Trillions in Debt Cloud Rosy Outlook for Health Care Reform
This week, Democrats in the US House of Representatives — including Congressman Steve Kagen –passed the widely-discussed healthcare reform bill. I often heard the word “historic” as they spoke of it. In fact, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have so often referred to making history that I am wondering if it is their legacy that matters more to them than the American people. The primary problem with this action is that financial track record of the federal government’s “historic” acts is coated with red ink. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the...
Read MorePoliticians and Careerism
Everywhere I go people ask why does Congress keep voting to increase the national debt while telling us that the national debt is bad? Why do they challenge us to live within our means while they continue to live outside of their own? And why after spending trillions of dollars on “stimulus” and bailouts do we have so little to show for it? The simple answer and maybe the most honest answer is what I call careerism. The career politicians in our nation’s capital are trapped between wanting to get re-elected and doing what is in the people’s best interest. This was obvious just this...
Read MoreA lifetime of involvement
As I travel through the areas of the Eighth Congressional District, I am impressed with the level of activity by its citizens. At every stop, people express concerns about our country’s economic crisis and how the federal government is creating a financial disaster that will take generations to correct. For more than 30 years I’ve worked hard at my career. I joined my family’s roofing business in the Fox River Valley, and created jobs for the area. During that time I was also involved in a number of charities, business associations, small business boards, high school athletics and...
Read MoreAre we listening?
I attended one of the “listening sessions” for the new health care (HR3200) bill that Congressman Steve Kagen was holding. I went to the one in Green Bay, WI on Monday night August 3. The room was so full I was unable to get directly into it to see what was going on but I sure could hear it. I later saw video of it on the evening news and also on FOX television. I am concerned. The crowd was boisterous and clearly angry. They regularly would shout down the Congressman. I appreciate the anger. I too am angry. Yet….I think we need to state our positions respectfully or we can be too...
Read MoreJuly 14, 2009 – A day that made history
July 14, 2009 history was made. The deficit for the United States fiscal year reached $1,000,000,000,000.00 for the first time ever. In all fairness, at one time it reached $1 million for the first time and then eventually $1 billion. But $1 trillion? Consider – it took 205 years for the federal government to reach the first $1 trillion in debt, finally getting to the magical number in 1981. The national debt including expenses of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II , Korean War and Vietnam war still did not drive the national debt to $1 trillion. How long...
Read MoreA New Direction – Uncommon Courage
My name is Reid Ribble and I have decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 8th Congressional district of Wisconsin. The idea to run has been on my mind for many years, but life kept getting in the way. I am a roofing contractor by trade, and owning and operating your own business takes a lot of time. I am also married and have two adult children – and most recently I have been blessed with two grandchildren. Each of these relationships requires attention, as all husbands, fathers and grandfathers know. Spending the time, resources and energy required to maintain...
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