Peter Roskam RSS Articles

Roskam and Kirk: New Study Shows New Taxes/Provisions of Health Care Bills Could Cost 169,000 Illinois Jobs

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

As the Senate debates its 2,074-page, $849-billion health care bill, U.S. Reps. Peter Roskam and Mark Kirk highlighted a new study detailing the economic consequences of House and Senate health care proposals. The study, commissioned by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), indicates 169,000 Illinois residents may lose their jobs if the new taxes and additional government spending programs are established in the Pelosi-Reid legislation. The news comes just days after Illinois’ unemployment rate hit 11 percent – the highest since August 1983.

"Democrats promised our unemployment rate would peak at 8%, yet Illinois already is suffering from 11% unemployment, and now Pelosi democrats are trying to push through a massive healthcare overhaul that will only mean further job loss," said Congressman Peter Roskam. "Their healthcare overhaul will considerably raise insurance premiums for working families, cut $500 Billion for seniors in Medicare benefits, add massive taxes to small businesses and job creators, all while adding another weight to our exploding national debt with $1.3 trillion dollars in new spending."

“Since the Stimulus became law, 163,200 Illinois citizens lost their jobs, increasing unemployment from 8.6 percent to 11 percent,” Congressman Kirk said. “This legislation may eliminate more jobs, caused by ten new taxes, $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and new unfunded Medicaid mandate levied against Illinois.

“Over the last 10 months, we worked with five dozen patient, doctor and hospital groups who joined with centrist Republicans to craft reforms that would lower costs, expand coverage, protect Medicare, reject tax increases and defend our doctor-patient relationship. Instead of adopting these common-sense reforms, we are left with legislation that will impose ten new taxes, jeopardizing family incomes and an economic recovery. We cannot afford to lose an additional 169,000 job losses in the teeth of the Great Recession.”

“Congress’s plan will add insult to injury in Illinois,” said John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. “It was bad enough when we knew the freedom to access quality health care was under fire; now our jobs are as well. Congress should be embracing the proactive, patient-centered reforms proposed by the Illinois Policy Institute. There is another, better way to health care reform—a way that doesn’t cost jobs, cut off access to quality health care, and stifle the freedom of citizens across the country.”

Key findings of the IPI study include:

• Due to new taxes and borrowing, the bill may cost 169,000 Illinois jobs over 10 years – a more than 20 percent increase over the current seasonally adjusted unemployment total of 731,800. Holding the labor force constant, Illinois’ unemployment rate could reach 13.6 percent – a level not seen since the 1930s. Nationwide, new taxes and other provisions of the bill could trigger a loss of 3.9 million more jobs.

• The legislation could cost Illinois families $57.0 billion over 10 years, or $4,418 for each person in the state.

• The economy may also contract under the new taxes and spending of the health care bills. In the teeth of the Great Recession, U.S. economic growth could decline by 4.9 percent (5.1 percent in Illinois) over the next decade.

• Medical inflation will likely increase by 5.2 percent by 2019 as billions in new government subsidies drive up costs for medical procedures.

• The State of Illinois’ deficit is likely to rise under the legislation, including an additional $6.7 billion through 2019, or $518 for man, woman and child in Illinois. This includes a new unfunded Medicaid expansion.

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Roskam Statement on Giannoulias Disclosure of Receiving a National Security Council Briefing on Possibly Moving Guantanamo to Illinois

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Statement from Congressman Peter Roskam on the disclosure this morning from Democrat Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias that he received a National Security Council (NSC) briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois:

“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides foropen and transparent consideration.”

Background:

“Most importantly I had a chance to talk to the National Security Council folks.”– Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias (WLS 890 AM’s “Don Wade and RomaShow”, 11/20/2009)

The full audio of the interview is here.

(6:30mark)

Roma: “Have you been briefed on this by the White House or since you are a state constitutional officer has Governor Quinn briefed you?

Giannoulias: “We’ve spokento their offices, I’ve gotten some packets of paper, and I’ve read them. Mostimportantly I had a chance to talk to the National Security Council folks.”

(3:50 mark)

Giannoulias: “I’ve had achance to talk to some folks on the National Security Council and they’ve told me that today, in this country federal prisons securely house approximately 350 inmates already including 35 already in Illinois and the U.S. military hasdemonstrated the ability to house those inmates, so I’ve heard some facts from them.”

