Popular REINS Act Needs Our Support

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the REINS (Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny) Act would restore greater accountability to the regulatory process by requiring both houses of Congress to sign off on all major rules, which are defined as any regulation with a total yearly impact of $100 million or more. 

This senate bill is the first step to rein in the bureaucracy and re balance  the power in Washington.  I have to praise  Senator Mike Johanns for co sponsoring this bill and encourage all of you to do so as well.

Senator Paul's press release

Maverick Senator Mike Johanns

Davis-Bacon Act

Senator Mike Johanns, who touts himself as a conservative republican, once again votes in favor of the cozy relationship that unions have with governments.  Senator Rand Paul recently introduced and amendment that would allow the FAA to be exempt for the Davis-Bacon act which forces the government to pay inflated union wages instead of true market prices for construction projects.  Johanns is one of three republican senators to vote with all the democrats to table this amendment showing that he is not brave enough to start cutting federal spending. 

If Mike Johanns is incapable of voting to cut spending, his time in Washington will be wasted. There is plenty of uproar about Senator Ben Nelson's Obama care vote but no one in the Nebraska Republican party is willing to criticize the darling senator and former governor, Mike Johanns, for essentially the same big government mentality. 

The two senators career paths have followed strikingly similar roads. The two have had the same titles and indeed have often chosen to vote together on many bills.  Perhaps the two senators have Nebraska's interests above party, but more likely these career politicians vote to preserve their power.  Nebraska can do better than both Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns.  Our state is in less terrible financial turmoil than most others but these two senators do not bring that tradition of fiscal restraint to Washington DC.

Mike Johanns is cut from the mold of borrow and spend republicans from the George Bush era of republican majority.  Borrow and spend was the mantra of the 2000's with soaring deficits and unpopular wars. These big government republicans and their policies led to the democratic sweeps that brought us Obama and unheard of deficits.  Now these borrow and spend republicans are back in the majority in the house and have yet to live up to their promises of fiscal restraint.

Mike Johanns is not a fiscal conservative and should be held to the same standards of criticism given to the opposition.  This recent vote proves his reluctance to put aside special interests for the greater good of financial stability.  Government deficits and the monetizing of our deficit by the federal reserve is a driving force of increased prices and inflation and any politician willing to reduce the value of our money to serve a select few should be removed from power regardless of party affiliation.