Columns

By Congressman Robert Hurt

At a time when high school and college students from Virginia’s 5th District and across the country are graduating and looking for career opportunities, one would think news headlines would focus on Friday's unemployment report and the continued weakness of our economy. Instead, our news is saturated with evidence of an overreaching federal government.

A wise man named Albert Einstein once said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”  As high school and college students across the Sixth District don caps and gowns, walk across the stage, and accept a diploma, we are reminded of the great opportunities fostered by education and hard work. 

    A couple of weeks ago I read a news article about a hand-written letter that North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, sent to China’s President Xi Jinping. The letter was hand delivered by a high-ranking North Korean army officer who wore a “Mao suit” instead of a military uniform. The exact contents of the letter are unknown, but the article stated that it was part of an effort by North Korea to build better ties with China.

Unacceptable, illegal, outrageous, a blatant abuse of power, and a breach of trust – all terms appropriately used to describe the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) recent admission that they targeted various conservative groups for additional scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status.