Garrett RSS Articles

Garrett: Obama Finally Acknowledges Cutting Taxes Works

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) released the following statement in response to the Obama Administration’s latest jobs proposal:

“The only bright spot in President Obama’s latest jobs plan is that his Administration finally acknowledges that lowering the tax burden on businesses is the most effective way to reduce our nation’s unemployment. It’s a shame they didn’t come to this realization before spending $787 billion of taxpayer dollars on a stimulus program that failed to create jobs, leading to 10% national unemployment.

“Unfortunately, while this temporary wage subsidy may create a spike in employment, Americans need permanent relief through sustained growth. When the Carter Administration tried this approach in the ‘70s, employment increased 1.5% temporarily before experiencing a significant crash. Americans need permanent jobs and certain futures. In order to create a stable environment that will lead to lasting economic recovery, we must stop government intervention in the marketplace and reduce uncertainty for businesses.

“I introduced legislation last January to provide real economic stimulus to Americans. My legislation, The Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act, places emphasis on America's small business and middle class and is a much-needed jumpstart to our nation’s economy. I invite the president to join us in passing an economic package that actually works to stimulate our economy long-term. Protecting and securing America’s jobs is the taxpayer-friendly approach to accomplishing this.”

Has the Stimulus Failed New Jersey?

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

As President Obama prepares for his State of the Union address, unemployment remains at record highs for Americans. The White House claims their stimulus bill “has already created or saved up to 2 million jobs,” but the table below compares the White House's recent claims of state-by-state job creation with the actual change in state payroll employment through December 2009, using data announced on Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. According to the data, 49 States have lost jobs since stimulus was enacted in February 2009. Only North Dakota and the District of Columbia have seen net job creation, and even those levels fall short of White House claims.

Garrett Response to Obama’s Big Bank Plan: How About Fannie and Freddie?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) issued the following response to the Obama Administration’s proposal to place restrictions on banks:

“This renewed focus on financial services reform by the Obama Administration is clearly a transparent attempt at faux-populism, in light of the outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race. The American people have rejected extreme government expansion into the private sector, be it in the health care, financial services or auto industry.

“At best, the evidence is mixed that banks that were also engaged in trading were the cause of this crisis. In fact, stand-alone investment banks were two of the most notable failures of the recent crisis, while some of the larger banking institutions were able to provide a measure of stability to the system in the heat of the crisis by purchasing some of their weaker counterparts. Nobody believes more than I do that no company should be considered “Too Big to Fail”, but we must be certain we are addressing the real problems that led to the recent crisis in any financial services reform package that Congress considers.

“What is indisputable is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were central to the mortgage market meltdown, which ignited the economic crisis that has left millions of Americans unemployed and has yet to be resolved. It is laughable that Chairman Frank and the Obama Administration have ignored their parasitic effect on our economy, yet proclaim the desire for reform. Passing strong GSE reform legislation should be at the top of the agenda of the House Financial Services Committee this year, in order to stabilize the mortgage market and alleviate risk to the taxpayer. Any financial regulatory reform that does not reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not true reform.”

Garrett Statement on Obama’s Proposed Bank Tax

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) released a statement today on the proposed bank tax anticipated to be included President Obama’s budget:

"While millions of Americans are unemployed, the Administration continues to consider job-killing initiatives that will further cripple the economy by increasing fees passed on to consumers and small businesses, while reducing consumer credit. The $120 billion in fees imposed on banks through this bill will be passed on to small businesses and will in turn limit a company’s ability to create jobs, thus prolonging and potentially deepening the current recession. Americans want an end to the financial crisis. History has shown that the most effective way to reinvigorate the economy and spur economic growth is to ensure that job creators face a lower tax and regulatory burden. The proposed bank fees will do just the opposite.

“Additionally, if the intent of this tax is to assess those that most directly benefited from the extraordinary government interventions in the market, then it is somewhat perplexing that General Motors, Chrysler, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have escaped inclusion in this plan.”