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Wall Street Journal: Coverage Mandate Under Fire

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.) said on the House floor that this means the health overhaul comes with handcuffs. "Now, I am not talking about figurative handcuffs," he added. "If you don't comply with the individual mandate, what happens to you? You can be subject to five years in prison and you can be subject to a quarter of a million dollars in fines."

The Wall Street Journal
Coverage Mandate Under Fire
Naftali Bendavid

Conservatives have opened a new front in the health-care debate with the assertion that under the Democrats' plan, people who refuse to buy health insurance could spend five years in prison.

Supporters of a health overhaul called that a scare tactic along the lines of last summer's uproar over "death panels," and said that scenario would virtually never happen. But some conservatives have seized on the issue as a symbol of what they see as government overreach in the health bill approved by the House earlier this month.

The notion of imprisonment has its origins in the bill's requirement that most Americans must get health insurance, with the help of government subsidies if necessary, or pay a special income tax of up to 2.5%. If someone refuses to get insurance and refuses to pay the tax, that person would be guilty of tax evasion. Criminal penalties for willful tax evasion, which are pursued in rare cases, include a fine of as much as $250,000 and up to five years in prison for the most egregious cases, Republicans point out.

Supporters of the health overhaul say this is a distortion and prosecutors don't pursue criminal penalties for tax evasion except in drastic cases. "It's like saying you could be jailed for jaywalking," said Rep. Robert Andrews (D., N.J.). "I'm sure there are some narrow circumstances in which that would happen, but it doesn't happen as a practical matter."

Rep. David Camp (R., Mich.) helped ignite the debate by requesting information on the issue from the Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan House-Senate panel that provides tax expertise to Congress.

The committee responded with a four-page letter on Nov. 5 describing the penalties for willful tax evasion, including the top penalty of a five-year sentence.

"This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing—buy what we tell you or go to jail," Mr. Camp said.

The letter also made clear that the Internal Revenue Service pursued civil penalties, which carry no jail time, for the great majority of violators. Of the roughly 156 million tax returns filed in 2008, there were only about 100 criminal prosecutions for willful failure to pay taxes, Democrats said.

"The claim is wildly exaggerated and essentially false," Mr. Andrews said. "It virtually never happens. Usually there is a civil penalty for large nonfiling. It's just not the way the law works."

The "individual mandate" to buy health coverage has become one of the health debate's flashpoints.

Democrats, and some Republicans, say an efficient, fair health system requires everyone to buy insurance. Otherwise, they say, those who have it subsidize those who don't. And Democrats say their plan provides a hardship exemption, generous subsidies for many lower- and middle-income families, and expanded Medicaid coverage for the poor.

The issue has also arisen in the Senate, which is expected to begin its floor debate on the health overhaul within days. An amendment added in the health-overhaul bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee last month specified that no one can face prison or civil penalties for not paying the tax. Instead, an individual's tax refund can be reduced by the amount of the tax.

Opponents say the individual mandate contained in the health legislation, if enacted, could be the first time the U.S. government ordered its citizens to buy something or face punishment. Congress has no constitutional authority to impose such a demand, some critics said.

Supporters liken the idea to requiring car owners to buy auto insurance. It is necessary to prevent the uninsured from getting their health care by visiting emergency rooms, they say, which is expensive and transfers the cost to everyone else.

Congress has the constitutional right to enact such a law, Democrats and many legal scholars said, under its authority to regulate interstate commerce and its power to tax.

Politico: House GOP: Illinois Could be Jihadist Hub

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

House GOP: Illinois could be Jihadist hub

Politico

Jake Sherman

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29556.html

Illinois will become “ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization” if President Barack Obama follows through on a plan being considered to bring Guantanamo detainees to a prison in the state’s northwestern corner, Republican House members wrote Sunday.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced earlier Sunday that the Obama administration is mulling the purchase of the hardly-used Thomson Correctional Center to house alleged terrorists from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Illinois Republican Reps. Mark Kirk – who is running for the Senate seat vacated by Obama – Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert and Don Mazullo responded in a letter to the president, pleading with him to keep detainees in the “$50 million Guantanamo Bay facility, and not on American soil.”

They will hold a news conference to further air their objections.

