In this email newsletter: - Telephone Town Hall on Tuesday 9/6
- My Thoughts on "Canceling" Student Loan Debt
- Another Bill with a Misleading Title
- 87,000 New IRS Agents
- September's Visitor Guide
- Recent Forum for Our Farmers
- How Can I Serve You?
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I’ll be hosting a live telephone town hall this coming Tuesday, September 6th, starting at 5:30 PM.
I’ve heard from countless constituents about their concerns over inflation, illegal immigration, rising violent crime, student debt being offloaded to taxpayers, and other issues under current leadership. So on this call, I’m going to focus a lot of attention on answering the question, "Where do we go from here?"
We’re going to talk about constructive ways I believe we can fix these problems moving ahead. This should be a positive and informative call and as always, I'll take as many questions and comments from callers as time will permit.
This event should last just under an hour. Click here or the button below to sign up for the priority call list, where you’ll be automatically dialed at 5:30 PM on Tuesday! |
I’ve heard from many constituents lately about President Biden’s recent effort to “cancel” up to $10,000 in student loan debt for certain borrowers.
Friends, no debt can simply be "canceled." Whether it’s the federal government or a private lender, you don’t just erase loans off the books. What’s really happening here is that the responsibility to pay back these loans is being shifted from the people who borrowed the money to you, the taxpayers.
I do not believe this is fair, ethical, or legal. I also believe it’s likely to make inflation even worse. I’m certainly not unsympathetic to those with student loans, but as your congressman, my view is that other people should not be on the hook for those payments.
I’ve published multiple posts recently on this topic. Please click here or the button below to read more. |
If you’ve kept up with my work in Congress through social media or recent interviews, you’ve probably heard about the numerous problems I have with the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.” I voted against this bill last month for multiple reasons.
For starters, that legislation won’t do anything to actually curb inflation in the short-to-medium term, according to multiple sources including the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, The Economist, NPR, and others. In fact, most of these reports indicate the legislation could actually make inflation worse.
The real purpose of this bill, despite the title, is to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on green climate programs, an expansion of Obamacare, and imposing price controls on pharmaceutical companies that, in my view, will almost certainly harm their ability to operate profitably and bring new medicines to market.
The bill does not address record levels of illegal immigration, or rising violent crime. It doesn’t address our foreign policy disasters or the gas prices which have skyrocketed under this administration. It doesn’t address our $30+ trillion in federal debt. I'd argue it doesn’t address issues important to most constituents in South Carolina's 5th district.
Not only that, but to generate revenue for these endeavors, the language of the bill empowers the IRS to hire tens of thousands of new employees, which I believe will be used to try and churn up more revenue for the federal government through increased audits.(More on this below.)
Ultimately, this legislation did end up passing entirely along party lines. However, it was not something I could support, which is why I voted no. |
With liberals having passed the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” described above, up to 87,000 additional employees could be added to the IRS in coming years, according to sources like Politico and NBC News. That’s more than enough to fill Death Valley at Clemson University, or Williams Brice Stadium at the University of South Carolina. For context, the IRS reported its total headcount last year to be less than 79,000 employees.
Unfortunately, I expect IRS audits of Americans to rise considerably because of that legislation. If you’ve been through an audit before, you know it can be a major ordeal producing the documentation the IRS demands. It almost always requires a considerable amount of your time, and it’s not uncommon that you’d need to spend massive amounts of money for legal and financial expertise to defend yourself.
As your congressman, I will continue to fight this effort and do what I can to prevent the IRS from harassing more Americans through random, unnecessary audits. |
It won’t be long before the temperatures and humidity start to drop, which makes fall an excellent time to visit Washington, D.C.!
I just published the September Visitors Guide for constituents who are visiting our nation’s capital. This has an excellent list of tours, attractions, and information to help make your visit more enjoyable.
My staff and I would be honored to help with recommendations for your visit. You can find a list of resources below, and please don’t hesitate to call my D.C. office at 202-225-5501 for questions or additional information.
September 2022 Visitors Guide
Select Washington D.C. Attractions
Tour Brochure
Request Tours Online |
Last Tuesday, I was part of a special forum for farmers and our agricultural community, which took place in Chester County. This event was sponsored by the Chester County and Fairfield County Farm Bureau Chapters. Joining me was: - Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-01), who serves as the Vice Republican Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture;
- Retired Congressman Mike Conaway (TX-11), who chaired the House Committee on Agriculture through passage of the last Farm Bill in 2018;
- Harry Ott, President of the SC Farm Bureau Federation
This discussion forum centered around issues facing our farmers, such as supply chain shortages, federal spending, inflation, trade, the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization, and more. Click here or the button below to catch a full replay of that forum on my YouTube channel. |
If you or someone you know needs assistance with any branch of the federal government, my congressional office in Rock Hill is here to help. Whether it's the IRS, Social Security, immigration, passports, veterans’ affairs, or anything else related to the federal government, please give us a call at (803) 327-1114.
Meanwhile, if you have questions about legislation or my votes in Congress, my office in Washington, D.C. can answer those. You can reach my D.C. office at (202) 225-5501.
The most important job I have in Congress is to help folks here at home in South Carolina. Please don't hesitate to call my offices at the numbers listed above. You can also reply to this email or click here to contact me online anytime. |
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