By U.S. Senator John Cornyn
If ever there were a year that we might want to forget it would likely be 2009. Our country saw the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. The housing industry all but collapsed and thousands of Texans faced foreclosure. The automobile industry laid off thousands and turned to Washington for billions in bailouts. Wall Street buckled. Giant corporations made giant layoffs and small businesses went under.
In Washington leaders scrambled to solve these crises by haphazardly throwing trillions of dollars at Americas problems. Record-setting spending bills were thrown together including a $1.1 trillion stimulus package a $2.5 trillion health care overhaul bill and proposals that increased government spending by more than 10 percent. We were told the stimulus would jumpstart the economy immediately create jobs and keep unemployment below 8 percent. Yet today unemployment remains in the double digits and roughly 4 million jobs were lost in 2009.
Clearly 2010 must truly be a year of change. At the top of the agenda must be job creation. For every proposal considered in Washington we must first ask the question: will this create jobs?
High on the 2010 to-do list" for some is passing the cap-and-trade bill which would be a devastating job-killer for Texas and our nation. The proposed language will raise taxes kill up to 400000 jobs in Texas alone and be catastrophic for our energy and agriculture industries.
Todays weakened economy calls for meaningful tax relief and incentives that translate into jobs and money in the pockets of everyday Americans. A number of important tax cuts including capital gains are set to expire this year. These measures should be extended or better yet made permanent. Im confident Texans will do a better job than Washington spending or saving their money as they see fit.
In addition to economic security we must redouble our efforts in homeland security. As we saw in the tragic attack on Fort Hood last year and the terror plot that came too close to completion on Christmas Day terrorists continue to target innocent Americans. The need for vigilance against this enemy cannot be underestimated. While some are determined to treat terrorists as common criminals we cannot allow this mindset to drive our policymaking. Instead we must afford our intelligence community the tools they need to secure our nation instead of affording would-be-terrorists rights they have not earned.
Just as important we must stand united behind our men and women in uniform as they defend our freedoms abroad. I recently had the privilege of visiting Afghanistan and meeting with several of our Texas troops serving there in addition to the senior U.S. commander there General Stanley McChrystal. The Presidents surge strategy in Afghanistan was the right decision and we must provide our troops and generals on the ground with every resource they need as they hunt down members of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Here at home a concerted effort to secure our borders and reform our flawed immigration system is long overdue. I stand ready and willing to roll up my sleeves and work with the President and Congress to tackle real meaningful comprehensive immigration reform.
On health reform there is still time to get it right. While we were promised a transparent and post-partisan debate on health care reform we saw exactly the opposite. Health care proposals were crafted largely behind closed doors and layered with billions in sweetheart deals.
Fortunately with the recent election in Massachusetts of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate all elected representatives and the American people must finally be given a seat at the table for this historic debate. Im hopeful we can finally collaborate in a transparent and bipartisan way to enact real reforms that accomplish the goals of lowering costs and covering more Texans.
Although 2009 was a tough year it is not too late to turn last years unmet promises into this years reality. The strength of our nation in the years to come will depend on the level of security we ensure across the board from the economy and energy to health care and our borders. I look forward to continuing to hear from the Texans I represent and working to make Texas more prosperous and secure in 2010.
