As part of the Republican Jobs Agenda, last week the House passed H.R. 2940, the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act, which removes the regulatory ban that prevents small, privately held companies from using advertisements to solicit investors.  The House also passed H.R. 2930, the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which removes SEC restriction that prevent entrepreneurs from raising equity capital from a large pool of small investors who may or may not be considered “accredited” by the SEC.

Members to Super Committee: GO BIG
Congressmen Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Heath Shuler (D-NC) are leading a 100-Member strong bipartisan effort to send a simple but important message to the Joint Select Committee on the Deficit Reduction, known as the Super Committee: Go Big. The 100 bipartisan Members of Congress sent a letter to the Super Committee with the simple and direct message that everything should be on the table and the goal should be closer to $4 trillion rather than the $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction required under the Budget Control Act.

“This letter is signed by conservative, moderate, and liberal members of the House, and while their political philosophies may differ, they all understand the urgency that our national debt crisis represents.  They understand that the Super Committee represents our best, and possibly only, chance to make the real reforms needed to return our country to fiscal health,” said Simpson. “I commend Representative Shuler for his tireless efforts to gather support for this letter. Heath understands that this is the time to act, and the respect he has among his colleagues and his ability to build consensus have made him a crucial partner in this important effort.”

“I am so proud of all of my colleagues who signed this letter for their courage to put country before political parties and do what is right for the fiscal future of our nation,” said Rep. Shuler (D-NC). “Many believed the House could never come together to provide the real solutions and leadership our nation needs to get on a fiscally sustainable path. We are here today to show that we can. I applaud Representative Simpson for his hard work and steadfast determination to make this bipartisan effort successful. He is a visionary leader and true statesman, and we need more people like him in Congress.”

The text of the letter is as follows:

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Honorable Jeb Hensarling    
Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
129 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Patty Murray
Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Hensarling, Senator Murray, and Members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,

We write to you as a bipartisan group of representatives from across the political spectrum in the belief that the success of your committee is vital to our country’s future.  We know that many in Washington and around the country do not believe we in the Congress and those within your committee can successfully meet this challenge.  We believe that we can and we must.

To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table.  In addition, we know from other bipartisan frameworks that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s fiscal well-being.

Our country needs our honest, bipartisan judgment and our political courage.  Your committee has been given a unique opportunity and authority to act.  We are prepared to support you in this effort.

Sincerely,

1. Andrews (D-NJ)
2. Barrow (D-GA)
3. Bass (R-NH)
4. Bishop, Tim (D-NY)
5. Boren (D-OK)
6. Boswell (D-IA)
7. Cardoza (D-CA)
8. Carney (D-DE)
9. Carter, John (R-TX)
10. Castor (D-FL)
11. Chandler (D-KY)
12. Cleaver (D-MO)
13. Coble (R-NC)
14. Cole (R-OK)
15. Connolly (D-VA)
16. Cooper (D-TN)
17. Costa (D-CA)
18. Crenshaw (R-FL)
19. Cuellar (D-TX)
20. Davis (D-IL)
21. DeFazio (D-OR)
22. DeGette (D-CO)
23. Dent (R-PA)
24. Dicks (D-WA)
25. Dold (R-IL)
26. Duncan (R-TN)
27. Emerson (R-MO)
28. Fattah (D-PA)
29. Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
30. Fortenberry (R-NE)
31. Garamendi (D-CA)
32. Gosar (R-AZ)
33. Grimm (R-NY)
34. Hanna (R-NY)
35. Harper (R-MS)
36. Higgins (D-NY)
37. Himes (D-CT)
38. Hoyer (D-MD)
39. Kelly, Mike (R-PA)
40. Kildee (D-MI)
41. Kind (D-WI)
42. King, Peter (R-NY)
43. Kingston (R-GA)
44. Larsen (D-WA)
45. Larson (D-CT)
46. LaTourette (R-OH)
47. Lipinski (D-IL)
48. Loebsack (D-IA)
49. Long (R-MO)
50. Lummis (R-WY)
51. Maloney (D-NY)
52. Marino (R-PA)
53. Matheson (D-UT)
54. McIntyre (D-NC)
55. McKinley (R-WV)
56. Meehan (R-PA)
57. Meeks (D-NY)
58. Moran (D-VA)
59. Nunes (R-CA)
60. Owens (D-NY)
61. Pascrell (D-NJ)
62. Paul, Ron (R-TX)
63. Perlmutter (D-CO)
64. Peters (D-MI)
65. Peterson (D-MN)
66. Petri (R-WI)
67. Pingree (D-ME)
68. Platts (R-PA)
69. Polis (D-CO)
70. Price, David (D-NC)
71. Quigley (D-IL)
72. Rahall (D-WV)
73. Reed, Tom (R-NY)
74. Ribble (R-WI)
75. Roe (R-TN)
76. Rooney (R-FL)
77. Ross, Mike (D-AR)
78. Rothman (D-NJ)
79. Ruppersberger (D-MD)
80. Schiff (D-CA)
81. Schrader (D-OR)
82. Schwartz (D-PA)
83. Sewell (D-AL)
84. Shuler (D-NC)
85. Simpson (R-ID)
86. Smith, Adam (D-WA)
87. Stutzman (R-IN)
88. Sullivan (R-OK)
89. Terry (R-NE)
90. Thompson, Mike (D-CA)
91. Tsongas (D-MA)
92. Turner, Bob (R-NY)
93. Visclosky (D-IN)
94. Walz (D-MN)
95. Watt (D-NC)
96. Welch (D-VT)
97. Whitfield (R-KY)
98. Wolf (R-VA)
99. Yarmuth (D-KY)
100.Young (R-AK)
 

