As of this writing, more than 170 Members of Congress have signed a petition authored by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to allow a vote on a bipartisan resolution requiring a 72-hour public review period for major bills. That number includes five rank-and-file House Democrats who have opted to buck their leadership and sign onto the GOP measure. The bipartisan rebuke of Speaker Pelosi reflects rising public anger over Democratic leaders’ handling of the massive “stimulus” spending bill, the job-killing “cap & trade” national energy tax, and other giant pieces of legislation that were hidden from public view until just hours before they were brought to a final vote in the House.
As I said in my weekly press briefing this morning, the American people have never been more engaged in public policy than they are right now, and they understand what’s happening here in Washington.....http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=626
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Showing posts with label boehner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boehner. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Boehner Statement on New Federal Deficit Projections
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement on the new federal deficit estimates released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Obama Administration’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB):
“Today’s reports confirm what the White House has been trying to hide: the Democrats’ out-of-control spending binge is burying our children and grandchildren under a mountain of unsustainable debt. Instead of putting the brakes on Washington’s spending habits as they promised they’d do, Democrats have stepped on the accelerator and spent taxpayer dollars with reckless abandon all year, refusing to make tough choices and putting all the sacrifice on future generations. That’s not leadership; it’s negligence.
“The costly government-run health care plan put forth by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi is just the latest in a long line of expensive Democratic experiments that will add to the deficit, raise taxes on families and small businesses, and cost more American jobs. It’s time for the Administration and congressional Democrats to face the consequences of this dangerous fiscal agenda and change course.
“Republicans have proposed better solutions to curb out-of-control spending and control the debt on behalf of middle-class families, including a fiscally-responsible federal budget that includes strict annual caps on federal spending and forces Congress to live within its means on a yearly basis, something the Democratic-controlled Congress has refused to do. Republicans are ready to work in a bipartisan way to get control of our budget. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, let’s hope this Administration and the Democrats in charge of this Congress are as well.”
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“Today’s reports confirm what the White House has been trying to hide: the Democrats’ out-of-control spending binge is burying our children and grandchildren under a mountain of unsustainable debt. Instead of putting the brakes on Washington’s spending habits as they promised they’d do, Democrats have stepped on the accelerator and spent taxpayer dollars with reckless abandon all year, refusing to make tough choices and putting all the sacrifice on future generations. That’s not leadership; it’s negligence.
“The costly government-run health care plan put forth by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi is just the latest in a long line of expensive Democratic experiments that will add to the deficit, raise taxes on families and small businesses, and cost more American jobs. It’s time for the Administration and congressional Democrats to face the consequences of this dangerous fiscal agenda and change course.
“Republicans have proposed better solutions to curb out-of-control spending and control the debt on behalf of middle-class families, including a fiscally-responsible federal budget that includes strict annual caps on federal spending and forces Congress to live within its means on a yearly basis, something the Democratic-controlled Congress has refused to do. Republicans are ready to work in a bipartisan way to get control of our budget. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, let’s hope this Administration and the Democrats in charge of this Congress are as well.”
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Monday, August 10, 2009
White House “Reality Check” Website on Health Care Full of Errors, Misstatements, Falsehoods
Facing mounting criticism from the American people over President Obama’s proposed trillion-dollar government takeover of health care, the White House has responded this morning by launching a “reality check” website, featuring videos and preloaded messages that purportedly debunk “health care myths.” In reality, the website simply recycles the same false claims that the Administration and its allies in Congress have been pedaling for weeks.
After no fewer than five polls released at the end of July showed increasing, if not outright, opposition to government-run health care, and with Members of Congress taking heat from constituents during the August district work period, it’s understandable that the White House is getting nervous about the prospects for its health care experiment.
The following are some of the discredited claims the Administration’s new website repeats:
CLAIM: If You Like It, You Can Keep Your Health Care Plan. Kavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, said “if you like your insurance, if you like the kind of health care you have right now and the plan you have, you can keep it.” She also stated that “the notion that the government will interfere with what you have…really is laughable.” Linda Douglass of the White House Office of Health Reform also played a clip of President Obama’s June 23, 2009 press conference where he stated that: “If you like your plan and you like your doctor, you won't have to do a thing. You keep your plan. You keep your doctor. If your employer is providing you good health insurance, terrific, we're not going to mess with it.”
FACT: That’s simply not true. Both the Associated Press and ABC News have already debunked this pledge, noting that White House officials have acknowledged the president’s rhetoric shouldn’t be taken “literally.” An independent study conducted by the Lewin Group predicted that 114 million Americans may be forced out of their current health care coverage, including more than 106 million Americans who currently have employer-provided health care. The point is, this White House cannot guarantee that Americans will be able to keep their plan – because they don’t know how many employers are going to drop their coverage altogether if their plan goes into effect.
