Gainesville and Cooke County were represented Monday at the Seventh Annual 26th Congressional District Transportation Summit hosted by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Commissioner William Meadows and U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess. TxDOT Area Engineer Wayne Bell and Cooke County Commissioners Leon Klement and Gary Hollowell attended the summit where U.S. Transportation… Read more »

Snowballing frustration about the economy burst into a political fracas overnight, with several lawmakers calling on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign over angst about unemployment and Wall Street bailouts. The criticism came largely from House Republicans, who have long been critics of the Treasury secretary. Mr Geithner's job status doesn't appear to be in serious… Read more »

Like a boxer under siege, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday rebuffed calls from Republicans to resign and slugged it out with lawmakers over Obama administration economic policies. Geithner is on the hot seat with lawmakers because billions of stimulus dollars failed to stop the nation’s unemployment rate from soaring to 10.2 percent, and for bank bailout decisions he… Read more »

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is making few new friends in Congress these days, as a growing litany of bipartisan critics are questioning whether he should keep his job. Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican House member on the Joint Economic Committee, on Thursday was the latest lawmaker to call for Mr. Geithner to resign, saying the nation has lost confidence in the… Read more »

I support my representative’s vote on HR 3962 as opposed to the letter by Robert Oehlschlager [Letters, Nov. 11]. Rep. Burgess’ vote was an obvious vote with superior logic and intellect, especially as he is a physician. Also, as an avid reader, I can only think of two documents of similar length with any redeeming value, that being the Bible and the U.S. Tax Code! I did search my… Read more »

I would like to thank U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess for taking time from his very busy schedule to come to the North Richland Hills library to discuss aspects of the proposed healthcare bill. This bill is being railroaded through Congress in less than seven days without the benefit of citizen review and input to elected representatives. This is the message that Burgess was attempting to… Read more »

President Barack Obama on Tuesday memorialized those killed during the Fort Hood shooting rampage and said the alleged gunman would receive justice. Obama pledged that Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist believed to have killed 13 people in Thursday’s shootings, would receive a fair trial, though Obama suggested he had no doubt about his guilt. “We are a nation of laws… Read more »

As Congress debates overhauling the nation’s healthcare system, some state leaders hope that whatever legislation passes will include a provision allowing Texas to opt out of the plan. Although its not yet part of the massive Democratic-led plan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said there will be a provision letting states opt out of the $1.1 trillion program geared to guarantee… Read more »

The 1,990-page health-care bill in the House is one of the weightiest pieces of legislation on Capitol Hill. A single-sided copy of it printed by The Wall Street Journal weighed 19.6 pounds, and stood 8.25 inches tall. If it passes, it would be among the longest pieces of House legislation ever, congressional historians say. Republicans are making political theater of the… Read more »

One day after a shooter opened fire at Fort Hood, Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. ordered a review of all force protection policies at Army bases worldwide. Thursday’s shooting, he said during a briefing at Fort Hood, was a "kick in the gut." Casey’s announcement comes after questions were raised about base security and why soldiers couldn’t protect themselves where they… Read more »