Opinion Pieces

In life, the sooner you get about fixing a problem, the easier it is to solve. The longer you put it off, the more dramatic and drastic measures you have to take.

The same holds true for problems facing the country. That's why a number of us conservatives in Congress oppose the current budget plan being proposed in the House of Representatives.

Since the beginning of the year, conservatives have called for a budget that reflects the will of the American people. This means a budget that begins to address the problem of Washington's out-of-control borrowing and spending.

Intellectual property rights are fundamental to the type of economic growth, competition and innovation that our economy requires to thrive and to increase the standard of living for all. Strong IP rights — and patents in particular — are critical to the success of ideas and products. This is true whether they come from the individual inventor in his garage or the largest company competing in the global marketplace.

As a former athlete at the University of Wisconsin, I know the positive impact sports can have on a young person's development. During my high school wrestling years at Graham Local Schools in St. Paris, Ohio, my coach Ron McCunn taught his athletes many important lessons. Most important was his emphasis on discipline. He used to say, "Discipline is doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it." In simple terms this meant doing things the right way when you'd rather do them the convenient way.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen needs to go.

When it was revealed in 2013 that the IRS had targeted conservative groups for exercising their First Amendment rights, President Obama correctly called the policy "inexcusable" and pledged accountability. He even fired the then-acting IRS commissioner because he said it was necessary to have "new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward."

"I'm not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program, just because it's there. Like the Export-Import Bank that's become little more than a fund for corporate welfare." These are the words of Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.

During the debate on the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration made a series of statements that had a tremendous influence on the outcome of the legislation. President Obama told Americans that if they liked their healthcare plans, they could keep them. He said that if Americans liked their doctors, they could keep them. Americans were told that the Obamacare website would work. Americans were told it was secure. Americans were told that premiums would go down by $2,500 for a family. And Americans were told that the number of emergency room visits would drop.

American families are fed up with Washington. And they have every right to be. They see their tax dollars being given to able-bodied people who can work but won't. They see their hard-earned money being handed out to connected and powerful corporate interests. And they see a Congress that's not willing to fight for them.