Rod Grams: “What a year it has been. Last year, we passed significant tax relief--including a $500 per-child tax credit that will…”

“What a year it has been. Last year, we passed significant tax relief--including a $500 per-child tax credit that will soon take effect. In addition, for the first time since 1969, we passed and abided by a balanced budget. It has not been easy. It has not gone without temptations. There have been spirited attempts to spend taxpayer dollars and drag us into an even larger deficit, blowing one spending cap at a time. This remains a difficult task even today-- Congress is pushing to complete legislative work on all 13 appropriations bills by this time. But to date, the President has signed only one into law, and only two others are on their way to him. The reason for the delay is that by habit, Washington loosely interchanges the act of deciding how much to spend with that of 'spending much.' To my dismay, many colleagues and the President's Administration have used this end of the fiscal year and the near end of the Congressional session to push for their election-year political agendas. The result? Again is political blackmail: if you do not give me this, I will shut the government down and blame you for being heartless and ineffective.”