News & Updates

Let’s take a moment and go back in time. The year: 1956. The location: the storied halls of Congress. The House Ways and Means Committee was debating what was considered to be a new and innovative project — the construction of a nationwide interstate system. The plan before Congress was simple: Build six interstate highways. Three highways would run north to south. Three highways would run east to west.

It’s the classic saga: good versus evil. The latest playbill from Washington has the airlines as the villain, the taxpayers as the victim and, yes you guessed it, the federal government starring as the hero. And, as with all good thrillers, there’s a twist.

To say that Congress is unpopular these days is as obvious as saying Atlanta traffic can be problematic and that baked Georgia clay can be hard as a rock. When Americans wanted significant spending cuts, they got a failed supercommittee. When they wanted jobs, Americans got empty promises, finger-pointing, calls for bigger government and class warfare.The truth is, Georgians, and most Americans, are understandably ticked off by what’s going on in Washington. Unemployment is too high, the federal debt is out of control and the cost of just about everything seems to be going up.

Uncertainty and red tape weigh heavily on the economy.

That’s the message North Georgia business leaders had for U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, Saturday.

Graves met at Dalton State College with his 9th Congressional District economic advisory council, about two dozen business leaders from across the area Saturday.

With Congressman Tom Graves poised to possibly be the next representative for a new Northwest Georgia district, the Republican from Ranger visited the Floyd County Republican Party’s meeting on Saturday to address the group.

Local Republican leaders accompanied 9th District Congressman Tom Graves Monday in a public meet and greet session in Buchanan and a tour of Tallapoosa’s Honda Precision Parts of Georgia, looking toward Graves representing Haralson County in the newly reapportioned 14th District.

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R‑Ranger, was the guest speaker Wednesday, Nov. 9, for a Town Hall meeting sponsored by the Rome Tea Party at the Charles C. Parker Center for Active Adults. He told the nearly 40 attendees that Washington has not been forthcoming with the American people.

House Republicans on Wednesday introduced legislation that would give states the authority for setting their own transportation infrastructure priorities, ending federal dominance on highway and mass transit spending. The bill, H.R. 3264, would keep the 18.4-cents-per-gallon gas tax in place, but over a four-year period would transfer authority to states on how to spend that money. By October 2017, the states would have permanent and full control of 14.7 cents of that gas tax through block grants to states. Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), lead sponsor of the bill, said it is time to give states the authority over their infrastructure spending.

Depending on whom you ask, Georgia’s Tom Graves is either a rising star in the House GOP conference or a perfect example of Speaker John Boehner’s management problems.

Barring a successful challenge to Georgia’s new congressional boundaries, when Romans go to the polls in 2012, Congressman Tom Graves, R-Ranger, will be listed as the incumbent.

No: Feds have mishandled gas-tax revenues, mistreated Georgia. Envision a mafialike scheme.