Congressman Smith Capitol Report
Putting the Taxpayer in Charge
October 19, 2018
Missourians work hard day in and day out for their money, and they should have a government thatwatches over their dollars as carefully and responsibly as they do at home. We don’t mind paying our fair share to live in a safe nation, to have a judicial system that maintains law and order, or for public infrastructure improvements. But in Missouri we don’t have the appetite for a massive government that wants to use our hard-earned tax dollars on inefficient government programs and handouts. Your money belongs in your pocket, not in Washington’s coffers.
President Ronald Reagan once said the most nine terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Too many families in Missouri know exactly what he meant by this, with an overbearing government that makes it harder to go about their lives, not easier. Raising a family, building a small business, and the freedom to work your land are the opportunities that make our country great. But 70,000 pages of the old tax code were stacked against working Missourians, full of loopholes and tax breaks designed to help special interests instead of families. That changed when President Trump and I wrote the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered taxes for families, small businesses, and farms of all sizes and allows a family of four to make up to $55,000 tax free.
When we were writing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the opposition showed a fundamental lack of respect for the taxpayer’s time and hard work. To San Francisco millionaires like Nancy Pelosi, the largest tax cut in 30 years was ‘crumbs.’ They think the same way about raising taxes – taking more ‘crumbs’ here and there to pay for wasteful programs in faraway cities, with your family picking up the tab. I know that $1,000 isn’t crumbs to a rural Missouri family, and I know the pain that Washington creates when it raises taxes. When budgets have gotten too big, I’ve stood up to leaders in both parties to say enough is enough, we need to cut the spending.
The government should be as serious and responsible about spending taxpayer dollars as Missourians are about budgeting for their farms, small businesses, and families. The governmentshouldn’t spend any more than it takes in, something Missouri families manage to do every day. I continue to advocate for a balanced budget requirement for federal government because the results of your hard work should grow our communities, not feed Washington’s spending addiction. And if the government isn’t working, elected officials shouldn’t receive pay. That’s why when Senate obstructionists prioritized illegal immigration over funding the government and forced a government shutdown earlier this year, I gave up my salary.
Too many people in Washington forget who is paying the bills and recklessly spend your money and write more rules. It is refreshing to work with a President who has a business background and understands the need to clean up the books and let the country get back to work. The Trump administration saved the economy $23 billion in regulatory costs in the last year alone by getting rid of the most burdensome, unnecessary regulations. Without this burden on the economy Americans can add new jobs, expand businesses, and have an easier time creating new ones. I’ve authored and passed legislation to save millions of taxpayer dollars by scrubbing unnecessary regulations from the books and cutting red tape, and I support commonsense work requirements for government aid to rein in entitlement spending. That’s why I am honored to have received the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award” from the National Taxpayers Union.
If Washington exercised the same fiscal restraint Missourians do, our country would be much better off. President Trump and I have booted the bureaucrats and put taxpayers and job creators back in the driver’s seat of the economy, and this week the United States became the most competitive economy in the world again for the first time since 2008. That’s a taxpayer accomplishment, not a government one.
Congressman Smith Capitol Report
Celebrating the Constitution
September 14, 2018
On September 17th, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention finished months of tense deliberations and compromises. Standing in Independence Hall in Philadelphia where 11 years earlier America declared her independence, 39 delegates signed their names on parchment paper boldly proclaiming, “We the People of the United States…establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” This week on National Constitution Day we celebrate the greatest legal document ever written and the bedrock for American government, the U.S. Constitution.
The framers of the Constitution didn’t agree on everything, in fact they disagreed constantly. Our founding fathers and the states they represented had greatly differing opinions on the structure of government and how much power to give elected officials. Until they reached the “Great Compromise” calling for proportional representation in the House and equal representation of states in the Senate, there were doubts if they would ever reach an agreement the entire Union could get behind. Ultimately, they established a government with checks and balances, carefully designed to protect states’ rights while dividing power between three equal branches of government and guaranteeing the government does not infringe on individual liberties.
At fewer than 4,500 words, the Constitution has a beautiful simplicity to it. It is the shortest and oldest Constitution still in use today, and over 100 countries have used the U.S. Constitution as a model for their own. While it lays out the responsibilities and procedures unique to each branch of government, the Constitution is remarkable because it clearly states what the government cannot do. To the framers of the Constitution, every individual in the world has fundamental rights – not given by the government, but by our Creator. They were disgusted by governments around the world infringing on the rights of the people and established a Constitution which does not grant rights, but rather bans the government from infringing on our God-given freedoms. It’s an important distinction, and one that shows how valuable and inherent our founders believed individual liberties are. In a new government of, by, and for the people, they barred the government from preventing the people from defending themselves, speaking their mind, and worshiping how they choose, among others. President Abraham Lincoln said the Constitution “must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.”
Perhaps the most important branch of government for maintaining the Constitution is the judicial branch. We trust justices on the Supreme Court with the incredible responsibility of interpreting laws and telling the government when it oversteps its Constitutional authority. It is vital to have Supreme Court justices who respect the Constitution and the proper role of the judiciary above all else, and I applaud President Trump for nominating fierce defenders of the Constitution like Justice Gorsuch and Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. One of the most revealing parts of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings last week was how often he referred to his pocket Constitution, which he’s carried with him for 25 years. During questioning he pulled out his copy more than 300 times, showing the nation that above all else, his loyalty is to our nation’s founding document.
We are blessed to live in a country where our founding fathers crafted a masterpiece of a Constitution to balance our rights and the need for a government with restrained power. I firmly believe every American should study the Constitution because Constitutional issues confront the nation daily, and it’s important for the public to understand the basis on which all American laws are formed. If you would like a copy of the Constitution, my office can help direct you to the most affordable options. Studying our country’s founding document is the surest way to ensure your liberties, granted only by our Creator, will be guaranteed in the United States of America.
