By Ken Newton, St. Joseph News-Press

When Congressman Sam Graves hears about fiscal responsibility in Washington, his attitude is: Don’t hold your breath.

Trouble is, he says, businesses are holding their breath waiting to see what new taxes might affect them.

“A lot of businesses don’t want to add jobs because they don’t know what’s going to happen around the corner,” the lawmaker said.

As the second session of the 111th Congress gets under way, the fifth-term Republican finds the Democratic majority as wasteful as ever, prepared to move ahead with programs that frustrate economic growth and build the national debt. Profligate federal spending stifles an environment of business expansion, he said.

“The government needs to get out of the road and let the economy recover,” Mr. Graves said Friday.

The congressman, whose 6th District includes Northwest Missouri, stands by as Democratic leaders in the House and Senate work out differences in health-care reform legislation. Mr. Graves plays no role in the discussions and holds slim hope the negotiations will collapse.

“There are a lot of things we can do for meaningful reform, but the bill that’s on the table right now is a very bad piece of legislation,” he said, noting the broad negative reaction to deals made for votes of senators from Nebraska and Louisiana.

“When you’ve got to do that to get votes, you’re not making good legislation,” he insisted.

With so much political capital tied up in the measure on health care, and with many observers forecasting significant losses for Democratic legislators in the November elections, Mr. Graves sees passage of energy and immigration legislation as unlikely.

“In an election year, it’s going to be a lot harder for stuff like that,” he said.

Immigration reform remains a volatile issue for Congress. Given the right crafting, a bill could find enough backing for passage, the Tarkio lawmaker said.

“If it seals our border and controls the border and stops illegal immigration, then they’ll probably have all of the support they need,” he said.

Mr. Graves sits as the top Republican on the House Small Business Committee. He said passing the Small Business Administration reauthorization would be a priority for that panel.