U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (WY)

Watch Rep. Lummis’ questions at today’s Oversight...

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:50:02 -0400

Watch Rep. Lummis’ questions at today’s Oversight hearing on the IRS political targeting scandal.

The IRS: Taxing Your Patience and Patriotism Since 2011

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:56:54 -0400

Bullying has officially entered a new school playground; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS, one of the most powerful departments within our federal government, has been harassing conservative citizen groups and organizations for more than two years. This comes despite repeated demands for investigation and information during the same two year period from the House Ways and Means Committee as to whether this practice was taking place.

In June of 2012 Inspector General Russell George was appointed to investigate mounting allegations that the IRS was harassing private organization - what he found is embarrassing. According to his report, Lois Lerner, the Director of Tax Exempt Groups within the IRS, was told in June of 2011 that the practicing of political targeting was taking place within the department. Lerner turned a blind eye and the IRS continued to claim no knowledge of this practice when directly questioned by the House Ways and Means Committee. Now nearly two years later, Lerner has publically apologized for the targeting. Queue the flood gates.

An internal IRS memo dubbed “Be on the Look-Out”, or BOLO, listed terms like “patriot” and “tea party” as alerts to IRS agents to perform more scrutiny on these filers or applicants for tax exempt status. Flagged organizations and groups were told to turn over names of their donors, donation amounts and even list their policy positions on political issues important to their organization. This information is not and has never been required by law for tax exempt filing purposes.

I watched in disbelief as this saga unfolded – albeit in the midst of the Benghazi and Associated Press bombshells this week. Then, in a press conference Wednesday, the President warned of a “partisan agenda” fearing that “political motivations” would unfairly escalate the IRS story.

An egregious intrusion on citizens’ rights should not be prefaced and trivialized under a fear of partisanship. Every American should be concerned by these actions. This involves every citizen. The power wielded by the IRS has been abused. Period.

The administration’s solution was to point fingers at low level “rogue” employees in the IRS’ Cincinnati office and Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller, whose temporary assignment was ending in June. The Administration may declare this as a resolution; I see this as a scapegoat.

Then there is Mrs. Lerner, who, despite being embattled and at the center of this controversy and knowing of these indiscretions in June of 2011, still has her job.

We on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee are taking a different approach. This week we’re having a little visit with Mrs. Lerner, along with her colleagues Neil Wolin, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury responsible for supervising the IRS, and Douglas Shulman, the former IRS Commissioner. They, along with Inspector General Russell George, whose report led to the uncovering of this embarrassment, will answer questions in our committee hearing “The IRS: Targeting Americans for Political Beliefs.”

I’ll be doing my part to keep you posted on Facebook (Cynthia Lummis) and twitter (@cynthialummis), but if you have further questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me. I encourage everyone to watch the hearing live at: http://oversight.house.gov

Wyo Dept. of Ag Dir. Jason Fearneyhough and I prep for...

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:26:56 -0400

Wyo Dept. of Ag Dir. Jason Fearneyhough and I prep for today’s public lands hearing on invasive species management

Team Lummis kick started the day at the ACLI Capital Challenge.

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:26:47 -0400

Team Lummis kick started the day at the ACLI Capital Challenge.

Let’s Talk town hall in Wheatland

Sat, 11 May 2013 16:27:35 -0400

Let’s Talk town hall in Wheatland

I joined Rep. Cory Gardner to tour a Halliburton facility just...

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:25:27 -0400

I joined Rep. Cory Gardner to tour a Halliburton facility just outside of Denver, CO.

Last week the Congressional Western Caucus met in Denver, CO to...

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:24:55 -0400

Last week the Congressional Western Caucus met in Denver, CO to address National Forest health issues.

It was a pleasure meeting with Close Up students from Guernsey,...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:22:35 -0400

Wheatland Close Up

Guernsey Close Up

Lander Close Up

It was a pleasure meeting with Close Up students from Guernsey, Lander and Wheatland. Enjoy your trip!

Meet with Sheridan College students Joseph Graves, Deo Lachman,...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:58:30 -0400

Meet with Sheridan College students Joseph Graves, Deo Lachman, Duane McMurtry and their professor Dr. Robert Milne in town for the Posters on the Hill competition. Best of luck!