Lastly, the Wall Street Journal noted in a July 20, 2009 editorial:
“The House bill says that after a five-year grace period all Erisa [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] insurance offerings will have to win government approval—both by the Department of Labor and a new ‘health choices commissioner’ who will set federal standards for what is an acceptable health plan. This commissar—er, commissioner—can fine employers that don’t comply and even has ‘suspension of enrollment’ powers for plans that he or she has vetoed, until ‘satisfied that the basis for such determination has been corrected and is not likely to recur.’ In other words, the insurance coverage of 132 million people—the product of enormously complex business and health-care decisions—will now be subject to bureaucratic nanomanagement.”
CLAIM: Reform Will Benefit Small Business – Not Burden It. Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers stated that, “The facts are very clear. The system doesn’t work for small businesses now, and reform is very much aimed at easing the burdens, making it easier for this crucial sector of our economy.”
FACT: A broad coalition of job-creating groups – representing small businesses to homebuilders and manufacturers – has come together to oppose the Democrats’ government takeover of health. In a letter to Congress, this coalition wrote: “We are specifically concerned with a proposal to mandate that employers either provide health insurance or pay a new eight percent payroll tax. The House ‘pay or play’ proposal is even more troublesome because employers are also mandated to pay the majority of employee premiums. Exempting some micro-businesses will not prevent this provision from killing many jobs.”
And the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), representing small businesses across the country, also weighed in, saying it would destroy jobs and reduce access to affordable health care: “NFIB opposes the [Democrats’ bill] because it threatens the viability of our nation’s job creators, fails to increase access and choice to all small businesses, destroys choice and competition for private insurance and fails to address the core challenge facing small businesses – cost.”
CLAIM: Medicare Will Not Face Cuts Under Democrats’ Plan. Robert Kocher of the National Economic Council repeated president Obama’s claim that “nobody is talking about reducing Medicare benefits.”
FACT: Today’s New York Times rebuts this claim: “To help finance coverage for the uninsured, Congress would squeeze huge savings out of Medicare, the program for older Americans and the disabled. These savings would pay nearly 40 percent of the bills’ cost. The legislation would trim Medicare payments for most services, as an incentive for hospitals and other health care providers to become more efficient. The providers make a plausible case that the cutbacks could inadvertently reduce beneficiaries’ access to some types of care.” An independent analysis of the House Democrats’ government-run plan shows the legislation slashes Medicare to the tune of $361.9 billion. That means fewer choices and lower health care quality for our nation’s seniors – exactly what then-Senator Obama blasted last fall, during the presidential campaign.
Republicans agree that Congress should pursue meaningful health care reform, but none of the legislation that Democratic leaders are pursuing at this time actually meet this description. Instead, their proposals will increase costs, lower quality, and cause millions of Americans to lose their current health coverage.
Americans want health care reform, but the Democrats’ go-it-alone, government takeover of health care isn’t the way to improve the best health care system in the world. House Republicans have a plan that will reduce costs, expand access and increase the quality of care in a way we can afford – without raising taxes on small businesses or middle class.
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After no fewer than five polls released at the end of July showed increasing, if not outright, opposition to government-run health care, and with Members of Congress taking heat from constituents during the August district work period, it’s understandable that the White House is getting nervous about the prospects for its health care experiment.
The following are some of the discredited claims the Administration’s new website repeats:
CLAIM: If You Like It, You Can Keep Your Health Care Plan. Kavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, said “if you like your insurance, if you like the kind of health care you have right now and the plan you have, you can keep it.” She also stated that “the notion that the government will interfere with what you have…really is laughable.” Linda Douglass of the White House Office of Health Reform also played a clip of President Obama’s June 23, 2009 press conference where he stated that: “If you like your plan and you like your doctor, you won't have to do a thing. You keep your plan. You keep your doctor. If your employer is providing you good health insurance, terrific, we're not going to mess with it.”
FACT: That’s simply not true. Both the Associated Press and ABC News have already debunked this pledge, noting that White House officials have acknowledged the president’s rhetoric shouldn’t be taken “literally.” An independent study conducted by the Lewin Group predicted that 114 million Americans may be forced out of their current health care coverage, including more than 106 million Americans who currently have employer-provided health care. The point is, this White House cannot guarantee that Americans will be able to keep their plan – because they don’t know how many employers are going to drop their coverage altogether if their plan goes into effect.
