Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

Border crisis, supply chain disaster, rising crime, high gas prices, out-of-control inflation, a lack of workers, and vaccine mandates… just another week in Washington, D.C.

While the Biden administration’s agenda and policies have led us directly into these issues, they are short on answers and have offered no real solutions. Biden held a nationally televised town hall with CNN. It was a friendly venue with softball questions. However, Biden was still unable to answer questions in a meaningful way. When asked about the crisis at the border, Biden lies about being at the border (no one can verify he has ever been there during his 50-year career) and admits he “should go down.” When asked about high gas prices, Biden says he has no solutions and guesses that gas prices may go down next year.  It’s not just Biden who has lied and made excuses that don’t square with reality… his press secretary was asked about Biden’s falling approval ratings, and she pushed the blame on the unvaccinated and said that people are just tired of them and the Covid-19 pandemic.

This week, the Washington Post released an op-ed that stated Americans shouldn’t rant about short-staffed stores and supply chain issues. Instead, they said Americans should lower their expectations. For the first time, I must credit the Washington Post as they have accurately summed up the Biden administration thus far… Joe Biden’s America - Lower your expectations.

Much of the national news is focused on the issue related to the severe issues with our supply chain and lack of goods. We are experiencing a supply chain crisis because of a serious workforce shortage, hyperinflation – high demand and low supply – strong consumer purchasing but no “Made in the USA” goods to fulfill that demand. Again, the Biden administration’s solution is to blame Trump and Covid. That is ridiculous. Our economy was experiencing record growth during the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. The blame for this situation lies squarely at the feet of the Biden administration. While they have the power to fix the issue, unfortunately for Americans, they refuse to take the right steps to do so. I joined Newsmax’s Wake Up America to discuss this issue. Click here or below to watch.

Rather than deal with any of these major issues plaguing our nation, the Biden administration, and the Democrat House, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are aggressively trying to push their Build Back Broke agenda. Make no mistake about it; the reconciliation bill is the largest expansion of government in our nation’s history. It contains every socialist spending initiative they can think of. It includes over $2 trillion in tax increases on businesses, large and small. It includes $100 billion to grant amnesty to illegal immigrations, $80 billion to expand the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents to audit American taxpayers, fund the Green New Deal, $3.5 billion for a civilian climate core, $200 million for a park in Speaker Pelosi’s district and $20 million for butterflies. I am still not sure what the butterflies are going to do with $20 million. This is a recipe for increased debt, higher inflation, and drive interest rates up. All this is occurring while they are holding up a transportation bill hostage for this massive government expansion bill. We cannot afford this. This is a battle of big-government socialism versus free-market capitalism. We must win this battle.

I joined my House colleagues in writing a letter to the Biden administration asking them to stop pursuing their big-government agenda. Click here to read.

As the former Secretary of Revenue for Pennsylvania, I can tell you that the Biden administration’s plan to drastically increase the size and scope of the IRS is lunacy. Part of this expansion would include the government monitoring of American bank accounts. We need to focus our efforts on growing the private sector, not waste taxpayer money to fund an army of bureaucrats to try to squeeze every nickel out of the American public. To help protect the American people, I cosponsored the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act. The legislation would have prevented the IRS from adopting any form of Biden's proposal by barring new reporting requirements for banks that would require them to disclose information on individuals' private accounts. 

I joined Neil Cavuto on Fox Business to discuss another issue of growing importance: China’s military escalations and breakthroughs. While the Biden administration is flat-lining military spending, China is pushing record investments into their military. It’s important to note that under President Trump, defense spending was strategically and smartly increased. There have been no increases under President Biden. Meanwhile, our debt and trade deficits with China grow. While Covid-19 originated in China, they made a mint off Americans as we purchased record goods from them. And the Biden administration’s answer is to crack down on domestic energy production, manufacturing, and private business to make us more reliant on them. It’s backward thinking that may have real severe consequences for our nation. Click here or below to watch my interview.

Of all the issues we are facing, the fact that the Biden administration is attempting to insert the federal government into our children's education is appalling. Attorney General Merrick Garland has instructed the FBI to launch a special task force to go after parents who disagree with CRT and the federal push to control our children's education. In addition, the National School Boards Association released a memo that likened parents to 'domestic terrorists.' The Biden administration's big-government overreach knows no bounds.

IN NEWS YOU WON’T HEAR IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Data released from the Labor Department examining job growth by state shows that Republican governors, legislatures, and ideas are working, while Democrat states who are following the lead of Biden are failing.

• Newly released data for September from the Labor Department confirms that Republican governors and legislatures are leading the way in getting Americans back to work.
  
  
  • More jobs are being recovered, and unemployment is lower in red states.
    
    
  • 17 of the top 20 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and 18 of the top 20 states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
    
    
  • The top 14 states for jobs recovered are all led by Republicans.
    
    
  • Two Republican-led states – Idaho and Utah – have more jobs than when the pandemic hit.
    
    
• 24 Republican-led states have recovered at least two-thirds of their lost jobs.
  
  
  • Republican-led states, on average, have recovered 80 percent of their lost jobs compared to just 67 percent for Democrat-run states.
    
    
  • Two Democrat-run states – Louisiana and Hawaii – have failed to recover even half of the jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pennsylvania is again in the bottom third of job growth for those who keep track at home, while states like Florida, Texas, Utah, Arizona, and South Dakota continue to grow. Many Republican states ended policies that incentivized workers to stay home, have reduced regulations and taxes to spur private sector investment and growth, and have positioned their states as places where companies want to do business. Democrats have instead embraced Biden's big-government solutions and large social programs. As President Ronald Reagan once said, “You can’t be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.” The Democrats would be wise to listen to that sage advice.

This week, I joined my colleagues for the congressional sophomore class dinner. I was seated with my good friends and colleagues, Congressman Mark Green, and his wife Cammie, Congressman Kevin Hern, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw. We were also honored to be joined by General H.R McMaster. General McMaster, a Philadelphia native, served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and was National Security Advisor to President Trump… Great guy! (Pictured below)

As a reminder, we are just days away from Election Day. This year's elections are an opportunity to express our support for the Republican candidates who share our support for limited government, the rule of law and that the U.S. Constitution should be strictly interpreted. Pennsylvania’s statewide judicial elections have received national attention due to their importance for the GOP. I am proud to support the Republican ticket of Supreme Court Judge Kevin Brobson, Superior Court candidate Megan Sullivan, and Commonwealth Court candidates Stacy Wallace and Judge Drew Crompton.

In particular, I want to express my strong support for Judge Drew Crompton. Drew previously served as chief of staff and counsel to former Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati. As Revenue Secretary, I worked closely with Drew and found him to be professional, hard-working, and dedicated to fighting for the betterment of all Pennsylvanians. He has been an exemplary judge on the Commonwealth Court, and I am proud to support him and the rest of our great ticket on November 2^nd.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the passing of General Colin Powell. We remember and thank him for his service to our country, including; National Security Advisor under President Reagan, Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents' Bush and Clinton, and Secretary of State under President George W. Bush.

I look forward to seeing you soon.