We Need REAL Economic Stimulus!

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The House returns for the 2010 session this week. 2009 saw a congressional agenda that included a failed stimulus, a job-killing cap and trade bill and a government takeover of health care, all of which failed to help struggling Americans. In 2010, I will continue to oppose toxic legislation and, in turn, support practical solutions to return our economy to prosperity, get our fiscal house in order and protect our nation from radical extremists.

One thing that is of particular concern is the unacceptably high level of unemployment our country is facing. New jobs numbers were released on Friday, and we have again witnessed the remarkable failure of President Obama’s economic agenda.

Unemployment remains at a painfully high 10% with another 85,000 jobs cut in the month of December. But let’s be clear about this situation - this is a failure of Washington, not the American workforce. Businesses want to hire new workers but have no confidence because of the heavy taxes and regulations being placed upon them by Congress. Instead of government getting out of the way, we see Washington getting bigger every single day.

Nearly a year after the so-called stimulus, thousands keep losing their jobs every month and the country has grown sick of Washington’s interference. Our prosperity has always been powered by small business and the American worker, and they’ll lead our recovery when they’re given the chance.

I want to assure you that I am trying my best to fight the growth of government here in Washington, DC. History has shown that the most effective way to reinvigorate the economy and spur economic growth is to ensure that job creators face a lower tax and regulatory burden. Congress and the Administration must consider legislation that actually works to stimulate our economy long-term (such as my Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act, which I introduced last January). Protecting and securing America’s jobs is the taxpayer friendly approach to accomplishing this.
We must liberate Americans from their overwhelming tax burden in order to empower individual taxpayers and keep more money in the wallets of American families. We must cease the excessive federal spending that continues to bloat our national debt, and create opportunities for private initiatives to spur economic growth. And we must end the government interference in the marketplace that many experts say have helped create our current economic problems.

Sincerely,

Scott Garrett
Member of Congress

Garrett Statement on Haiti

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

"I am gravely concerned about the situation in Haiti. I am saddened over the tragic loss of life and I am remaining in close contact with the State Department regarding the state of the constituents from my district who were in Haiti at the time of the earthquake. My prayers are with their families and I will do everything I can to ensure their safe return home."

Garrett Statement on Proposed Bank Tax

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) released a statement today on the proposed bank tax anticipated to be included President Obama’s budget:

“It is premature to be talking about new taxes on the financial services industry. Every dollar levied in taxes would directly impact available dollars to lend. Bad ideas, when implemented, have negative consequences. The consequence of this bad idea would be to exacerbate the worst credit crunch in a generation, while doing nothing about Washington’s debilitating spending problem – which is the number one issue Americans are demanding we address.”

Garrett Statement on SEC Bank of America Lawsuit

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) released a statement today on the latest SEC lawsuit against Bank of America:

“This latest announcement by the SEC that it will pursue another lawsuit against Bank of America calls into question its competence and its resoluteness in tackling the real issues involved. First, by once again suing Bank of America, its shareholders are being punished yet again for the alleged misdeeds of others. As Judge Rakoff put it several months ago, the SEC’s approach is “at war with common sense.” Second, there is no evidence that the SEC has in any way followed up on my letter to them last September suggesting that senior Treasury and Fed officials’ role in this ordeal be subject to greater scrutiny. At the very least, the SEC seems to have been left in the dark about its fellow regulators’ interactions with Bank of America a year ago. At worst, it seems to be willfully ignoring the potential for any link between government employees and potential misdeeds in this case.”

Garrett Demands Frank Conduct Fannie/Freddie Bailout Investigation

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee, is calling on Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank to convene a hearing to examine the December 24, 2009 bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In a letter co-signed by Spencer Bachus, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, Garrett tells Frank, “we have consistently argued that reforming the GSEs should be a central component of any financial regulatory reform legislation because of the leading role that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the collapse of our housing economy. Unfortunately, because of the lack of support on your side of the aisle for real reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the future of these institutions was left completely unaddressed in the bill that passed the House earlier this month. We respectfully request that reform of these two institutions and reduction of taxpayer exposure to their liabilities must be a top priority of the Financial Services Committee during the Second Session of the 111th Congress.”