Lastly, the Wall Street Journal noted in a July 20, 2009 editorial:
“The House bill says that after a five-year grace period all Erisa [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] insurance offerings will have to win government approval—both by the Department of Labor and a new ‘health choices commissioner’ who will set federal standards for what is an acceptable health plan. This commissar—er, commissioner—can fine employers that don’t comply and even has ‘suspension of enrollment’ powers for plans that he or she has vetoed, until ‘satisfied that the basis for such determination has been corrected and is not likely to recur.’ In other words, the insurance coverage of 132 million people—the product of enormously complex business and health-care decisions—will now be subject to bureaucratic nanomanagement.”
CLAIM: Reform Will Benefit Small Business – Not Burden It. Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers stated that, “The facts are very clear. The system doesn’t work for small businesses now, and reform is very much aimed at easing the burdens, making it easier for this crucial sector of our economy.”
FACT: A broad coalition of job-creating groups – representing small businesses to homebuilders and manufacturers – has come together to oppose the Democrats’ government takeover of health. In a letter to Congress, this coalition wrote: “We are specifically concerned with a proposal to mandate that employers either provide health insurance or pay a new eight percent payroll tax. The House ‘pay or play’ proposal is even more troublesome because employers are also mandated to pay the majority of employee premiums. Exempting some micro-businesses will not prevent this provision from killing many jobs.”
And the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), representing small businesses across the country, also weighed in, saying it would destroy jobs and reduce access to affordable health care: “NFIB opposes the [Democrats’ bill] because it threatens the viability of our nation’s job creators, fails to increase access and choice to all small businesses, destroys choice and competition for private insurance and fails to address the core challenge facing small businesses – cost.”
CLAIM: Medicare Will Not Face Cuts Under Democrats’ Plan. Robert Kocher of the National Economic Council repeated president Obama’s claim that “nobody is talking about reducing Medicare benefits.”
FACT: Today’s New York Times rebuts this claim: “To help finance coverage for the uninsured, Congress would squeeze huge savings out of Medicare, the program for older Americans and the disabled. These savings would pay nearly 40 percent of the bills’ cost. The legislation would trim Medicare payments for most services, as an incentive for hospitals and other health care providers to become more efficient. The providers make a plausible case that the cutbacks could inadvertently reduce beneficiaries’ access to some types of care.” An independent analysis of the House Democrats’ government-run plan shows the legislation slashes Medicare to the tune of $361.9 billion. That means fewer choices and lower health care quality for our nation’s seniors – exactly what then-Senator Obama blasted last fall, during the presidential campaign.
Republicans agree that Congress should pursue meaningful health care reform, but none of the legislation that Democratic leaders are pursuing at this time actually meet this description. Instead, their proposals will increase costs, lower quality, and cause millions of Americans to lose their current health coverage.
Americans want health care reform, but the Democrats’ go-it-alone, government takeover of health care isn’t the way to improve the best health care system in the world. House Republicans have a plan that will reduce costs, expand access and increase the quality of care in a way we can afford – without raising taxes on small businesses or middle class.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Boehner Statement on Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today strongly opposed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) national energy tax and the impact it would have on middle-class families and small businesses across the country. Boehner earlier spoke on the House floor in a marathon, hour-long speech in which he read portions of the legislation to underscore its real consequences for American jobs and the economy. Following is Boehner’s statement on the legislation:
“Today, in what will be remembered as the defining vote of the 111th Congress, House Democrats passed a 1,500-page national energy tax bill that no one even had the chance to read. The American people have the right to know what is in this legislation and, more importantly, what impact it will have on middle-class families and small businesses. In just an hour, we raised serious questions about the true consequences of this legislation for Americans’ jobs and all of our economy.
“Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that will cost families more than ever for electricity, gasoline, food, and other products, and cost millions of American workers their jobs. This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch. It will drive up energy costs, send millions of jobs overseas to countries like China and India, and place an especially heavy burden on rural America. Republicans believe there is a better way. Our American Energy Act is the fastest route to a cleaner, more reliable energy future. By increasing environmentally-safe energy production, promoting alternatives like nuclear and clean-coal technologies, and encouraging increased efficiency, this alternative legislation will create more jobs, lower energy costs, and clean up our air and water.
“There’s a big difference between the heartland and San Francisco when it comes to Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Today, House Democrats made the decision to stand with left-wing special interests rather than with families and small businesses in their districts that will lose so much because of this national energy tax. The American people will not forget this vote.”
