Blog Post

When President Obama took office, the country was facing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The job market was losing 750,000 jobs a month and unemployment was climbing fast. The economy was contracting at a rate of over 6 percent the worst in decades. Foreclosures were at record levels and home prices had plummeted by thirty percent. And the decline in home prices, stock values, and retirement plans cost American households over $10 trillion dollars in lost wealth.

In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama spoke about the reality of the hard times that facing our country, as well as the determination and optimism that have helped America overcome hardship in the past--the same qualities that are essential to our recovery today.

President Obama took office facing an economic crisis on a scale unseen since the Great Depression. Wall Street greed, fiscal irresponsibility during the previous Administration, and regulatory neglect all combined to crash our economy; but since then, the President and Congress have been determined to repair the damage. Our efforts have made real progress, but damage of the kind we saw last fall cant be undone in a year; an unemployment rate of 10% means that millions families continue to struggle.

For many, this time of year reminds us of what is truly important in our lives the health of our friends, the well-being of our neighbors and the love of all those we hold dear. It is a special time of year, and it is encouraging to hear stories of the tremendous goodwill exhibited by our community. Unfortunately, the holiday season also brings increased risk for families both in terms of fire and theft, but it is also one of the deadliest times of year on America's highways, as the number of drunk drivers rises at a particularly disturbing rate.

Millions of Americans have felt the effects of the near-meltdown that jeopardized our economy last fall. But while those results are all too concrete, the causes are almost vanishingly abstract, expressed in a jargon that few Americans ever imagined had such power over their lives: phrases like "credit default swap" or "unregulated over-the-counter derivatives."

This year, President Obama took office facing the worst economic crisis in generations. 2008 saw the largest job losses since the end of World War II and the worst housing market since the Great Depression. Faced with that tremendous challenge, the President and Congress responded with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an aggressive plan to jumpstart our economy and create jobs.

The House passed the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (H.R. 3961) to permanently reform Medicares physician payment system and place it on more sustainable footing for physicians and beneficiaries.

The winter holiday season is upon us, and I would like to extend warm wishes to everyone in Marylands Fifth Congressional District to have a safe and happy holiday. This is a time when we celebrate the traditions of the holidays with loved ones families reunite, gifts are shared, many people partake in preparing and sharing meals, and make plans to attend parties and gatherings to celebrate the season.