| | The REAL Inconvenient Truth
As most Ohioans know, Sen. Voinovich has long championed fiscal responsibility, and has become known as the Senate's top "debt hawk." However, helping people understand just how dire our fiscal situation is can be difficult. The senator wants Ohioans to know the truth about where we are as a nation – a truly inconvenient truth that starts with the national debt. Each month – at the beginning of this electronic newsletter – we will be sharing with you a "debt calculator" that gives an estimate of the current U.S. debt as well as your share of that debt. Why is this important? Because the government is wasting your tax dollars paying off the interest on the debt to creditors – including the Chinese government – instead of focusing on our priorities. How much are we paying? Last year, nearly 13 percent of our budget went to paying off the interest on our debt, and we're not even touching the principle. That's nearly $350 billion of your tax money. If paying the debt was a government program, it would be the fourth largest, right behind Social Security, Medicare and national defense. [source: OMB] The time to act is now, before it's too late. Currently, the U.S. Debt is estimated at: $9,394,354,380,955.73 Your share of today's public debt is: $30,891.15 | | | |
| | | | Supporting Public Transportation in Dayton
 Sen. Voinovich recently attended the groundbreaking for the new Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA) hub. The $6.4 million Wright Stop Plaza is designed to reduce pedestrian traffic and bus congestion on downtown Dayton's Main Street. The Greater Dayton RTA already leads the region in public transportation options, providing more than 11 million passenger trips each year. Yet, Sen. Voinovich believes the new hub will be a significant improvement to Dayton's central business district and will not only provide the community with jobs, but also safer and cleaner public transportation for city commuters by eliminating the need for curb-side bus stops. As a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Voinovich has worked to address our nation's transportation needs. He served as a conferee to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005, which was the best in Ohio's history. It included a 36-percent increase in funding for Ohio's roads and bridges, including $400 million more due to changes he pushed for to remove the ethanol penalty for states like Ohio. When the next Highway Bill is considered in 2009, the senator will be instrumental in drafting it as he will be the Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. With the growing cost of oil and steel, funds from the 2005 Highway Bill are evaporating quickly. Sen. Voinovich believes we must maintain this funding stream in order to continue to meet Ohio's infrastructure needs because the condition of our infrastructure is tied directly to Ohio's and our nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace.
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| | | | Protecting Homeowners and Creating Jobs
Sen. Voinovich has led the fight to protect Ohio homeowners, getting numerous provisions signed into law aimed at helping ease the current crisis. Most recently, he successfully included a provision in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to allow struggling American businesses to invest in the economy and create jobs here at home. The amendment allows businesses to utilize built-up tax credits to stimulate the economy, invest in capital and create new jobs. Without financial security and good-paying jobs it is extremely difficult for Americans to keep paying a mortgage. A good-paying job is the first step in ensuring Americans can achieve the dream of homeownership and sustain that dream throughout their lives. This provision is crucial because Ohio is experiencing a foreclosure crisis that has nothing to do with speculators; Ohio has a foreclosure crisis despite the fact that house prices never went up in the state. Ohio families have been losing their homes because Ohio manufacturing workers have been losing their jobs. The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which became law earlier this year, included an accelerated bonus depreciation provision to give companies a strong incentive to increase investment and stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, this provision left out the companies most affected by the economic downturn, those that are not currently making a profit. Sen. Voinovich's provision allows those companies hurting the most to utilize already accumulated tax credits to make critical investments in their businesses and workforce and create new jobs.
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| | | | Calling for House Action to Restore America's Infrastructure
 Sen. Voinovich has long-believed that America's infrastructure is collapsing due to insufficient oversight and funding, and the devastating flooding and levee failures in the Midwest in recent weeks illustrated the horrible result of not addressing this crisis immediately. Early last year, Sen. Voinovich authored the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 – legislation focused on addressing the deteriorating condition of America's roads, bridges, drinking water systems, dams and other public works – which passed the Senate by unanimous consent in August 2007 following the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota. Unfortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives has sat inactive on the vitally important piece of legislation for nearly a year as the country continues to face devastating infrastructure failures. Shocked by their continued inaction as the deterioration of our nation's waterways and infrastructure systems continue to impact our safety and the American way of life, Sen. Voinovich called on the House last week to stop pushing the issue to the back burner. When finally enacted, Sen. Voinovich's bill would create a commission that will provide concrete recommendations for current and future infrastructure needs. This is an incredibly important and long overdue first step towards restoring our nation's highways, waterways and infrastructure systems as well as protecting Americans and the economy. Currently there is a $1.2 billion backlog of unfunded Army Corps of Engineers operation and maintenance projects. Sen. Voinovich's legislation has gained broad support from numerous organizations, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers, U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. | | | |
| | | | Working to Keep Jobs in America
In today's global economy, workers bear the brunt of higher corporate tax rates through lower wages and fewer jobs. In fact, of the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development – which includes the major industrialized nations of North America, Europe and Asia – the United States has the second-highest corporate tax rate at 39.3 percent. It is lower only than Japan's rate of 39.5 percent. Even Communist China recently announced plans to cut its corporate rate to 25 percent from its current level of 33 percent. Sen. Voinovich believes it is imperative that we have a tax code that makes the United States an attractive place to locate production, research and other activity. That is why he recently introduced the Manufacturing, Assembling, Development and Export in the USA Tax Act – or MADE in the USA Tax Act – which would eliminate tax breaks that encourage companies to move jobs overseas. These additional revenues would be used to cut tax rates on large and small businesses that invest and create jobs in the United States. Reducing the tax rates on corporate and small business income will lead to job creation and wage increases for American workers. Sen. Voinovich's legislation addresses one large piece of tax reform, in the hopes of starting a conversation that will inform policymakers as we develop a more comprehensive reform in the coming years. Since coming to the Senate, Sen. Voinovich has worked tirelessly to bring the immense need for tax reform to the attention of the administration and will continue to do so until it is made a priority. | | | |
| | | | Discussing Flood Mitigation Studies in Northwest Ohio
 Recently, Sen. Voinovich attended a meeting to discuss the status of two ongoing flood mitigation studies for Findlay and Ottawa with the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership. Both Findlay and Ottawa are conducting preliminary studies with the Army Corps of Engineers on options to help prevent future flood damages. Sen. Voinovich was joined by Tony Iriti, former mayor of Findlay and president of the Northwest Ohio Flood Migration Partnership. At the meeting, the senator was given a progress update on the studies and discussed the importance of solving non-federal share funding issues early. As a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Sen. Voinovich has been extremely involved in the oversight of this undertaking. In August 2007, severe storms, flooding and tornadoes caused extensive damage in northwest Ohio. Sen. Voinovich acknowledged that communities throughout northwest Ohio suffered greatly due to heavy flooding and were rightly declared eligible to receive disaster assistance. The funding has allowed the Army Corps to do flood damage reduction studies to identify measures that could reduce the impacts of future flooding events. | | |