Durbin has said the move could create upwards of 2,000 jobs, but Roskam, who represents the suburbs of Chicago, said it would dissuade businesses from coming to the state.

“The Obama administration’s utter inability to create jobs here does not somehow make sending some of the world’s worst terrorists to our backyard a good idea,” Roskam said.

The news that the White House is considering housing detainees in Illinois comes on the heels of last week’s announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder that the U.S. would try 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court – and one just a stone’s throw away from Ground Zero in Manhattan.

Both moves are part of the White House’s push to fulfill Obama’s campaign pledge to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.

But even if detainees are transferred to American soil, it’s not certain that they would be housed in Illinois – facilities in Montana and Colorado are also being considered, Durbin said.

Roskam Video: Pelosi's Version of Law & Order: Government Mandate or Jail

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

"We've heard from the majority all afternoon, and not one of them have told us why you need to criminalize people to coax them into a plan that's fabulous? It makes no sense." - Rep. Peter Roskam.

Click here to watch Roskam's full floor speech on the Democrat's healthcare bill. Townhall.com called it the best floor speech of the day.

Click here to watch other Roskam videos and interviews on his youtube page.

Roll Call Story On Wounded Warrior Working for Rep. Roskam

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Wounded Warriors Find a Safe Landing

Roll Call
Ali McSherry

To this day, nearly five years after the explosion, Ismael Vasquez still doesn’t quite understand what hit him that day in Iraq. All he knows is that a teenage insurgent threw an object at him during a firefight, and he soon felt an intense heat followed by a prickling feeling all over his back.

“It could have been a pipe bomb,” says the Army infantryman. “The concussion of the blast threw me back and I hit my head on a metal seat, and the force of the blast caused my ear membranes to rupture. ... I had to continue to fight because we were heavily engaged.”

The blast left Vasquez with permanent traumatic brain injuries that made it impossible for him to return to his job as a police officer in Texas and left him struggling to find work. To this day he suffers from terrible migraine headaches and has a very short attention span and almost no short-term memory.

“They said they have no idea if it’ll ever get better or not, but it’s been four or five years and I’m still struggling,” he says.

During his job hunt, Vasquez came across the Wounded Warrior Program, which provides fellowships in the House of Representatives for veterans with a service-related disability of 30 percent or greater as determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a military Physical Evaluation Board. The $5 million program falls under the umbrella of Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, who last week met with the most recent hire, Dirk Konopik, who served as a Navy petty officer second class and is now working for Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.). The program was conceived by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Administration Chairman Robert Brady (D-Pa.).

“I remember I kept seeing these job postings about a fellowship with Congressman so-and-so and I thought, ‘Man that is something I’d love to do,’” Vasquez says.

Vasquez began working for Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas) in September and is part of the newest wave of fellows to join the program. The program launched last year and will have a total of 21 fellows placed in Congressional offices by the end of the month. Most of the fellows do casework for veteran constituents and their families. Fellows work primarily in district offices, but a handful of them — such as Bill Collins, who acts as an adviser to Pelosi — work on the Hill.

“Being able to speak the same language” as veterans is helpful, says Collins, who spent more than a decade in the Marines before being medically retired. Constituents “are excited to see a veteran in the Speaker’s office.”

Typically, fellows spend their days speaking with soldiers, veterans and military families about their needs. Vasquez says he has been spending the majority of his time helping veterans get their education benefits.

“It’s surreal, but I’m enjoying it,” he says. “I’m trying to live my life in a way that I think my fallen brothers would have wanted to live their lives. I’m trying to do everything that they don’t have a chance to do now.”

The Wounded Warriors’ injuries vary from crippling physical injuries to post- traumatic stress disorder, an often-misunderstood debilitating psychological condition that many soldiers suffer on their return from the front.

“What comes out of PTSD is a lot of depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, flashbacks of not-so-enjoyable events, and that kind of affected my job a lot,” says Alberto Velasco, who began working in Rep. Peter Roskam’s (R-Ill.) district office two months ago and suffered from the disorder after serving two tours in Iraq. “Without sleep and walking around with depression and anxiety — it doesn’t help. Work was being affected, my home life was affected, it was straining my family.”

After he returned home from Iraq, Velasco, a Marine reservist, was in a car accident that severed his spine and left him paralyzed from the waist down. His injuries left him unable to return to his job as a police officer and left him and his wife without medical insurance. His two children were able to get insurance through a state program.