Tax Reform: America’s Path to a Balanced Budget

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:05:17 -0400

Economic growth is an essential element of balancing our budget, and the crux of economic growth is tax reform. This month citizens across the nation will be filing their 2012 tax returns. But faced with one of the most complicated tax structures in the world, nearly 90% of us will turn to tax professionals or preparation software for help, spending over $160 billion in the process.

Our obsolete tax code, like the buildup of plaque in arteries, is restricting our economic growth. It leaves American families struggling to navigate a maze of deductions that phase in and out, credits with complicated conditions and confusing rate structures. Our nation’s job creators are crippled under an archaic tax code that is far from competitive when weighed against the international marketplace.

Maintaining such a broken system is illogical. Our current tax structure was established nearly 50 years ago; it was established when the idea of a global marketplace was fiction. But that’s hardly the business landscape American companies face today. How fair is it to disadvantage our own job creators against global competitors with a total tax on investment of 55%? It’s not surprising these companies leave America, taking American jobs with them, for more favorable tax structures elsewhere.

Our tax code should be flatter, fairer and simpler. It should make compliance easy. It should allow companies to move American jobs and money back from overseas. Our citizens should know that as surely as they are paying taxes, General Electric is paying taxes.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) agrees and has proposed a tax structure our country has been in need of for years. In the House 2014 Budget, Chairman Ryan outlines a tax for the future of America. It becomes flat, fair and simplified by consolidating the current seven individual income tax brackets into two tax brackets of 10% and 25%, with a corporate tax rate of 25%. This is a structure capable of competing in the global market place bringing back and keeping American businesses on American soil.

To accomplish these goals, reform must be comprehensive – no special interest exceptions. Congress must broaden the tax base by reducing the loopholes, deductions and credits, while simultaneously reducing the overall tax rate. This ensures that our tax system is conducive to saving and investment by all Americans of all income levels.

Changing the tax dynamic requires the foresight to recognize what these lower tax brackets mean. The two brackets allow hard working Americans to keep more of their paychecks and allow companies the economic room to increase hiring. When corporate tax reductions lead to increased hiring, there are more American jobs filled by more American taxpayers. It’s an approach that works for all taxpayers in our nation and is long overdue.

This tax reform strategy is currently underway, guided by the House Ways and Means Committee, which is seeking the guidance of the American people. Eleven working groups have been tasked with gathering input from citizens nationwide on how to build a better tax structure for America. Each group is reviewing current law in a designated subject area, then identifying, researching and compiling input from our nation’s citizens and stakeholders. Once completed, the Joint Committee on Taxation will prepare a final report.

The process is open to the public, not secluded behind closed doors in the Capitol. The Ways and Means Committee is enlisting the American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that made this country great, to reform our nation’s tax code using a pro-growth approach for our nation’s economy.

As we sit around our kitchen tables this April filling out the pages of confusing tax returns, take a moment to consider a tax code that is understandable and equitable. Consider what America would be like with a code that supports and encourages job creators, drawing companies back to American soil and putting America back on a level playing field in the global market. After 50 years of complying with a broken tax system, the time for reform is now.

This past week the House voted to better utilize an abundant,...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:09:10 -0400

This past week the House voted to better utilize an abundant, clean, renewable and affordable energy source: water. H.R. 678, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act facilitates hydropower development on existing, man-made Bureau of Reclamation water canals and pipes, known collectively as “conduits.”

Was so honored to be recognized for faith-inspired public...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:58:30 -0400

(L-R) Paul Snyder, Concordia Plan Services; the Rev. John Fale, LCMS; the Rev. Gregory Walton, president, LCMS Florida-Georgia district; Lummis; Deaconess Dorothy Krans, LCMS; the Rev. Dr. Carlos Her

Was so honored to be recognized for faith-inspired public service by the Lutheran Services of America.

Was delighted to spend time with students from Niobrara High...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:41:33 -0400

Was delighted to spend time with students from Niobrara High School Close and Wyoming 4H. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

It was a pleasure to meet these students, Tsay Lia Yang, Andrea...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:39:17 -0400

It was a pleasure to meet these students, Tsay Lia Yang, Andrea Falk, Marinell Clinton and Monique Eboumbou from the University of Wyoming’s pharmacy school.

I was excited to have these students with the Close Up program...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:31:00 -0400

I was excited to have these students with the Close Up program visit me from Douglas, Wind River, Hulett and Powell.

