FW Star-Telegram: Send Burgess back to Congress
October 18thU.S. House District 26
Michael Burgess, like all Republicans in Congress, has a fistful of complaints about how the Obama administration and majority Democrats are running the show. Still, he talks with a level of excitement that betrays his joy at being a member of the House.
Burgess, 59, of Lewisville, is a former obstetrician running for his fifth term. He's opposed by Democrat Neil L. Durrance and Libertarian Mark Boler. The top issue this year, Burgess says, is job creation.
"The leadership in Congress has chosen to go almost every direction except job creation," he complains. Because of the new federal healthcare and financial regulatory bills and the failure to act on maintaining Bush-era tax cuts before the current recess, business owners "don't know what's going to happen" and are reluctant to add jobs.
The first step, he says, is simply "stop killing jobs."
He'd like to dial back federal spending to 2007 levels, but "those debates are not being held."
He says the problems of immigration haven't been addressed because members of the Obama administration "don't seem to take their responsibility as an executive branch seriously" on the issue.
He applied his medical knowledge and became a GOP standout during debates on the healthcare bill.
He says he'd like to repeal it, but he'd settle for having effective oversight hearings as administrative rules for the bill's programs are being worked out.
Regaining majorities in the House and Senate would give Republicans a chance to set a new direction, Burgess says. There's only one thing that worries him about that.
"Is my side ready?"
He believes so.
The Star-Telegram recommends Michael Burgess for U.S. House District 26.