Congress Must Do What It Takes to Address Deficit Crisis
By Congressman Mike Simpson
“We may be living in divisive times, but if there is one thing almost all Americans can agree on, it is that Congress is doing a pretty poor job.  Frankly, it’s not hard to see why they feel this way:  time and again, as the country sits on the brink of economic disaster, Congress has failed to act until the last minute and then has only done the minimum necessary, allowing partisan politics to trump finding common ground in the interest of the American people. 

“While political rhetoric continues to move further to the extremes on both sides of the spectrum, the reality is that throughout our history the solutions to the big problems our nation has faced have rarely been found on one end of the spectrum or the other.  Instead, they have been found nearer the middle, where Republicans and Democrats have to work together and set aside partisan bickering in order to advance the ideals upon which our nation was founded.

“As the deadline approaches for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose major deficit reductions to Congress, many Americans don’t believe they can succeed.  Not only do I think they can succeed, but I don’t believe failure is an option.  Like many economic experts, I believe we have this one chance to show the political fortitude to right this sinking ship.  Our nation’s economic future depends on our willingness not only to make the $1.2 trillion in cuts required under the Budget Control Act, but to take this opportunity to go bigger than that and make the $4 trillion in reductions that experts agree is necessary to stabilize our economy.

“I am not the only one who believes that the Super Committee needs to act now and act big.  In fact, I’ve joined with 99 other members of the House, members from both sides of the aisle and across the political spectrum, in sending a letter to the Super Committee urging them to go big.  With one voice, 100 Republicans and Democrats are saying that doing the minimum isn’t good enough this time, that $1.2 billion in deficit reduction, difficult as it may be, won’t get us out of the hole we’re in, and that we have this one shot to get it right. 

“We all, both Democrats and Republicans, know that we will not be able to get to $4 trillion in deficit reduction unless everything is on the table.  Congress must have the political courage to have an honest discussion about all options, or we may soon find that we have run out of options.  This is why our letter also urges the Super Committee to put forth a plan that looks at long-term entitlement reforms, the yearly discretionary budget, and government revenues.  None of these areas alone can put us on a path to long-term fiscal health; we believe only a serious look at all of these elements will provide the heft needed to reach the necessary savings and convince Americans that Congress is ready to get serious.

“As our deficit crisis has grown, both parties have pointed fingers across the aisle and blamed the policies of the other party for our current financial state.  Now that the crisis is looming right before us, there is no more time for finger pointing—and, frankly, the American people no longer have the stomach for it.  No political party has a monopoly on failed policies or over-the-top rhetoric.  What Americans really want is for Republicans and Democrats to set aside their party labels and focus on what is best for the country. 

