The Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat Monday criticized the Democrat-controlled Congress for adjourning last week without approving a budget. He also faulted Congress for not dealing with tax cuts that are scheduled to expire by the end of this year.
"If something doesn't occur when this lame-duck Congress comes in November or December, all of our tax rates go up,” said James Lankford, of Edmond. "It's one of the most basic things to be able to deal with. Those are issues we're going to have to deal with in the coming Congress.”Though he blames a "lame-duck Congress," it was Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District Representative who missed the vote that very possibly could have changed the outcome. The story continues...
Lankford said Congress has known about the tax-cut deadline since 2001, when Republicans inserted a provision in the bill that said the cuts would expire at midnight Dec. 31 unless extended.I don't understand who he is disappointed in more - "lame-duck Democrats," or the Republicans in Congress who have apparently been too busy campaigning to do that which we elected them to do. And how will James be any different? These are the questions Republicans like me want answers to, but have resigned ourselves to realize that the answers will not come in this election cycle.
Kudos to the Oklahoman for covering a story in a race where the outcome is pretty much a fait au compli.
