Ripon Forum


Vol. 46, No. 2

View Print Edition

In this Edition

My last job on the Hill was for a Congressman who was elected as part of the GOP Class of ’94. I joined his staff in August of 1995 – well after the first 100 days that saw votes on every plank of the Contract with America, but still in the middle of the Republican Revolution. It […]

Lessons of Conventions Past

“As Mitt Romney looks for a running mate, the veteran newsman suggests he look to 1976 as an example of what, and what not, to do.”

Defusing the DEBT BOMB

In an adaptation from his new book, the Oklahoma Senator delivers a stern warning about America’s fiscal future.

The President’s Malaria Initiative: A Great (GOP) Success Story

A former U.S. Ambassador and Congressman, a current Senior Director at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition who says, “These days, we hear so much about government programs that don’t work. But we shouldn’t let these stories obscure what is working well.”

The Regulatory Stranglehold on Our Economy

The current deluge of regulations is diverting billions from business investment to complying with government dictates.

The Regulatory Assault on American Competiveness

“When ideology and politics interferes with rational science-based rulemaking, job-killing overregulation is the result.” A Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Creating Energy Solutions for a Strong, Secure and Sustainable Future

“We are seeing the emergence of new energy sources and innovations that can be the catalysts for a stronger, more secure and sustainable future. Unfortunately, after years of debate, the United States lacks a coherent national energy strategy that can put our country on a path toward economic growth, global competitiveness and environmental improvement.”

The Paradox We Face

A conversation in the grocery aisle about the price of bread and the intent of the Founding Fathers.

Reclaiming Our Future

“We have succeeded in changing the conversation in Washington from “how much can we spend” to “how much must we cut?” But before any progress is made in reclaiming our future, the policies that have made our economy worse have to be replaced.”

A Government Takeover and a Call to Act

The owner of an automobile dealership and representative of Pennsylvania’s 3rd District in the House. “If we are going to grow our economy, we need to shrink our government, repealing the overreaching and industry-threatening regulations that are building barriers to our economic recovery while burying us further into debt.”

Putting an End to Budget Gimmickry

The first term Congresswoman from Alabama discusses the bill she has introduced to restore accountability to the budgeting process. “Recent polls indicate that as few as one in ten Americans think Congress is doing a good job. The cause of that discontent is often rooted in a fundamental problem: the American people don’t trust what […]

Q&A with Arthur Brooks

The President of the American Enterprise Institute discusses his new book, The Road to Freedom, and the message it holds for today.

Ripon Profile of Dean Heller

The Senator from the State of Nevada discusses the challenges facing the people of his home state and what Washington should be doing to help them in their lives.

A Government Takeover and a Call to Act

mkellyrf

In the spring of 2009, I was sitting at my desk in my Chevy/Cadillac dealership in Butler, PA, when I received a call from a representative of the new, government-run General Motors. I was told that, despite the fact that Kelly Automotive had met every established metric of success, exceeding customer service industry standards and meeting GM’s own sales projections for our dealership, we had to shut down our Cadillac franchise under the company’s recent restructuring.

Although I successfully fought GM’s efforts to destroy a part of my family business that we spent decades building, hundreds of privately owned dealerships across the country weren’t as fortunate.

One of the problems with the government takeover of GM was that every dealer’s fate rested in the hands of an unelected board of directors, who, with their limited understanding of and experience in the industry, played the game of picking winners and losers, something the federal government has been doing with alarming frequency.

I decided to run for Congress, in part, because of the fact that in the span of a five minute phone call, the federal government attempted to upend my father’s legacy and the legacy I planned to leave my children. It was a rude awakening and a clarion call to action, not only in defense of my family and business, but in defense of the limited government and free market principles on which our great nation was founded.

I decided to run for Congress, in part, because of the fact that in the span of a five minute phone call, the federal government attempted to upend my father’s legacy and the legacy I planned to leave my children.

Since I’ve been in Congress, my eyes have been further opened to the ever-expanding role of government in our private lives and the devastating effect it will have on our economy, individual liberties, and quality of life.

One of the biggest culprits of big government is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This mammoth piece of legislation involves the takeover of one-sixth of the U.S. economy, representing one of the largest expansions of government in modern history.

The health care law will cost nearly $2 trillion in the first 10 years, almost double what the president told the American people it would cost. It will also force millions of Americans to lose their current insurance, despite the president’s repeated assurances that under his plan people could keep their current health care if they liked it.

Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act raids Medicare of $500 billion, weakening a treasured social safety net that is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and will implement a rationing panel of yet another group of unelected officials who will make decisions that will affect access to health care for millions of senior citizens.

In addition to the health care law, there’s the Dodd-Frank Act, which will affect every sector of the financial services industry by adding roughly 400 new federal rules at an implementation cost of $2.9 billion over the next five years. So far, 185 rules have been written. Compliance with these rules is expected to cost the private sector more than 24 million hours each year. As for the yet-to-be written rules, their unknown implications only create further uncertainty at a time when America’s job creators can least afford it.

And while the president’s efforts to push through cap and trade legislation failed, the EPA under his administration has managed to introduce devastating new regulations that have decreased the domestic production of energy and threaten the future of the coal industry, which is an abundant and affordable source of energy, responsible for producing nearly 50 percent of America’s electricity.

If we are going to grow our economy, we need to shrink our government, repealing the overreaching and industry-threatening regulations that are building barriers to our economic recovery while burying us further into debt. To this end, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House to pass legislation that will remove the red tape, restore fiscal discipline, and reclaim the American dream that so many before us fought to achieve and which we are responsible to defend.

Mike Kelly, the owner of an automobile dealership which employs more than 100 people, represents the 3rd District of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.