This week we’ve been sorting out a lot of the administrative details – picking out offices, making sure you understood your budget, getting to know the other members. Hardly getting to know the agenda in a way, but that will come quickly.

Orientation was all of last week. We’ve been trying to make that learning curve a little bit less. We’ve had a lot of orientation programs and an opportunity to meet all the new members, it’s been a good opportunity. In the next month, we’re going to be doing a lot of the administrative stuff – setting up the offices and hiring staff and moving forward in that way.

I’ve actually got a lot to prepare for because I’m still mayor of my city. We’re in the process of spending $50 million dollars schools and $60 million on water and sewers and I was working on that while I was in Washington, DC. Orientation was fascinating – a lot of new people, a lot of new friends and a lot of stuff to prepare us for, there’s an incredible amount of decisions to be made. I think once the decision of one, where you live, and number two your Chief of Staff I think it gets easier. We’ve made some decisions about our district office, we’re going to keep them where they are and the district director is going to stay, so that decision’s been made. If I knew where I was going to lay my head down I would feel better.

I am veteran, I’m a physician, and I’m a mayor. It’s either Mayor Phil, Doctor Phil, or Congressman Phil right now. One of the things we’re going to look at, obviously health care is a big issue for me - I’ve been working on that. Number two, being veteran, veterans’ affairs are a big issue for me. Veterans’ issues, health care issues and the budget – people sent me up here not to keep spending money. Regular folks are struggling out there that are having a hard time and they expect the federal government to tighten their belt just as they’ve had to.

USA*Engage commissioned a study released on Friday November 21, 2008 “Normalization of Economic Relations:  Consequences for Iran’s Economy and the United States” written by Dean DeRosa, principal economist at ADR International Ltd., and Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics.  The study illustrates the economic impact that sanctions have on the world economy.  It is intended as a helpful datapoint at a time when a new Administration is taking office and has promised a fresh look at U.S.—Iran relations. USA*Engage members believe, as the study noted, that “the efficacy of the sanctions in forcing political change is controversial. In economic terms, however, both sides lose from the geopolitical standoff.” Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we were learning the ropes and rules and regulations – doing a lot of networking in terms of committee assignments and leadership races. I got to vote in the democratic caucus on a couple of important issues, talk about the budget, the next big plan and the whole issue of the automotive infacturous plague and what to do about it, if anything. It’s been a great opportunity just to take the temperature of this institution as we’re heading into the next Congress, learning what things are and how we’re going to function.

I’m the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. I’m going to be chairing my last committee in December, decompressing that job. I’ve got some important responsibilities to undertake there. My last day will be January 2nd with the county. I’m also in private employment at SAIC, which is a large federal contractor in science in technology so I’ll be leaving there as well. So I’ve got a lot to do, sort of winding down the campaign office and transitioning here. I’ve got four different offices I’m managing in four different subsets, between staff and calendars I’m going to be pretty busy before the swearing in ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I was just getting myself oriented. The first couple days were overwhelming, but a lot of things are starting to sink in and I started finding my way around and feeling much more acclimated. Orientation was a great experience. The one great surprise has been how helpful everyone has been, from leadership all the way down to the person in the halls offering me directions. It’s been great.

As far as my agenda goes, it’s really about job creation - finding what the next economic growth area is going to be. I truly believe its going to be energy technology. I want to work with bringing those big jobs in that are not going to be able to be outsourced and will be great jobs for our kids to have.

We’ve been getting used to the process in Congress, obviously during new member orientation we were getting up to speoed on all the rules and regulations. We picked our rooms by lottery so it was an exciting time for some folks to see where they’re going to be the next two years. The orientation process is not unlike what I’ve been through before as a former state senator. It’s exciting, only a little bit bigger and a different scope.

I think to get ready we have to start picking our staff. We’ve also loked at the organizational chart of our former member who is in Washington and we’re interviewing folks in the district who are interested in coming into the office. We’ll also continue to do that at home, and put our office together. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get the district offices done, in shape, and ready to go. We’re excited about this process and we look forward to it Read the rest of this entry »

After reading yesterday morning that Citigroup–which has already received $25 billion in bailout money–is adamant in maintaining its $400 million naming rights to the new New York Mets stadium, I was shocked to learn that the company came to the federal government asking for an additional multi-billion dollar lifeline. Surely, if the company has the funds to paste its name to a recreational facility, it has the money to maintain its operations and keep the 52,000 jobs it announced last week it would be eliminating.

While I understand that Citi is under a contractual obligation with the Mets, I cannot understand why the organization seems to be refusing at the very least to explore options out of that contract. This type of spending is indefensible and unacceptable to Citigroup’s new partner and largest investor: the American taxpayer. My constituents in Maryland did not turn over their hard-earned wages to fund a baseball stadium in New York. Read the rest of this entry »

To prepare for January we’re obviously going through a lot of logistical things - picking out office space in Washington, DC and in Cincinnati, Ohio, putting together staff – doing the kind of things you might expect to prepare to take office. In addition to doing that, we’re brushing up on the issues and making sure we’re aware of what’s going on around us and what we’re preparing for when we come back in January, be it appropriations bills or other bills.

I’m very pleased that the chair and ranking member of the House Small Business Committee decided to have a hearing with representatives from the Treasury Department adn Federal Reserve, but what I saw from the panelists is pretty much they did not respond to the answer, they were very general, I think they just came over because we requested it of them.  I didn’t learn anything new on Thursday than what I’ve seen from other committees.

Credit unions are willing to loan more money to businesses but because of the cap they’re not allowed to.  So my question was would they not support increasing it, and I thought that was a very legitimate question, but they refused to answer that question.  Then when you look at businesses who might have used credit cards they’re being price gouged with the interest rate, it’s just outrageous, its going to force businesses to go further and further into a hole when they’re forced to use their credit cards and there’s no end in sight.  I didn’t feel confident at all that we received the answers to tough questions.  They were very good at avoiding answering the questions and it did not instill in me the sense that the treasury has a solid plan on where we should be going to deal with this financial crisis. Read the rest of this entry »