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In our latest edition, we're grateful to have an interview with Sen. John Boozman, who laid out his vision for cryptocurrency, his thoughts on the Democratic Party’s vision for America, and how to keep America safe in an increasingly dangerous world.
By: Matthew Foldi
Sen. John Boozman (R., Ark.) used to have a “respectable profession,” as an eye doctor. And since 2001, he’s moved from medicine to serve Arkansans in the House and now in the Senate, where he may soon chair the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
“Democrats are not investing in rural America, and they are not coming through with the kind of programs that it takes to shore up things,” he told the Washington Reporter. “A lot of those dollars are going to urban America, and so we need an all of the above approach to the farm community.” President Donald Trump, he added, had a stellar record on agricultural issues, and Boozman has “no reason to believe that he’s not going to take care of the farm economy, take care of farms, because he knows how important that aspect of America is.”
American farmers need for a Farm Bill, he noted, which “is really a safety net for our farmers.” Boozman wants to “update” it, noting that it’s “very, very behind because of inflation.” During the Biden-Harris administration, the farming community “had the biggest drop in farm income last year, and will have a bigger drop in farm income this year, the biggest ever, so the two biggest ever right in a row,” leading to higher food prices for Americans.
Boozman, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, also wants to “clear the deck in a fiscally responsible manner, but go ahead clear the deck this fall, and get the new administration the ability to set priorities and go forward and not have all of this hanging over them.”
Click HERE to read more about Sen. John Boozman’s vision for cryptocurrency, his thoughts on the Democratic Party’s vision for America, and how to keep America safe in an increasingly dangerous world.
The Harris campaign is rolling out Crypto for Harris, and they are trying to even bring Chuck Schumer on board for Crypto for Harris. What is your vision on what the government’s role in that sphere should be? You had a bill last Congress, and now you’re not on board with Senator Debbie Stabenow’s bill on this. What is your vision on what this should look like?
Matthew Foldi
Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Reporter
Well, I’ve really had two goals with crypto, and I’m not a crypto guy. I don’t own any cryptocurrency or anything like that, but I do think it needs to be regulated to protect the public. I also think it needs to be regulated for the industry to grow. You can like it or not like it, but 20 percent of Americans are invested in it somehow, which is hard to believe, and it is something that’s a technology that has created all kinds of positive things to be used with other applications. So in order for the industry to grow, they understand that they need regulation. And for the investment vehicles, the large banks, retirement funds. But again, it’s the Wild West. Now they need regulation. So the industry understands that the consumer needs regulation to be in place, because right now it’s the Wild West. I’ve said let’s get a bill together. We have jurisdiction, because a lot of cryptocurrencies are not securities, they’re not money, they’re more like a commodity like gold. And so the CFTC has the commodities, and part of that is under Agriculture. We are working towards trying to get a bill together that the industry will accept, and that they can live with so they can continue to grow, that provides regulation. And so far, certainly, it’s been difficult, and the Democrats have not been very forthcoming with cryptocurrency, so that’s why they’re jumping in now and trying this last minute push. But it’s a very difficult subject that needs to be done right. However, I’m not committed to just willy-nilly doing something.
Sen. John Boozman
Ranking Member, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
What do you think explains the difference? Do you think Democrats are concerned about things that you aren’t concerned with?
Matthew Foldi
Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Reporter
I think Democrats just have a tendency to overregulate. They want consumer protection, but you have to do that in such a way where industry can grow. What you don’t want is to overregulate it such that the industry can’t be successful here in the United States and it moves overseas, and people in the United States will continue to invest in it through foreign vehicles, but you have no control. This thing is such that it’s growing at a pace, we’re not there yet, but it’s growing at a pace that without regulation, it could be the little thing that sets off a much bigger financial problem. So for all these reasons, it needs to be regulated. The Democrats’ tendency is just to overregulate. That’s really what I’m seeing.
Sen. John Boozman
Ranking Member, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
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By: Matthew Foldi
While publicly, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler hasn’t expressed desire to leave his current role, multiple senior Senate staffers are telling the Washington Reporter that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins in November, she plans to nominate Gensler as her Treasury Secretary. Those rumors corroborate what top Republicans have also told the Reporter on the record.
In an interview with the Reporter, Rep. Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) previously warned that Harris may pick Gensler — or Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) — to serve as her Treasury Secretary. Such a move, he cautioned, would be a disaster for the economy.
Gensler, Emmer said, has “been bringing lawsuits all over the place — and losing all over the place. That time’s past. Gary Gensler needs to move on. His career in government should be over.”
Click HERE to read more about what could be in store for SEC chairman Gary Gensler if Kamala Harris wins in November — and why it would be both a disaster for the economy and for Democrats politically.
By: Rep. Darin LaHood
Racketeering, bribery, fraud and extortion. Ask almost any Illinoisan and they’ll tell you a story, long ago, or recent, about a Chicago Alderman, Illinois Governor, or another elected official who has been convicted in a political corruption case. Four out of our last ten governors have been in prison and the Democrat Party machine, masterminded and advanced by former Illinois House Speaker, Mike Madigan, still remains. Chicago is the heart of the political corruption that has plagued our state for decades, which makes it the perfect place to host this year’s Democratic National Convention.
