Risch countered, "The gridlock in Washington, D.C. is caused by the two very different philosophies of the parties and the people who are elected to the United States Senate. They reflect a very different view of what America is and should be. That is what has caused the gridlock today. When you stand up and start talking about spending less in Washington, D.C., they look at you like you've got three heads."
A: As Idaho's Governor and Lt. Governor, my top priority was always quality jobs for hardworking families. As U.S. Senator, I continue this fight. Jobs are created by the private sector and not by the government. In recent years, the government has pursued policies that have slowed private sector job growth. Government regulations, higher taxes, and ObamaCare have cut the growth of the economy and the expansion of small businesses. As ranking member of the Small Business Committee, I fight successfully to change those policies.
The Bring Jobs Home Act would have offered an incentive for bringing jobs back to America and eliminated the tax break received by American companies for sending jobs overseas. "I can imagine that Washington lobbyists and special interests are happy with Risch's vote," Mitchell said, "but Idahoans should be angry. Idaho jobs will continue to go overseas, and Idaho taxpayers will continue to foot the bill. That's just plain wrong. Idaho lost more than 18,000 jobs to China alone during one ten year period."
Mitchell pointed out that on his website, Risch claims to support job growth. "Maybe he means job growth in Asia," Mitchell said, "because that's what his vote yesterday does. It hurts job growth at home and promotes outsourcing of American jobs to China and elsewhere."
A: Yes. I fought against ObamaCare originally and I voted for and cosponsored every attempt to repeal it. This regulatory quagmire is not the solution for America's healthcare problems. We need more jobs and its small businesses that create those jobs. ObamaCare has discouraged small businesses from expanding. It has instead encouraged small business owners to cut hours, hire more part-time employees, increase the amount the employees contribute to healthcare, and in some instances, even quit providing healthcare coverage. When so many Americans are seeking stable sustainable employment, we do not need this law with thousands of pages of federal mandates and its chilling effect on job growth. I would replace ObamaCare with market-oriented reforms; a plan that gives individual Americans greater control over their healthcare and reduces the cost. The Patient CARE Act proposed by republican senators is a better alternative.
JIM RISCH: No tax increases. I do not favor any cut to the current recipients of social security, Medicare, veterans' benefits, or those who are soon to become recipients. Those promised benefits have been earned and paid for by the recipients and are a legal and moral obligation to them. Because the government is spending 25% more money than they are taking in, and borrowing that money, all other spending needs to be reviewed.
NELS MITCHELL: Members of the Senate spend too much time grabbing for headlines. When Ted Cruz, aided by Jim Risch, shut down the government for 16 days more than $24 billion of taxpayer dollars was wasted. That type of callous waste and indifference is dangerous to the country. We have a tax system that plays favorites and is inefficient.
Pastor Saeed Abedini, a pastor and resident of Boise, was seized by the Iranian government in 2012 and has been sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly spreading Christianity. He was in Iran visiting family and working to build orphanages. The Resolution:
A: The message to the American people is we are fighting ObamaCare. That's what we told our folks at home we would do.
Q: What would congressional Republicans do, if ObamaCare were off the table, to get negotiations going about a budget?
A: Why don't we enact what we all agree on? We all agreed that the National Parks should be funded. The Veterans Administration should be; we agreed that the military should be funded.
Q: Let me ask you about this from a security standpoint; about a budget impasse posing a serious threat.
A: The national security items should come first. Republicans would love to take the National Security Agency and fund it in in its entirety. The other side is saying, "No, we aren't going to do this," what they call "piecemeal." I call that part of the appropriation process.
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The above quotations are from 2014 Idaho Senate debates.
Click here for other excerpts from 2014 Idaho Senate debates. Click here for other excerpts by Jim Risch. Click here for a profile of Jim Risch.
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