Dear friend,

I am hosting nine 'Meet & Greets' across the western part of Kentucky’s 4th District on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Click on this link to find out which stops are closest to you! I hope to see you there!

In case you cannot make it to one of the stops, here are some of the issues I plan to discuss:

Back to Court with Obamacare?

Many of you who are familiar with the Constitution have asked me, "How can the Affordable Care Act be legitimate if it is a tax and if it originated in the Senate?" I recently joined Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) and other Congressmen in filing an amicus brief in a court challenge to Obamacare based on the origination clause in the Constitution. The case is "Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services." The Principal Attorney, Paul J. Beard II, had this to say:

“We are grateful for this powerful support from Congressman Franks, a leading authority on the Constitution, and from many other key lawmakers. This support from members of the House is especially significant because PLF's lawsuit defends the constitutional authority of the lower chamber, the legislative body that is closest to the people. We argue that Obamacare was enacted in a way that deprived the House of its authority to ‘originate' new taxation. By extension, taxpayers were deprived of a core constitutional protection against reckless and oppressive use the federal taxing power.

The Constitution's requirement that new taxes must start in the House is not a dusty formality. It's an important safeguard for taxpayers, and for care and deliberation in the enactment of new taxes. Because this mandate was violated so flagrantly with Obamacare, and because the individual mandate is so central to Obamacare's structure, our suit argues that the entire law must be struck down.”

More information is available here. 

No Bailouts for Obamacare

I cosponsored the Obamacare Taxpayer Bailout Prevention Act this week. Many people did not notice that last week the President promised to use provisions of the ACA to bail out insurance companies in an effort to keep his disastrous health care law on life support. Increasing the national debt to keep this unmitigated disaster going is clearly not the answer. Rep. Griffin (R-AR) introduced this bill, which you can read more abouthere. 

Is your information secure on HealthCare.gov?

Is your most personal information safe on HealthCare.gov? I am concerned it might not be. Last week I questioned Henry Chao (HealthCare.gov's chief project manager at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) the man responsible for the security of the Obamacare website. I think everyone needs to watch this video before they log on to HealthCare.gov.

Click on the picture to watch the video.

First the Administration went after coal, now it is coming after wood heat? On my farm, wood is an abundant, renewable, (carbon neutral!) energy source that keeps us warm in the winter and teaches my children the value of hard work. And we burn it responsibly. Federal regulation of wood burning is misguided.

I have seen cases where homeowners abuse the property rights of their neighbors by burning wood in a way that produces copious amounts of smoke. But these disputes should be left up to states, and ideally, the states should leave it up to the counties and cities, because a one-size-fits-all approach to wood burning is ridiculous. As the price of coal fired electricity goes up due to the President's promise to bankrupt the coal industry, wood heat is a viable alternative for some individuals who are willing to split wood instead of watching TV.

I think this Administration would rather see people turn to the government for public assistance with their heating bills. Watch this video of me questioning EPA Administrator McCarthy during last week’s Science committee hearing on the EPA.

Click on the picture below to watch the video.

Public listening sessions in Kentucky

The EPA announced eleven 'public listening sessions' across the country to discuss reducing carbon emissions from EXISTING power plants, but none of the sessions were in the 10 states most dependent on coal! Before the EPA uses carbon regulation to kill more coal jobs in Kentucky, they need to at least hold a listening session in Kentucky. I asked the EPA administrator to solicit input from Kentuckians. Her answer probably won't surprise you…

It was more convenient for the EPA to hold these listening sessions in their offices!

Click on the picture below to watch the video.

"For nearly five years, Attorney General Holder has systematically deceived Congress and destroyed the credibility of the Justice Department in the eyes of the American people. During his tenure, Mr. Holder refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious and the resulting death of a Border Patrol agent, refused to prosecute IRS officials who unlawfully disclosed private tax records to third party groups, and misled Congress about his involvement in the investigation of a journalist."

I recently cosponsored Representative Pete Olson's (R-TX) resolution to impeach Eric Holder. The articles of impeachment enumerate four "high crimes and misdemeanors," which you can read here.

Which crimes do you believe are the worst? Are there any charges that you disagree with? That 20 members of the house moved to impeach Attorney General Eric Holder won't be widely reported in the media, so please spread the word.

I’m looking for Spring Interns!

My DC and northern Kentucky offices are searching for spring interns!

To apply, please e-mail massie.internship@mail.house.gov with PDFs of your resume and cover letter attached. Please call my DC office (202 225 3465) or northern Kentucky office (859 426 0080) with any questions.

Please pass this message along to anyone interested in gaining hands-on experience in a Congressional office and learning about issues that are important to Kentucky and the United States.

In the 4th District...

Grayson Meet and Greet/Ashland Alliance Forum with Senator Paul

Senator Rand Paul and I recently stopped by Grayson and Ashland. We started our day by meeting with a crowd at Estep's Family Restaurant to talk about events in Washington. 

 

During the visit, staff briefed me on their business and the paper industry as a whole. They also took me through the facility to see the milling process firsthand. Check out the photo album for a look inside the facility by clicking here.