“I was actually referred to the Wounded Warriors Program from the Paralyzed Veterans Association,” Velasco says. “They referred me to Congressman Roskam, I sent them my résumé and I went to the three interviews and I was blessed with working with the Congressman.”

Roskam says Velasco is an asset to his staff and that he has gotten a lot of positive feedback from veterans who are happy to have one of their own to speak with.

“He’s a natural,” Roskam says. “He’s a good listener and he cares about people and that comes through. You can’t buy that — it’s just him.”

Velasco says connecting with and helping other veterans has breathed new life into him. While he once had to depend on his family to take care of him, he is now able to provide for them.

“I feel back to normal,” he says. “I’m working, I have an income for my family, I’m supporting them. Every morning I thank God because every morning we wake up, we get dressed, I take my 5-year-old son to school and then I’m off to work. I can’t even tell you how phenomenal that feels to be able to help my family.”

Illinois Republicans Ask Illinois Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services How Medicaid Changes Will Impact Illinois

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Today, Congressman Peter Roskam released the following statement after the entire Illinois Republican delegation joined him in sending a letter to Barry Maram, Executive Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, inquiring about the impact that Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill, H.R. 3962, would have on the State of Illinois:

“As the House prepares to vote on Speaker Pelosi’s $1.3 trillion dollar healthcare bill, we think it is vitally important to know how much this legislation will cost the constituents of Illinois. Medicaid is already the single largest expense for the State of Illinois, accounting for 40% of all state taxpayer dollars. In addition to creating a new government-run insurance plan, H.R. 3962 imposes unfunded mandates on states to pay for a massive expansion of Medicaid. Republicans are committed to meaningfully lowering costs and increasing access, but we believe Speaker Pelosi’s healthcare bill would make Illinois’ already treacherous fiscal challenges even worse.”

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November 7, 2009

Mr. Barry S. Maram

Director

Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services

Prescott Bloom Building

201 South Grand Avenue East

Springfield, Illinois 62763-0001

Dear Director Maram,

Often overlooked in the healthcare reform debate is how the expansion of Medicaid would impact already strained state budgets. H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act as amended, mandates that states raise the Medicaid enrollment threshold to 150% of the federal poverty level. H.R. 3962 also raises the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) to 91% of this expansion cost by 2019.

According to estimates by the National Conference of State Legislatures, raising enrollment eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level and capping FMAP at 85% would create a cost to the State of Illinois of $2.578 billion dollars from 2014-2019.

It is apparent that the additional expansion of eligibility to 150% of the poverty level will create an even greater burden on our state’s coffers than the original bill. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that state spending on Medicaid would increase by about $34 billion over the 2010–2019 period.

According to a June report by Governor Quinn’s Tax Action Board, Medicaid covers over 2.45 million Illinoisans, or more than 19% of the population, and this year will cost $11.2 billion in state and federal funds. In fact, Medicaid accounts for over 40% of state general funds and is the largest single state expense. For these reasons, we are requesting an estimate from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services of the projected obligations that passage of H.R. 3962 would have on the State of Illinois.

We sincerely appreciate your timely attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

PETER ROSKAM MARK KIRK

Member of Congress Member of Congress

JOHN SHIMKUS AARON SCHOCK

Member of Congress Member of Congress

TIM JOHNSON DONALD MANZULLO

Member of Congress Member of Congress

JUDY BIGGERT

Member of Congress

Roskam Condemns Passage of Pelosi Healthcare Overhaul

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Tonight, Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) issued the following statement following the U.S. House of Representative’s narrow passage of H.R. 3692, Speaker Pelosi’s healthcare bill, 220-215:

“Tonight’s vote is incredibly disappointing, though just the latest example that Democrats simply aren’t listening to Americans. The Pelosi healthcare overhaul will not only cost $1.3 trillion, adding to our debt and bankrupting future generations, but the resulting policy will mean increased health costs for families, deep cuts for seniors in Medicare, new taxes and more jobs lost.

With super majorities in both houses and the presidency, the Democrats could have made easy work of health reform legislation. Instead, Speaker Pelosi lost 39 Democrat votes, struggling to send this misguided legislation limping out of the House, and demonstrating just how bad this bill is. Democrats missed an incredible opportunity to work with Republicans toward implementing bipartisan reforms that would lower cost and increase access without seriously increasing taxes and our national debt.”

