Rep. Ross: U.S. must get fiscal house in order

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, talked politics Friday morning (July 1) before a large chamber crowd, with the biggest applause coming when he reminded the audience he voted against the federal health care law.

Ross, Arkansas’ 4th District Congressman, was introduced at the First Friday Breakfast held by the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce by U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers — Arkansas’ 3rd District Congressman. Despite it being the Friday entering the Fourth of July weekend, about 250 attended the breakfast meeting.

Womack told the audience Ross has and will continue to well represent the Fort Smith region.

“You’re going to enjoy the benefit of having two Congressmen who are vectored in on your area,” Womack said.

The Fort Smith metro area will, beginning January 2013, be served by two Congressional districts. Crawford County will be split almost evenly down the middle with the western half in the 3rd District and the eastern half in the 4th. The city of Alma — about 5,000 people — will be split down the middle, with 2 city precincts voting in the 3rd District and 2 precincts voting in the 4th District.

Franklin County is moved entirely out of the 3rd District and into the 4th District. Lavaca and environs in the northeastern corner of Sebastian County are pulled into the 4th District. Roughly one-third of Sebastian County below Greenwood and below Fort Chaffee and Chaffee Crossing will be in the 4th District.

“I haven’t quite figured out how that came about,” Ross said of the redistricting, but said the region will likely benefit from having the attention of two members of Congress.

‘GREAT TEAM’
Ross also reminded the audience he is no stranger to serving communities in the Fort Smith region. He said of the six counties served by the Fort Smith-based Western Arkansas Planning and Development District, three counties were in the 4th District prior to redistricting.

Another benefit of two Congressman is that Womack serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and Ross serves on the equally powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Ross said about half of the bills that make it to the House floor come through the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“This will be a great team” for the region, Ross said of he and Womack’s committee assignments.

PARTISAN POLITICS
What is not great are the partisan politics of Washington, D.C., Ross said. He said it is the biggest problem in the nation’s capital city, with leaders of both parties worried more about the next election than the next generation.

He placed partial blame on Congressional redistricting, saying during past decades the lines have been used to carve out “solid Democratic” and “solid Republican” districts. Ross estimated that less than 100 of the 435 House seats are in “swing districts” that may go to either party.

ECONOMY, NATIONAL DEBT
During his comments and in addressing several questions, Ross often returned to the interconnected issues of economic recovery and addressing the nation’s fiscal problems. He said the “housing crisis” will need to be better resolved before consistent economic recovery will emerge. To that point, Ross opposes a proposed rule requiring 20% down payments on home sales. He acknowledged that lax down payment rules helped lead to the current crisis, but said the 20% rule would move too far the other way and would “kill” any hopes for housing sector recovery.

On raising the debt ceiling, Ross said he supports raising the debt limit from the current $14.3 trillion. He said the raising the debt does not clear a path for future spending, but instead allows the U.S. to cover its existing obligations.

Ross said many in the media treat the debt ceiling issue as if it is a new thing. However, Ross said the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962, with 17 increases during the President Reagan administration.

Congressional leaders of both parties are attempting to hammer out a debt-ceiling deal before an Aug. 2 deadline that would possibly include future spending cuts and tax increases.

Ross quickly followed his reasons for supporting the debt ceiling increase by telling the audience he and other “Blue Dog” conservative Democrats are pushing a plan to “get our fiscal house in order” — and added that he support extending the Bush-era tax cuts.

He said his plan would cut $4 trillion from the federal budget during the next 10 years. Continuing, Ross said spending cuts and tax increases alone won’t help “work our way out of this (deficit) problem.” He said if the federal government only funded Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, national Defense and interest on debt, the 2011 deficit would still be $500 billion.

Both parties are going to have to make tough decisions to cut funding to federal programs and departments in order to get the annual deficits and overall federal debt under control.

“We’re all at risk here, and I don’t think we are going to see a full economic recovery until we get that (debt reduction) done,” Ross said.

OTHER COMMENTS
• Ross said the ending of earmarks hurts rural areas and smaller cities like Fort Smith. He said big cities can afford an army of lobbyists and grant writers to get federal funding in the absence of earmarks. Ross said if earmarks are not restored by the time Congress considers a new federal highway bill, it will make it tougher to secure funding for Interstate 49.

• The entire U.S. tax code needs to be simplified and made more fair, Ross said. He noted to the business crowd that it’s “not fair” that the effective tax rate of most corporations is less than the tax rate for individuals.

Energy independence is attainable if the federal government will allow more drilling in the U.S, Ross said. He advocated more drilling off the coasts — without using “BP technology” — and in small sections of the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve. He also advocated more nuclear energy production and using the country’s 225-year supply of coal to produce electricity with clean-coal technology.