This year we are not witnessing a nomination, but a coronation of Kamala Harris. As much as I disagree with his policies and believe he was unfit to run, President Joe Biden won the primary only to be thrown under the bus by Democratic Party elites who forced him to hand over the nomination to someone who has not won a single primary vote. A failed candidate who during the 2020 election, couldn’t even make it to the Iowa Caucuses, has been forced upon the American people.
Chicago is an incredible city, one that I love dearly, but failed policies and failed leadership in Illinois have put our great city on a path of decline. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the lowest polling official from this year’s veepstakes, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose short time in office has already been marred by controversy, are doing their part by reading their lines and setting the stage for this week’s convention.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. Darin LaHood on the failures of the Pritzker and Johnson administrations, which will be on full display during this week’s DNC in Chicago.
By: Rep. Michelle Fischbach
I’ve been a proud Minnesotan my whole life. It’s where I chose to raise my children, and I’ve been honored to serve the people of our great state in several roles. Minnesota has a storied tradition of political engagement, and while we haven’t always agreed on everything, we are able to work together to put our state first.
But in 2019, Gov. Tim Walz took office, and that all changed. Under his watch, we witnessed Minneapolis burn. Minnesota is now an “abortion sanctuary” state. Walz enacted drastic and impossible goals for green energy. Perhaps most impressively, he blew through a $19 billion dollar surplus in just one legislative session, while simultaneously raising taxes.
One of the most concerning causes he’s championed is his welcome mat policy for illegal immigrants. In Walz’s Minnesota, illegal immigrants have been handed free healthcare, free tuition, and driving licenses. These handouts have made Minnesota a top destination for illegal immigrants entering our country, which is how we wound up with an Al-Shabaab affiliated terrorist on the terrorist watch list living in Minnesota until his arrest earlier this year.
Click HERE to read more of Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s warning about her governor, Tim Walz.
By: Rep. Claudia Tenney
President Joe Biden acknowledged the catastrophe at our nation’s borders and assigned Vice President Kamala Harris as the border czar to solve the alarming security and humanitarian crisis. Harris has failed miserably at her task, which has made the situation more dire by the day.
Not only is our southern border in crisis, but the northern border is also being overrun by illegal migrants at the hands of corrupt and ruthless cartels. Under the Biden-Harris administration’s failed leadership, the northern border has witnessed an unprecedented surge in illegal crossings, including an alarming 846 percent increase in a single sector.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. Claudia Tenney on her legislative solutions to our twin border crises.
By: Rep. Kelly Armstrong
Where I’m from in Western North Dakota, we’re no strangers to the cold.
When the grid goes down in a blizzard, gas keeps families fed and homes from freezing. It’s not about luxury — it’s about survival. Families can’t afford to rely on something that works almost all of the time.
For my constituents, it is life or death.
Despite what pundits at CNN, in the White House, or at the Washington Post will tell you about how the Biden-Harris Administration is “not” coming for your gas stove, the Department of Energy (DOE) moved forward last week and rolled out a “direct final rulemaking” that would further regulate and limit gas appliances.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. Kelly Armstrong about his proposals to ensure that the Biden-Harris administration keeps its hands off of your gas stove.
By: Rep. Brett Guthrie
Under the watch of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, America has gone from being energy independent to depending on our foreign adversaries to supply the energy we need each day. The price of gas in my home state of Kentucky and nationally is over a dollar higher than when Biden and Harris took office; it reached record highs of more than $5 in 2022.
The America-last agenda of Biden-Harris is nothing new. On their first day in office they ended construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, preventing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from eventually reaching the American public each day and killing good-paying jobs in the process. The Biden-Harris administration also canceled leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, placed a moratorium on oil and gas leases on federal lands, and deployed a radical far-Left regulatory agenda to fulfill then-candidate Biden’s promise to “end all fossil fuels.”
Vice President Harris went a step further, cheering on Biden for this harmful campaign platitude, and has since done nothing to stop Biden from working to eliminate fossil fuels, despite recently flipping her position and stating she doesn’t support a ban on fracking anymore. In fact, Harris fully supports the elimination of fossil fuels and was an original co-sponsor in the Senate of the Democrats’ radical Green New Deal plan which aims to completely eliminate all U.S. fossil fuels.
Yet, despite all the Biden-Harris policies to crush American energy production, we have hope across our nation lying under the soil.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. Brett Guthrie on how Republicans are leading the way on permitting reform.
By: Rep. August Pfluger
As border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris has failed the American people in refusing to secure our border. The administration has allowed more than 10 million illegal immigrants to enter into our country—including known and suspected terrorists, violent rapists, and murderers. If she is elected president, the crisis will only get worse.
Shortly after she was tapped to lead the administration’s response to the immigration crisis in April 2021, I invited Vice President Harris to my district in Midland, Texas, where the Biden-Harris Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hastily set up a migrant facility to house hundreds of children. The facility was set up with little to no coordination with state and local officials, and the lack of transparency and coordination manifested severe safety concerns for the children, including multiple reports of allegations of abuse, sexual assault, and insufficient staffing and reporting protocols.