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Roskam Statement on Latest Unemployment Numbers

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy lost 190,000 jobs in October, raising the national unemployment rate to 10.2%:

“It has been nearly 9 months since President Obama signed a trillion dollar federal stimulus spending plan that promised nearly 4 million jobs. In the time since, the U.S. economy has lost 2.8 million jobs, raising our unemployment rates to 10.2% nationally and 10.5% in Illinois. We’ve seen trillions in new spending that will explode our debt, but no jobs to show for it. Yet, Democrats are still moving full speed ahead with a $1.2 trillion dollar healthcare plan that would mean higher premiums, higher taxes, less jobs and diminished care.

We desperately need to substantively reform healthcare and get Americans back to work. Republicans have offered pro-growth policies that would create jobs at home, and responsible healthcare solutions that would mean increased access and lower health insurance costs for Americans. It’s time for Democrats to eschew the hyper-partisanship of Speaker Pelosi and work together for real bipartisan reform.”

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Suburban Life Editorial: Legislators on right track with health care bill

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

...

Being members of the minority party in the House, Biggert and Roskam are characteristically not thrilled with the plan. They expressed concern that Republican ideas for reforming health care were rejected by the Democrats. When it comes to issues such as tort reform, health insurance portability and competition across state lines, I agree with the Republicans that these are key to making any reform plan work.

Foster was perhaps the most noncommittal in his response to the House plan. He said while the plan addresses his concern for covering people with pre-existing conditions and keeping costs in check, “the details matter.” He pledged to analyze the bill’s particulars before taking a stand.

Lipinski likewise said he study the bill before deciding whether he’d support it. He said he will “not serve as a rubber stamp simply because this bill goes by the name of health care reform.”

I hope Republicans can put some of their ideas in the bill, and Democrats should be open to this. If we can get our four local legislators thinking along the same lines, there’s hope for this process.

Click HERE to read the full editorial.

WIND AM 560 “Big John & Cisco” Show

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Big John and Cisco talk to Congressman Peter Roskam about earmarks and why Congresspeople use military jets.

WLS AM 890 "Don Wade & Roma Show"

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam joined Don Wade and Roma to explain why the federal government would even talk about a cap-and-trade system right now in an economic crisis. Is there anything that won't rise in price if a cap-and-trade system came into place? Should we be concerned about Barack Obama's budget proposal? And will Rod Blagojevich's book be a corruption 101 lesson to others in politics?

WIND AM 560 “Big John & Cisco” Show

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

John and Cisco talked to Congressman Peter Roskam in the studio about the lack of bipartisanship, why he and others do not support the stimulus package, and the direction of the GOP.

Mancow's Morning Madhouse

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam joined Eric “Mancow” Muller to discuss the economic stimulus bill.

WTAM 1100 Cleveland

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam joins Bill Scooter on WTAM Cleveland to talk about the very latest developments with the economic stimulus package, egregious wasteful spending and how Congress could have done better.

WLS AM 890 "Don Wade & Roma Show"

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam joined Don Wade and Roma to give you the inside story on the controversy with Barack Obama's nominees and with the federal stimulus package. What is the Barack Obama standard and is he sticking to it? Should he be setting such high standards and then turning around and handing out waivers? Was Michael Steele a good pick to head the Republican National Committee? Is he just what the party needed? Plus, will Springfield sneak a gas tax on Illinoisans? How will that hurt the state of Illinois?

WIND AM 560 “Big John & Cisco” Show

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Big John and Cisco talk to Congressman Peter Roskam about why he and the rest of the Republicans voted against the stimulus bill, and what damage is expected.

WBBM 780 AM NewsRadio

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter Roskam talks to WBBM NewsRadio about his meeting with President Barack Obama and comments on the proposed $825 billion spending bill currently being debated in Congress.

The Michael Reagan Show

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Congressman Peter J. Roskam joined Michael Reagan, son of the late-President Ronald Reagan, to talk about the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the proposed stimulus package and the legacy of President George Bush.

WIND AM 560 “Big John & Cisco” Show

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Big John and Cisco ask Congressman Peter Roskam if he wants to run for Senate, what he thinks about the Dems' infighting, and what he would ask Hillary Clinton at her hearing.