimes (SB 999).

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WSJ: Obama, Republicans Spar at House GOP Event

WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/29/2010 BY GREG HITT - BALTIMORE—President Barack Obama sparred Friday with House Republicans in an unusual 90-minute dialogue that exemplified the political gridlock prevailing in the nation's capital. ∴ At the House Republicans' annual issues retreat, Mr. Obama, at times combative and confident, challenged Republicans to find ways to work with his administration and Democrats in Congress and set aside the rhetoric that defined much of the political debate of the past year. ∴ President Obama sparred with House Republicans over job growth, the deficit and health care Friday. But was the unusual dialog a case of talking to each other or past each other? Read more at WSJ... Read More......

House Republicans Press Obama on Jobs Creation

WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/7/2009 by John D. McKinnon - House Republicans sent a letter to President Barack Obama today, pushing the administration to seek more business tax breaks as a way to boost the number of new jobs. Read story and see letter at WSJ... Read More......

House Republicans Unveil $700B Healthcare Plan

Repeated from Benton Co. Republicans July 31 Newsletter - House Republicans Unveil $700B Healthcare Plan
“We are introducing this bill because we support health care reform, but in a way that empowers patients.” This bill gives GOP lawmakers a positive plan to point to when they go home for the congressional August break.

The GOP plan was drafted by Rep. Tom Price, R-GA, a physician. It avoids expanding the federal role in overseeing the health insurance industry. Unlike Dem proposals, it would not set up new federally regulated purchasing pools for individuals and small businesses. Instead, it would allow individuals to use the Internet to purchase lower-cost coverage available anywhere in the country.

The plan would offer tax deductions and tax credits to help make the purchase of health insurance more affordable for individuals. States, associations and small businesses would be allowed to pool together to offer less expensive insurance coverage. It would provide grants to states to help set up high-risk pools for people with medical problems who are denied coverage by commercial insurers. And it would allow employers to automatically sign workers up for the company’s coverage—similar to what’s done with 401 (k) retirement plans.

The GOP will would take on medical malpractice, limiting jury awards for pain and suffering and creating new health courts in which a specially trained judge would hear and decide cases involving medical negligence.

Republicans say their plan is fully paid for, but it hasn’t been assessed yet by the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper for the costs of legislation.

It’s unclear how far the plan would go in reducing the number of uninsured. Most independent analysts—and the insurance industry—say some sort of requirement to purchase insurance is needed to ensure coverage. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said “we believe we can come up with a plan where every person in the uninsured has access to insurance.” Read More......