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“Today, in what will be remembered as the defining vote of the 111th Congress, House Democrats passed a 1,500-page national energy tax bill that no one even had the chance to read. The American people have the right to know what is in this legislation and, more importantly, what impact it will have on middle-class families and small businesses. In just an hour, we raised serious questions about the true consequences of this legislation for Americans’ jobs and all of our economy.
“Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that will cost families more than ever for electricity, gasoline, food, and other products, and cost millions of American workers their jobs. This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch. It will drive up energy costs, send millions of jobs overseas to countries like China and India, and place an especially heavy burden on rural America. Republicans believe there is a better way. Our American Energy Act is the fastest route to a cleaner, more reliable energy future. By increasing environmentally-safe energy production, promoting alternatives like nuclear and clean-coal technologies, and encouraging increased efficiency, this alternative legislation will create more jobs, lower energy costs, and clean up our air and water.
“There’s a big difference between the heartland and San Francisco when it comes to Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Today, House Democrats made the decision to stand with left-wing special interests rather than with families and small businesses in their districts that will lose so much because of this national energy tax. The American people will not forget this vote.”
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Boehner: The American People Deserve to Get 100 Percent of Their Money Back
Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today delivered remarks on the House floor condemning taxpayer-funded bonuses for AIG executives and calling for passage of legislation that will allow American taxpayers to get 100 percent of their money back immediately. Full transcript of Boehner's remarks follow:
“Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, I caught a little grief five weeks ago when we had the stimulus bill on the floor. Remember the 1,100-page bill that no one had time to read and that no one did read? Obviously the President didn’t have time to read it either because in that bill was this one sentence. This one sentence that made it clear that someone knew that these AIG bonuses were about to be paid and they didn’t want them stopped. So somehow in the dark of night this one sentence was added to the bill so that AIG would pay these bonuses to their executives.
“This language wasn’t in the House bill. This language wasn’t in the Senate bill. This language showed up in the dead of night and no one got to see it. I’m wondering where did the language come from? Who wrote it? Who asked the conferees to put it in the bill? What conferees on the part of the House agreed to this? I’m looking for somebody to put their hand up.
“That’s the whole issue. This political circus that’s going on here today with this bill is not getting to the bottom of the questions of who knew what and when did they know it. Somebody was responsible to draw up this language. Someone brought it to the conferees. Someone brought it to the Democrat Leadership who wrote this bill in secret and put this language in there. But we have no idea who it was.
“Secondly, the bill before us tempts to recoup 90 percent of these bonuses. Why 90 percent? The American people are outraged. I’m outraged. And we just voted down an opportunity to bring a bill to the floor from our freshmen members that said, real simple, we ought to get 100 percent of this money back. We can get 100 percent back because the Treasury Secretary has the ability to get it all back. The Administration has the ability to get it all back. Why don’t we just get it all back? Why are we bringing this bill to the floor today to give members political cover when in fact the Treasury Secretary has the authority, the Administration has the authority to get all of it back? But, no, that got voted down. Our bill would have been a better bill.
“Thirdly, our colleagues, Mr. LaTourette and Mr. McCotter, have introduced a resolution of inquiry to get all of the documents surrounding communications between the Treasury, the Fed, and AIG to understand who was in the middle of this conversation? People have known about this for months and yet we just found out about it over the last 48 hours. And so we want this resolution of inquiry to be passed by the committee. We want to get to the bottom of all of this. But in the meantime do we have to have this political charade of bringing this bill out here? I don’t think so. I think this is a bad bill with bad consequences. We didn’t see the bill until last night. Nobody in the committee marked it up. Nobody debated it. And nobody understands the consequences of what we are about to do. How can we possibly vote yes on a bill like this? I yield back.”
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“Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, I caught a little grief five weeks ago when we had the stimulus bill on the floor. Remember the 1,100-page bill that no one had time to read and that no one did read? Obviously the President didn’t have time to read it either because in that bill was this one sentence. This one sentence that made it clear that someone knew that these AIG bonuses were about to be paid and they didn’t want them stopped. So somehow in the dark of night this one sentence was added to the bill so that AIG would pay these bonuses to their executives.
“This language wasn’t in the House bill. This language wasn’t in the Senate bill. This language showed up in the dead of night and no one got to see it. I’m wondering where did the language come from? Who wrote it? Who asked the conferees to put it in the bill? What conferees on the part of the House agreed to this? I’m looking for somebody to put their hand up.
“That’s the whole issue. This political circus that’s going on here today with this bill is not getting to the bottom of the questions of who knew what and when did they know it. Somebody was responsible to draw up this language. Someone brought it to the conferees. Someone brought it to the Democrat Leadership who wrote this bill in secret and put this language in there. But we have no idea who it was.