This afternoon I took to the House floor speaking in support of...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:47:17 -0400

This afternoon I took to the House floor speaking in support of the GOP House Budget. Learn more about the budget at http://budget.house.gov/fy2014/

America’s Budget Made Simpler

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:06:11 -0400

The federal government now borrows $4.8 billion a day, every single day, to support its spending habit. Other Congressional Budget Office numbers are just as shocking but this one stands out.

With a $16.6 trillion debt that was years in the making and a debt crisis lurking around the corner, our nation cannot maintain the status quo when it comes to federal spending. We need a plan to get back on track. And that means knowing how Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars are spent.

Last year the federal government spent $3.54 trillion in total which can be divided into three broad categories: discretionary spending, net interest payments, and mandatory spending. In terms of Congress’ ability to control expenditures on specific programs within those categories, not all federal spending is equal.

Mandatory spending operates on autopilot: funds are paid automatically each year without an annual review by Congress. Most of the government’s mandatory spending consists of expenditures for entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Last year, these three programs alone totaled $1.485 trillion dollars, over 40% of total government spending. These programs are the true drivers of our debt. We must reform these programs to save them for future generations.

Other mandatory spending ranges from food stamps, welfare block grants and child support enforcement payments to states, unemployment insurance, assistance for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and certain agriculture support programs, among others. Last year, spending on these other mandatory programs totaled $547 billion, approximately 15% of total spending.

Last year, total spending on entitlement and other mandatory programs was about 57% of total federal spending. Spending on some of these mandatory programs should be taken off “autopilot” so that Congress can cap or cut spending levels.

In contrast to mandatory spending, discretionary spending is controlled by Congress during the annual appropriations process and includes defense and non-defense spending. In 2012, total discretionary spending was $1.285 trillion. This includes costs of the war and emergency and disaster relief, spending not subject to spending caps.

Among discretionary programs is funding for foreign aid, the United Nations, public radio and television, and the arts. Unlike mandatory spending, Congress has an annual opportunity to change spending levels for these programs. While many efforts to cut federal spending focus on these programs, they represent only a fraction of the federal budget. Eliminating funding for them would not solve our fiscal problems.

Lastly, net interest payments represent the cost of U.S. borrowing. Paying the interest on our debt is not optional. While net interest is currently the smallest category of spending, when interest rates increase – and they will – they will crowd our other spending priorities.

The government spends so much more money than it collects in taxes that America has borrowed over $1 trillion dollars each year for the past several years. Last year, Americans paid a whopping $223 billion in interest on that borrowed money, and that’s with interest rates at historic lows.

Currently, the Federal Reserve is on track to print another trillion dollars this year (out of thin air) to buy even more of our debt. Such practices distort the true costs of borrowing. According to the Congressional Budget Office, in 2012 short-term interest rates were near zero and longer term rates were also extraordinarily low. By one estimate, an increase of just one percent in interest rates would cost the government more than $100 billion per year. Because interest rates will not remain at record low levels forever, it is imperative that we get our spending under control.

We need to renew America. We must live within our means, save and strengthen programs like Medicare, and eliminate our debt. The U. S. House plans to do just that. By April 15, the U.S. House will adopt a budget that balances within ten years. Hopefully, the Senate, which has not passed a budget in four years, will also pass a budget. The House and Senate can then compare visions and adopt a plan before the U.S. reaches the debt limit on May 19.

As efforts to revive our economy continue, the U.S. House will consider tax reform this year as well. To help America grow, its tax code must be simpler, flatter and fairer—one that brings dollars back from overseas, and gets Americans working again. Nothing will help America’s floundering economy more than jobs, growth, and opportunity. Now that’s the America we all know and love, so let’s make it happen together!

CATTLE CALL: House and Senate FY2014 Budgets This week I discuss...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:49:30 -0400

CATTLE CALL: House and Senate FY2014 Budgets

This week I discuss the House GOP’s Budget, “The Path to Prosperity” and Senate Democratic Budget, “Foundation for Growth: Restoring the Promise of American Opportunity,” introduced within a day of one another.

The U.S. House passes the continuing resolution to fund the...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:10:04 -0500

The U.S. House passes the continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of this fiscal year. And I discuss the Administration’s questionable sequestration cuts.

In the first Cattle Call of March, I discuss sequestration and...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:33:20 -0500

In the first Cattle Call of March, I discuss sequestration and the Federal Workforce Reduction Act, a bill I re-introduced that saves the federal government $35 billion by natural workforce attrition of federal government employees.