The Republican-majority United States House of Representatives demonstrated this week, through votes on several relatively modest bills, that it will just keep demanding more US government spending and control. Republican representatives often claim to support limited government and frugality, but mostly they, and their Democratic Party colleagues, keep acting as government-loving spendthrifts.
In May of last year, I wrote about the House Republican leadership putting on the House floor for votes in one week several bills seeking to expand the power and scope of the nanny state — the nanny state Republican politicians routinely proclaim they oppose. One of those bills was the Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act (the TICKET Act) that sought to have the US government micromanage tickets for concerts and other events. That bill, HR 3950 in last year’s congress, was approved by a wide margin of 388 to 24 on the House floor but did not become law due to the Senate failing to act on it.
With a new congress having begun in January, the House Republican leadership decided to take an early try on making the TICKET Act law. This congress the bill is HR 1402. On Tuesday, this new version of the bill was approved by a wider margin — 409 to 15 — than obtained last year. Plus, it made it through the House much earlier in this congress than last, leaving more time for the Senate to act on the bill.
The Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act from that week in May of 2024 also was brought back by Republican House leadership for a vote this week in hopes that this time the Senate too will pass it. The battery bill (HR 973) was approved Monday on the House floor via a 365 to 42 vote, a little smaller margin than in the 378 to 34 vote last year’s version of the bill received.
Also on Monday, a voice vote on the House floor approved the American Music Tourism Act (HR 617). The bill tasks the US government with taking various actions to promote tourism in America in relation to music, sports, recreation, and “international meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions.” So, the “small government Republicans” in charge of the House don’t think the free market can take care of this? That seems to be the case.
The House approved in another Monday voice vote the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act (HR 452). Talk about redundant. The gold medals the bill orders be created would be given to three Olympics and hockey related entities in commemoration of the American ice hockey team’s accomplishment in the 1980 Olympics. As the bill itself states, the team members already won the gold medals that count — the ones awarded to victors at the Olympics: “Team USA defeated Finland 4–1 in its final game to win the gold medal, its first gold medal since 1960 in men’s hockey.” Why the need for the US government, subject to massive and growing debt, to come along 45 years later and award more gold medals?
Of course, these four bills approved on the House floor this week are small fry compared to other US government actions with much higher costs in terms of money spent, liberty restricted, property destroyed, and people killed and injured. But, when House members won’t even take the little step of rejecting the government expansions in these four bills, how can there be hope that these representatives will take the action needed to make major reductions in the size, power, and harmfulness of the US government?
