Legacy: A Champion for the People or a Friend of Special Interests?
When Congress votes, our lives change. Often, the changes are small and go unnoticed. Lately, however, federal policy has reached down to affect nearly every American. Rising prices, another war, more tax breaks for the wealthy, and fewer services. Congress can both create and solve these problems. I advocate for progress over more of the status quo.
Right here in Oklahoma’s Fourth District, we have a Representative who represents the status quo and actively builds and maintains the system we have today. $40 trillion in debt, a war without authorization or appropriations, rescissions, and many other issues that Tom Cole, as both a Representative and Chair of the Appropriations Committee, could and should address. Let’s break it down.
Debt
Tom Cole took office on 1/3/2003. At that time, the United States owed approximately $6.39 trillion. On 10/8/2026, the U.S. owed $40.31 trillion. During his tenure, the United States has borrowed roughly $33.92 trillion. This is a staggering sum. Based on my conservative, cursory review of House voting records, I show that Tom Cole has personally voted yes to increase the debt limit by $24+ trillion during his nearly 24 years in office.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the United States paid $1.143 trillion in net interest in FY2026. That means we pay $95.25 billion per month in interest alone. Because Oklahoma's annual budget is $12.8 billion, a single month’s federal interest payment would fund the entire Oklahoma budget for roughly seven and a half years at current funding levels. We are mortgaging our children and grandchildren’s future. I believe the United States must pass a balanced budget and begin paying down this mountain of debt because our $40 trillion+ in debt is the greatest long-term threat to our democracy.
Of great importance to me is the ratio of debt to revenue in the United States. In FY2026, the United States’ revenue was $5.403 trillion; spending was $7.4 trillion. With net interest of $1.143 trillion, this means 21.1% of every dollar the United States government collected went to net interest and no other expense, yet we still borrowed an additional $1.993 trillion in FY2026! Further, the outstanding debt of $40.31 trillion means we owe $7.46 for every dollar collected in FY2026, or a revenue-to-debt ratio of 1:7.46. With 134 million households in the United States, this means that we owe more than $300,000 per U.S. household.
Tom Cole is voting to borrow even more, and as Appropriations Chair, he is in a position to demand a balanced budget. I demand that Congress balance the budget and start actively getting the budget and debt under control; stop kicking the can down the road for future generations to deal with and start the hard work now.
War
On February 28, the United States began bombarding Iran. This happened without a declaration of war and without a single penny appropriated for that purpose.
Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution states, “The Congress shall have Power To … declare War.” The Constitution explicitly vests the power to declare war in the United States Congress, not the president, yet Tom Cole voted six times in 2026 against a war powers resolution to end the conflict. I believe it is past time this conflict ends.
The ongoing operations in Iran violate the Constitution, and we know this from Tom Cole himself. Regarding the United States operations in Libya in 2011, Tom Cole said this:
“The House rightly voted against authorizing U.S. force in Libya but has failed to take the next step and fully eliminate funding for this illegal and unauthorized war. By allowing operations in Libya to continue, we are in danger of eroding the constitutional war-making authority of Congress and enabling an overreaching executive branch.
Congress should reassert its constitutional authority by either authorizing the use of military force or decisively ending it by cutting off funds.”
This is exactly what I am demanding in this conflict, and Tom Cole should hold true to his own words. Authorize this conflict or end it, but stop allowing it to continue without authorization or specific appropriations. I believe we must end it. At least 21 U.S. service members have already been killed in this conflict, and CENTCOM reports at least 865 have been wounded.
While the ongoing conflict in Iran is a remote cost of Tom Cole’s votes this year, we are paying costs far closer to home. As a result, Iran has choked off maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil moved before February. Since the conflict began, the flow of oil has been greatly restricted, and the price of diesel has reached record levels. As of 10/12/2026, the national average for diesel is $6.26, and it is $5.85 in Oklahoma, though diesel recently hit $6.03/gallon in Oklahoma. These massive price spikes are a direct result of the conflict in Iran. I don’t have to tell you; you are paying this at the pump and already know.
Beyond fuel, Iran is one of the world’s largest exporters of urea fertilizer, and this conflict has driven up the price of urea, which will lead to more expensive harvests and more expensive groceries. As if groceries were already cheap and affordable. We will all feel the impacts of this “war” as more service members are killed or wounded, and as prices continue to rise.
These votes and these actions impact every American. It is time we vote for the American People, end this conflict, bring down prices, and focus on addressing domestic issues.
The One Big Beautiful Bill
Tom Cole voted for the One Big “Beautiful” Bill (“OBBB”). The OBBB was a massive reconciliation bill, and did the following and more:
Increased the debt ceiling by $5 trillion;
Appropriated over $150 billion to ICE and border operations;
Ended or phased out most clean energy tax credits and further promoted and protected the oil & gas industry;
Removed SNAP eligibility for some 5.2 million Americans;
Cut more than $900 billion from Medicaid over ten years;
And so much more.
The OBBB was signed into law on America’s 249th birthday, ran over 900 pages, and included hundreds of provisions. It is difficult to summarize such a massive bill in a short blog post, but the OBBB touched on many aspects of our lives: taxes, regulations, immigration, defense, energy, the judiciary, agriculture, social programs, and more. Most of these cuts and changes did not benefit the American People. And all for some of the largest tax breaks in U.S. history. The wealthy reaped these massive tax breaks while higher costs eroded OBBB savings for most Americans.
Rescissions
Under the Constitution, Congress appropriates funds that the Executive Branch then spends in accordance with law. In 2025, the Trump Administration decided to stop funding public media such as NPR, PBS, and public radio and submitted what is called a rescission back to Congress, essentially asking Congress to take back money it had already appropriated. Tom Cole voted in favor of the bill, which ultimately passed, and stopped all funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose mission was to provide access to non-commercial educational, cultural, and other content, and news, in the United States. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting officially dissolved in 2026, and the federal government no longer funds these local stations.
Cole knows better. He once fought to protect public broadcasting and called cutting it “nickel-and-diming” the deficit. Still, he voted to end the funding anyway. This vote harms this nation, and the United States is worse off without these programs.
Conclusion
Oklahoma deserves a Representative who will put the People first, stand up for hard-working Oklahomans, and fight to uncover and unwind corruption. So I am asking you to hire me on 11/3, send me to Washington, D.C., and let me fight for balanced budgets, vote to bring America’s sons and daughters home, and fight for programs and policies that benefit the many, not just the few. I am asking you to hire me so I can give full force to the United States Constitution and restore balanced government.
Let me represent you in Washington, D.C. I will do the hard work and the homework so you don’t have to.