“There are at least 100 members of the House of Representatives who have shown the political courage to rise above political pressures and demands and support a plan that can turn our country around.  Nearly half of the U.S. Senate has signed a similar letter to the Super Committee, and I am encouraged that this number grows each day.  The challenges before the Super Committee and all of Congress are vast, but where there are great challenges, I believe there is also unprecedented opportunity.  Now is the time to act.”

In the Press

Idaho congressman quietly important
By: Jennifer Foster, oanow.com, October 30, 2011
Who is the most important lawmaker in America right now?

House Speaker John Boehner? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid?

What about Paul Ryan, who proposed a massive Medicare overhaul, or Chuck Schumer, who chairs the Senate’s rules committee?

Would you guess Mike Simpson?

I certainly wouldn’t have — at least, not before I stumbled onto an article from Roll Call, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill, this week.

Simpson is a Republican congressman from Idaho, of all places. Trained as a dentist, he began his political career as a city councilman. Now 61 and in his seventh term in the House, he enjoys a measure of seniority on several influential committees.

But it is his activity away from the formal committee hearings that may distinguish him as America’s most important lawmaker.

Simpson is the leader of a strong and growing coalition of House members urging the so-called “super committee” charged with finding compromise on the national debt to go beyond its mandate of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. In a letter to super committee members this week, Simpson and his bipartisan phalanx of congressmen encourage the negotiators to shoot for cuts totaling $4 trillion.

It is remarkable enough that any bipartisan coalition has formed against the backdrop of a presidential election season. But given the strength of the tea party movement and its influence in shifting the balance of House power back to Republicans, the coalition’s development is nothing short of extraordinary.

Simpson, his Democratic counterpart Heath Shuler (yes, football fans, tha t Heath Shuler), and the dozens of House members who support this “grand bargain,” as it is being described, are concerned that cuts of $1.2 trillion won’t be enough to stabilize the government’s budget. They echo concerns of congressional budget analysts who believe that anything short of $4 trillion — and maybe even $6 trillion — will be, in the words of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “political pain for not so much gain.”

As CNN noted this week, reaching even the lower goal will require Republicans to accept some tax increases and Democrats to swallow some cuts to entitlement programs.
I can hear you now. Yeah, right. Serious compromise? Pragmatism trumping ideology for the overall good? In this tea party Congress, in this Occupy Wall Street atmosphere?

Hang on, fellow frustrated citizen. Listen to what U.S. Rep Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told Roll Call reporter Jessica Brady about what the emergence of the Simpson coalition may tell us about Congress as a whole: “The eclectic mix proves ‘there’s a very substantial group that’s willing to be more public for a larger deal than just statements would suggest.’”

Does Himes think, Brady asked, “a silent majority of lawmakers was forming in support of bipartisanship?”

“I absolutely do,” he said. “Over the last six months, I have been at countless breakfasts and dinners with no press and no cameras where conservative Republicans have said, ‘I know we need to address revenues,’ and liberal Democrats have said, ‘I know we need to address entitlements.’”

Maybe there’s hope for this Congress after all.

Back to Simpson: Known among his colleagues for his governing philosophy that values finding common ground over the progress of dogmatic ideology, he reportedly has this Henry Clay quote hanging on a sign in his Capitol Hill office: “Politics is not about ideological purity or moral self-righteousness. It is about governing, and if a politician cannot compromise he cannot govern effectively.”

We just can’t keep going on doing things the way we have for the past 15 years. It doesn’t work. Even Pat Robertson expressed concern this week about the unabashed extremism in our politics.

Pat Robertson, y’all.

Simpson’s supporters are busy laying the groundwork they hope will give the super committee the political cover they need to make serious and painful but long overdue changes in federal finances. If his group can help convince super committee members to bite the budget bullet, the country will be stronger — and Simpson will be a hero.
Simpson may be America’s most important lawmaker now. But his biggest days may be ahead.