It has been great seeing so many constituents and enjoying this beautiful weather in the Second District.
This week in the district, I launched the first meeting of my Housing Advisory Council in Clayton, toured and spoke to students and faculty at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, visited the Caterpillar facility in Lee County and spoke to the Raleigh Kiwanis Club.
In this week’s newsletter you’ll find updates on my work in the district, the latest on my opposition to tolls on I-95, and new reports on the imploding costs of Obamacare.
Thank you for staying informed on the issues and engaged in the process. You will find more specific information below. Please share this newsletter via email with your friends and family using the “Tell a Friend” form in the right sidebar. Continue to follow me on Facebook and Twitter and at ellmers.house.gov for the latest from Washington and the Second District.
Creating Jobs Through Housing
This week, I launched the first meeting of my new Advisory Council on Housing. Home builders, realtors, and lenders from across the Second District shared their experiences and observations with me in a round table discussion in Clayton.
I heard story after story about individuals and businesses with good credit ratings and established relationships with their local banks yet were unable to get loans or lines of credit due to the stringent requirements of Dodd-Frank. Without accessible financing, builders are unable to sell houses and the effects are impacting everyone.
Some builders told me the economy had ravaged their businesses – requiring them to lay off employees, drain their cash reserves and exhaust credit lines to stay in business.
Many of those in attendance told me they did not want the government to become more involved in their industry – instead they wanted the government to reduce the regulation and red tape that is hampering growth. As one gentleman noted, he just wanted the government to “get out of the way.”
No Tolls in North Carolina
I continue working on the issue regarding a proposed toll on Interstate 95. I discussed the issue and the bill I submitted, HR 4174 the “No Tolls in North Carolina Act of 2012” with Rick & Donna Martinez and Carl Lamm on their radio shows earlier this week and interviewed with Channel 14 in their segment that aired yesterday. I am happy to report congressional opposition to the tolls is growing. I will continue to fight the proposed toll which would place an additional burden on North Carolina taxpayers who are already paying one of the highest gas taxes in the country.
The Rising Cost of Obamacare
Throughout the healthcare debate President Obama said over and over again “if you have insurance you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance.” Once again, the facts do not match the rhetoric.
A new CBO reportshows the law could lead to 20 million people losing their employer-sponsored insurance in 2019. This is the healthcare system we are forced to accept in the bureaucratic rulemaking of Obamacare – one that promises equal entitlement of coverage in exchange for government control, bankruptcy, and an unaccountable government deciding your future.
The primary objective of Obamacare is to take healthcare decisions away from physicians and hospitals and place them in the hands of the federal government.This week, the Congressional Budget Office released a new report on budget projections and extended its cost estimates for Obamacare out to 2022.
Fox News noted the following in its report from yesterday:
- CBO’s update to the budget outlook found that the bill will cost $1.76 trillion between now and 2022. That only counts the cost of coverage, not implementation costs and other changes.
- The first estimates of the cost of the health care bill included three years before the bill even took effect, so there was little or no spending, making the full 10 years look less expensive.
- The CBO model also assumes that between 3 million and 5 million people will lose health care coverage from their employers and there will be 1 million to 2 million more people who won’t qualify for the exchanges but will go on Medicaid instead. In all, some 30 million people will remain without health coverage, according to the estimate.
To read my full press release on the latest CBO report, click here.
Congressional Art Competition Deadline
If you know a high school student in the Second District interested in entering the Congressional Art Competition, the deadline to submit entries to my office is April 5. Find guidelines and instructions for entry on this page of my website.