The text of the letter is included below.

December 30, 2009

The Honorable Barney Frank
Chairman
Committee on Financial Services
2129 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Frank:

We are writing to respectfully request that you convene a Financial Services Committee hearing to examine the recent actions by President Obama and the Department of the Treasury to expand and enlarge the bailout of the failed Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and approve taxpayer funded, multi-million dollar compensation packages for their executives. Because of the importance of this topic, we ask that this hearing be a full committee hearing and the first hearing the Committee holds in the Second Session of the 111th Congress.

On December 24th, Christmas Eve, in a transparent attempt to hide the news from the American people, the Obama Administration announced the approval of numerous multi-million dollar taxpayer funded bonuses to executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Additionally, the Administration announced, without Congressional input, that it would lift the current $400 billion cap on the GSEs’ bailout and provide unlimited taxpayer funds to both firms for the next three years.

Since the Department of Treasury first exercised its authority under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) to bail out Fannie and Freddie some 16 months ago, the Financial Services Committee has held only one full committee hearing and one subcommittee hearing on the matter. With hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars committed to these two organizations and trillions of dollars in total taxpayer exposure, this level of oversight is plainly insufficient.

We understand this topic causes discomfort to some Members of Congress, considering the role they played in shielding the GSEs from meaningful regulatory scrutiny in the period leading up to their collapse. Nonetheless, we should not let mistakes of the past prevent us from carrying out our oversight responsibilities going forward.

Also, given your support for past government efforts to limit compensation levels at firms that have received taxpayer bailouts, we are puzzled that you have not joined us in publicly condemning the Obama Administration’s multi-million dollar Christmas Eve raid on the treasury to reward executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

As you know, we have consistently argued that reforming the GSEs should be a central component of any financial regulatory reform legislation because of the leading role that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the collapse of our housing economy. Unfortunately, because of the lack of support on your side of the aisle for real reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the future of these institutions was left completely unaddressed in the bill that passed the House earlier this month. We respectfully request that reform of these two institutions and reduction of taxpayer exposure to their liabilities must be a top priority of the Financial Services Committee during the Second Session of the 111th Congress.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Scott Garrett Spencer Bachus

63% of Americans Say Nation is on Wrong Track

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The House of Representatives adjourned for the year on Wednesday night, after ramming through more spending bills, including a $290-billion increase in the debt ceiling – to $12.4 trillion – as well as another “stimulus” bill that shovels more money onto the failed $787-billion measure enacted earlier this year.

I voted against this increased spending, and I agree with the American people, who are tired of government spending that fails to stimulate the economy and simply increases the national debt. In a recent Rasmussen survey, 62% of respondents said that tax cuts were a better way to create jobs and fight unemployment. Only 21% said they believed that additional stimulus spending would be a more effective tool.

President Obama hopes to use more taxpayer dollars to fight the nation’s 10% unemployment rate, and one of the ideas on the table is to channel money to states to keep them from laying off public employees. But just 22% of Americans favor providing federal bailout funds to states with serious financial problems. Sixty-six percent (66%) expect government spending to go up during the Obama years, but 59% believe that an increase in government spending will hurt the economy.

I share your concern about government spending, and I’d like to alert you to some of the spending that the House of Representatives passed just last night.

Raising the Debt Ceiling

Instead of beginning to rein in runaway government spending, H.R. 4314, To Permit Continued Financing of Government Operations, is a short term debt limit extension which hides the true amount of borrowing needed to fund government spending in 2010.

The debt limit is currently $12.1 trillion. This legislation increases the debt limit to $12.39 trillion, an increase of $290 billion. I opposed this legislation and believe instead of running up even more debt, Congress should act now to control federal spending.

