Yesterday, U.S. Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter filed the maximum 2000 petition signatures required to seek Michigan’s 11th Congressional District seat. Rep. McCotter spent filing day the same way he spends every day – working hard for the people of Michigan. While managing the GOP’s time under the House’s Committee of the Whole, his resolution honoring the late Ernie Harwell was sent to the full House.

As the Obama Administration struggles to come to terms with Tuesday’s election of Republican Scott Brown to the US Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, Americans are seeing another rise in jobless claims. The Department of Labor’s weekly jobless number rose by 36,000 in the report released this morning.

Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 36,000 to 482,000 in the week ended Jan. 16, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report Thursday. The previous week’s level was revised upward to 446,000 from 444,000.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a decrease of 4,000 initial claims.

The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, also increased as well last week. The Labor Department said the four-week moving average increased by 7,000 to 448,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 441,250.

(The following are excerpts from an Investor’s Business Daily article titled “The War on Banks”. You can view the full article at: Read the complete article at http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=518187

You can also view Rep. McCotter’s remarks to Fox News about the bank tax plan.)

Financial Crisis: The White House wants to impose a stiff new tax on banks to punish them for their role in the financial meltdown. That’ll really get them lending again … won’t it?

We have to admit we’re a little perplexed. The White House and Congress have complained over and over again about the banks’ “failure to lend” to get the economy moving.

Friday, July 24, 2009
by Frank Beckmann in the Detroit News

On Monday, President Barack Obama hailed that Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon for sparking “innovation, the drive, the entrepreneurship, the creativity, back here on Earth.”

How right he was. Our space program led to technological advancements like breast cancer detection, digital imaging, ocular screening for young children, laser angioplasty, ultrasound scanning, arteriosclerosis detection, portable X-ray devices, MRIs and bone analyzers.

From the Associated Press, 3:06 PM PDT, July 16, 2009

WASHINGTON — Democrats’ healthcare bills won’t meet President Barack Obama’s goal of slowing the ruinous rise of medical costs, Congress’ budget umpire warned today, giving weight to critics who say the legislation could break the bank.

Today, Representative Thaddeus McCotter stood on the House floor and gave the following statement regarding his NO vote on the proposed Cap and Tax bill. Rep. McCotter said, “Today we consider a bill that claims that government can control the weather by raising your taxes, taking your job and dictating your life. In my state of Michigan, with a 15% unemployment rate, we know we cannot afford this cap and tax bill. Others, however, disagree.”