The vice president was given an opportunity to view the inhumane conditions for herself and fulfill the expectations of her role. Unsurprisingly, the letter went unanswered. Her actions continued for years with the administration’s unacceptable posture of ignoring, denying, and deflecting when it comes to the crisis at the border.
As the Chairman of the Homeland Security Counterterrorism Subcommittee, I was among the group of lawmakers who exposed the jarring reality that known and suspected terrorists were crossing our southern border.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. August Pfluger on his firsthand experience dealing with Kamala Harris in her role as border czar.
By: Rep. Tracey Mann
The Farm Bill expires in fewer than 50 days, and Congress has yet to authorize a new one. Food security is national security, and American farmers, ranchers, agricultural producers, and consumers cannot afford for Congress to take the Farm Bill hostage to the political limbo of Washington, D.C.
We must pass a Farm Bill, now.
The House Agriculture Committee passed the bipartisan Food, Farm, and National Security Act of 2024 out of committee more than two months ago. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have failed to release their own legislative text. Instead, they, along with some House Democrats, have taken to the airwaves to spread false information about the House Farm Bill with no solutions or policy proposals of their own.
Click HERE for more from Rep. Tracey Mann on why Congress needs to pass a Farm Bill immediately.
By: Hannah E. Meyers
As today’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) begins, Chicago is struggling to contain hordes of masked anti-Israel protesters, determined to cause disruption.
This challenge of protecting American institutions from violent agitators is by now familiar to Washington, D.C., which has suffered repeated, large scale rounds of protests this summer.
In June, thousands of chanting protesters swarmed the White House, demanding President Joe Biden end America’s support for Israel. Demonstrators, some sporting symbols and slogans of support for US-designated terrorist groups, occupied and trashed nearby Lafayette Park, vandalizing its statues and setting off a smoke bomb. Many hid their faces and identities under layers of wrapped keffiyehs and surgical masks: the new uniform of aggressive demonstrators.
When U.S. Park Police officers and Secret Service agents attempted to apprehend a demonstrator, unidentifiable protesters formed a mob, shouting “fuck the police!” and successfully chased law enforcement out of the park by the White House. Shockingly, no arrests were made for this wild desecration in Lafayette Park.
This failure repeated last month, when thousands of protesters desecrated statues and monuments around D.C.’S Union Station, assaulting at least one police officer. Face masks again gave protesters the upper hand, providing anonymity while they successfully intimidated those trying to reestablish order.
These outcomes might have been very different, if D.C. had anti-masking legislation like Georgia, which makes masking in public spaces—with a few reasonable exceptions—a crime.
It’s urgent Congress passes such a bill.
Click HERE to read more from the Manhattan Institute’s Hannah Meyers on why Congress should pass an anti-masking bill to allow for actual accountability for violent protesters across America.
By: David Cook
This month is a difficult one for a generation of our nation’s finest who gave their best years to a twenty year war that ended in tragedy. Three years ago, the current administration executed a plan to withdraw from Afghanistan. The act perpetuated Joe Biden’s 40-year streak of being “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of the past four decades” in the words of former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
It shows. Our most reliable foreign partners are hedging against America’s support, all of our adversaries laid out in our National Security and Defense Strategies have grown independently stronger themselves, and also together, and last year’s authoritative Armed Conflict Survey showed that there are more armed conflicts around the world today than any time in three decades.
Click HERE to read more from David Cook, the executive director of the Special Operations Association of America, about the failures of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies in Afghanistan and beyond.
By: Washington Reporter Editors
Last week, the European Union’s (EU) top digital enforcer took an unprecedented and alarming step by sending a threatening letter to Elon Musk just days before his highly anticipated interview with President Donald Trump on X. The letter, dripping with irony as it was posted on X, demanded that Musk not spread “harmful content” by giving Trump a platform to speak. This blatant attempt at silencing a former U.S. president is nothing short of election interference by a foreign entity.
Fortunately, Musk did what any defender of free speech should do — he ignored the EU’s overreach and proceeded with the interview. Yet, this incident is a glaring reminder of a much broader and more insidious problem that has been creeping into U.S. policy: the EU’s aggressive campaign to censor American conservatives.
Click HERE to read more from us about what Republicans in Congress should do to fight back against the European Union’s anti-free speech policies.
By: Washington Reporter Editors
Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden took a victory lap after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the results of its drug “negotiations” with pharmaceutical firms for ten drugs covered by Medicare.
This process began after the Inflation Reduction Act granted CMS the authority to negotiate drug prices, with manufacturers facing steep penalties and punitive tax rates for failing to participate. However, calling these efforts “negotiations” stretches the meaning of the term.
The Biden-Harris administration touted billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers and patients, and most media dutifully parroted these talking points. But the reality is more nuanced and highlights a fundamental problem with the left’s approach to health care.
Click HERE to read more from us on the Biden-Harris administration’s latest failures in the health care sector.
