Andy Harris Showing True Independence

During his two years representing Maryland’s 1st District, former Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) pushed two core issues:  he was “independent”, and that he was fiscally conservative.  During this period of time Kratovil voted for President Obama’s stimulus plan and Obama’s budget bill; costing the American taxpayer trillions of dollars both now and into the future.  While Kratovil could (sorta) claim that he was independent from his own party, his record showed that he only opposed his party’s leadership on major votes where his vote was not needed to pass legislation with Democrat votes (e.g. ObamaCare).

In his runs against Kratovil in both 2008 and 2010, current Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) was portrayed by many in the media as an arch-conservative (or wingnut, if you prefer) and as someone who would be a lap dog for the GOP establishment.  After four months in office, Harris has shown himself to be a different kind of representative; one who votes his conscience, the best interest of the country, and the best interests of his constituents.  The want or will of the House GOP leadership doesn’t appear to hold much sway with Harris to this point in his (admittedly short) Congressional career.

The Washington Post has developed a database tracking the members of the U.S. House and comparing each member’s votes with the votes their respective party caucuses.  Harris’s record is surprising:

• Of the 435 members of the U.S. House, only 35 (Democrats and Republicans) vote with their respective parties less than Harris.
  
• Of the 242 Republican members, only 11 votes with their leadership less often than Harris.
  
• 111 members received the endorsement of various Tea Party groups.  Of these, only three show a more independent voting record than Harris.

This last fact was the one that I probably found most surprising.  Well respected conservatives such as Michele Bachmann, Jeff Flake, Duncan Hunter, Mike Pence, Marlin Stutzman, and Allen West have all voted more consistently with their leadership than has Harris.

To be sure, a willingness to vote against one’s own party doesn’t necessarily make you a great representative.  We should also note that we haven’t agreed with every vote Harris has made since being sworn in last January.  However, independent judgment and a commitment to a core set of principles show a strength of character that is sorely lacking in too many of today’s elected officials (Democrat AND Republican).

The voters of Maryland’s 1st District should be proud (and thankful) that Harris has been willing to put principle, and his promises to voters, ahead of the whims and inside-the-beltway judgment of his party’s leadership.  We recognize that there are still 20 months remaining in Harris’s current term.  We just hope Harris continues to show the same resolve in those 20 months that he has shown in his first four.

The Hidden Tax: Regulation

We see what Uncle Sam makes us pay every April. But a new edition of an annual report shows there’s an insidious fee we pay on a daily basis.

We all know what last Monday was. As many of us paid Uncle Sam’s toll — mine was almost a wash, which worked out about how I wanted it — one had either a sour mood knowing that Fedzilla took more of one’s hard-earned salary or that giddy feeling of having absconded with free money because a refund was due. (In many cases, of course, that was just the money loaned to Beltway bureaucrats — interest free! Try finding a bank who will give you those terms!)

Yet we forget there’s a hidden tax which gnaws at our pocketbooks and the economy at large every day. It was pointed out by the Competitive Enterprise Institute in their “Ten Thousand Commandments” report, released on Tax Day.

Regulations cost $1.75 trillion in compliance costs, according to the Small Business Administration. That’s greater than the record federal budget deficit — projected at $1.48 trillion for FY 2011 — and greater even than all corporate pretax profits. Says report author Wayne Crews, CEI’s vice president for policy:

Trillion-dollar deficits and regulatory costs approaching $2 trillion annually are both unsettling new developments for America. … Every year, the federal government blows past previous deficit, debt, and regulatory burdens with no end in sight. No wonder Americans are fed up with Washington.

Just think of the handicap that sucking over $1 trillion annually out of the national economy places on job creation, for regulations that normally have little to do with safety but a lot to do with selecting winners and losers. There’s a school of thought out there which believes that big business (and by that I mean Fortune 500 multinational corporations) is in bed with government to promulgate new regulations in order to discourage competition — a sort of trust-busting in reverse. Since start-up businesses have great ideas but little capital behind them, creating a maze of red tape they need to navigate before they can begin making their mark tends to discourage competition.

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Editor’s Note: This excellent piece was authored by local writer / blogger Michael Swartz.