Government spending grew by $705 billion in fiscal year 2009, an increase of 24 percent, and appropriations legislation enacted this year will increase spending by 8 percent in 2010. The federal deficit exceeded $1.4 trillion last fiscal year, the highest amount in history and more than three times the next highest annual deficit. Further, the budget submitted to Congress by President Obama included significant spending increases that would double the deficit in five years and triple it in ten years.

H.R. 4314 increases the debt limit by $290 billion dollars, approximately enough borrowing authority to pay for two months of spending in 2010. After two months, it is estimated that another $1.5 trillion of borrowing authority, reaching a total level of $13.9 trillion, would be needed to pay for remaining spending in 2010.

When the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007, the debt limit was $8.965 trillion. This will be the fifth debt limit increase since the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007. Over this period, the debt limit will have increased by $3.4 trillion or 38.2%.

Instead of allowing runaway spending to continue and piling up more government debt, Congress should begin working now on common-sense solutions to reduce federal spending.

Stimulus 2009: Part 2

I remain troubled by historically high unemployment and an economy that continues to struggle. The Administration estimated its first stimulus legislation, H.R. 1, would provide immediate job creation and economic growth. Since enactment of H.R. 1, however, unemployment has climbed and now languishes at 10 percent and almost 3 million jobs have been lost. Economic stimulus proposals should focus on job creation, small business tax relief and putting more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans. The Democrat’s second 2009 stimulus package, H.R. 2847, continues a failed stimulus policy and should be defeated.

H.R. 2847 repeats past failures by pouring over $150 billion in additional debt-financed spending into many of the very same programs included in the last stimulus. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that tax relief is a more expedient way to get money into the hands of American families and the economy than government spending. Yet, H.R. 2847 does not contain any significant tax relief to spur economic growth, and does not include any tax relief for small businesses. In fact, the legislation allows small business tax relief, namely bonus depreciation, expensing and capital gains relief for investments in small businesses, to expire at the end of this month. While proponents of the legislation claim tax relief is included, in reality these tax provisions are almost entirely direct federal spending disguised as “tax relief.”

H.R. 2847 embraces and continues policies already enacted which have failed to create jobs, instead of relying on proven methods to get our economy back on track. Instead of providing relief to those who are struggling to create and maintain jobs, the legislation sunsets small business tax relief and significantly expands government spending, saddling future generations with more debt on the same day Congress passed legislation to increase the debt limit.

I Am Fighting for the Taxpayer

I believe allowing American taxpayers and small businesses to keep more of what they earn, not repeating a failed strategy of endless debt-financed spending, is the tonic necessary for a successful economic recovery, and I will continue to fight for American taxpayers in order to put the economy on the right track.

Rep. Scott Garrett on FOX Business

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett on FOX Business

Rep. Scott Garrett on FOX Business News

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett on FOX Business News

Congressman Garrett Seeks Funding for Paramus Vets Home

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Garrett spoke on the House floor tonight to secure funding for the expansion of the Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus through an amendment to H.R. 6599, The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs FY09 Appropriations bill.

Rep. Scott Garrett on FOX Business News

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) appeared on FOX Business News this evening on Cavuto’s Deal at 6:20pm in an interview to discuss the GSE reform legislation.

Rep. Scott Garrett on Newshour with Jim Lehrer

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Scott Garrett on Newshour with Jim Lehrer

Rep. Garrett Speaks about the Mortgage Crisis on the Fox Business Channell

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Scott Garrett speaks on the mortgage crisis.

Rep. Garrett on Fox Business

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Garrett discusses the Economic Stimulus.

Rep. Garrett Speaks Out Against Massive Tax Increase

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Garrett Speaks Out Against Massive Tax Increase

Rep. Garrett on C-SPAN Washington Journal

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Garrett discusses current issues before the Financial Services Committee

Rep. Garrett on CNBC's Squawkbox

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Garrett appears along with Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer