Opinion

Even before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was law, many Americans argued that the bill’s requirement for everyone to have health insurance (also known as the individual mandate) was overreaching and even unconstitutional. Since then, this mandate has become the subject of numerous court cases across the country.
Last month, I joined more than 100 of my colleagues to sign an amicus brief in support of these challenges to the constitutionality of the health care law and urging the Supreme Court to consider this case.

Advances in computer and information technology are changing the way we live and work.  While the private sector has set the pace using new technology to improve performance, government lags behind.  The failure to adopt these best practices makes government agencies and programs less efficient in delivering service to Americans and less cost-effective for taxpayers.

My name is Gloris Southworth, and I would like to introduce you to my son, Scott Southworth, who is running for the office of Henry County jailer in the November election.

Scott is a life-long resident of Henry County. He chose to remain close to his roots and family throughout the years. You will find that he is a very hard-working, honest and dependable person. These traits date back to his teenage years when his dad, Lee, and I could depend on him to operate our businesses in New Castle during our absence.

One of the many benefits of belonging to the Henry County Chamber of Commerce is having an outlet to let people know what your business does or if a new product or skill has been added.

Mike Paris of M&K Construction now is available to fix those cracks that seem to come in your basement walls.  Instead of expensive companies who advertise fixing these, you can call Mike at 269-0013 for an estimate to cure your problem.

Homestead Nursing Center wants to thank all the many volunteers, individuals and businesses who donated their time and prizes for our Fall Festival that was held on Oct. 14.

The Festival’s success would not have been possible without them. Just as important we want to thank the community for coming out and supporting our residents through your purchases and participation.

I confess to being a Facebook fan.  While I don’t spend a lot time on Facebook, I do find it an interesting place to visit.  Recently, a friend posted the following: “If you didn’t hear it with your own ears or see it with your own eyes, don’t invent it with your small mind and share it with your big mouth.”

As chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, it is my responsibility to periodically review programs under my jurisdiction to ensure they are an effective use of taxpayer dollars.

Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and I worked together to accomplish that result with legislation that was signed into law last week by President Obama.  The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (H.R. 2883) reauthorizes and improves two important child welfare programs to continue serving children and families in need without adding to the deficit.  

While no one can accurately predict where a traffic accident might take place, information gathered by the Kentucky State Police gives us a pretty good idea of when the odds are certainly more in our favor.

Based on its latest annual report, which was released last week, one of the safest places to be on the highway in 2010 was in a vehicle driven at dawn on a Sunday in March by a woman in her late 60s or early 70s who was making her way between Owensboro and Henderson on the Audubon Parkway.

While traveling the Fourth Congressional District during August, it was clear to me that the top priorities of Kentuckians are jobs and economic growth.  The need for these issues to be our top priority is reinforced by the latest jobs report that zero net jobs were created in America last month, and the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high at more than 9 percent.

As lawmakers returned to Washington last week, President Obama addressed a special joint session of Congress to outline his plan to get the economy moving again and create jobs.