“Secondly, the bill before us tempts to recoup 90 percent of these bonuses. Why 90 percent? The American people are outraged. I’m outraged. And we just voted down an opportunity to bring a bill to the floor from our freshmen members that said, real simple, we ought to get 100 percent of this money back. We can get 100 percent back because the Treasury Secretary has the ability to get it all back. The Administration has the ability to get it all back. Why don’t we just get it all back? Why are we bringing this bill to the floor today to give members political cover when in fact the Treasury Secretary has the authority, the Administration has the authority to get all of it back? But, no, that got voted down. Our bill would have been a better bill.
“Thirdly, our colleagues, Mr. LaTourette and Mr. McCotter, have introduced a resolution of inquiry to get all of the documents surrounding communications between the Treasury, the Fed, and AIG to understand who was in the middle of this conversation? People have known about this for months and yet we just found out about it over the last 48 hours. And so we want this resolution of inquiry to be passed by the committee. We want to get to the bottom of all of this. But in the meantime do we have to have this political charade of bringing this bill out here? I don’t think so. I think this is a bad bill with bad consequences. We didn’t see the bill until last night. Nobody in the committee marked it up. Nobody debated it. And nobody understands the consequences of what we are about to do. How can we possibly vote yes on a bill like this? I yield back.”
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Friday, March 6, 2009
House GOP to Force Vote on Federal Government Spending Freeze TODAY
Today’s jobs report is yet another reminder of how much families and small businesses are hurting. Their savings are evaporating, their job prospects are weakening, and their costs of living are rising. Consequently, they are being forced to make difficult budget decisions each and every day.
Isn’t it time for Washington to make some tough budget choices as well?
For the last several weeks, as the $410 billion “omnibus” spending bill has made its way through Congress, House Republicans have been calling for a spending freeze for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in September. After all, if American families are making difficult choices about how to cut their family budgets, shouldn’t Congress and the Administration do the same?
During today’s debate on a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running until early next week – a resolution that’s necessary while congressional Democrats determine exactly how they plan to enact the $410 billion monstrosity – House Republicans will offer a simple, straightforward federal spending freeze as a motion to recommit proposal.
What does the spending freeze mean? For starters, it means taxpayers won’t be forced to bankroll the some 9,000 unscrutinized earmarks loaded into the omnibus spending bill. It also means Americans won’t have to shoulder the financial burden of the largest discretionary spending hike since the Carter Administration (save for a brief increase after the September 11 terrorist attacks). It would simply keep the federal government running for the rest of the fiscal year without the massive spending increases Washington Democrats are seeking....
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=113593
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Isn’t it time for Washington to make some tough budget choices as well?
For the last several weeks, as the $410 billion “omnibus” spending bill has made its way through Congress, House Republicans have been calling for a spending freeze for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in September. After all, if American families are making difficult choices about how to cut their family budgets, shouldn’t Congress and the Administration do the same?
During today’s debate on a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running until early next week – a resolution that’s necessary while congressional Democrats determine exactly how they plan to enact the $410 billion monstrosity – House Republicans will offer a simple, straightforward federal spending freeze as a motion to recommit proposal.
What does the spending freeze mean? For starters, it means taxpayers won’t be forced to bankroll the some 9,000 unscrutinized earmarks loaded into the omnibus spending bill. It also means Americans won’t have to shoulder the financial burden of the largest discretionary spending hike since the Carter Administration (save for a brief increase after the September 11 terrorist attacks). It would simply keep the federal government running for the rest of the fiscal year without the massive spending increases Washington Democrats are seeking....
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=113593
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Boehner: Geithner, Orszag Must Answer Important Questions About Administration’s Plans to Raise Taxes During a Recession
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday released the following statement as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag testify this morning before the House Ways & Means and Budget Committees:
“American families and small businesses know we cannot afford more taxes, more spending, and more debt amid this increasingly-severe recession, and they deserve real answers from Secretary Geithner and Director Orszag today. How can the Administration justify a trillion-dollar tax hike on families, seniors, and small businesses during a recession? With our nation’s economy in a tailspin, who will pay for the big government spending spree proposed in the Administration’s budget? During this unprecedented economic turmoil, why does the President plan to sign into law the nearly half-trillion spending bill making its way through Congress, even though it is loaded with some 9,000 airdropped earmarks and includes the biggest discretionary spending increase since the Carter Administration?
“With a deepening recession and growing uncertainty among middle-class families about their jobs and nest eggs, the American people are looking to both parties in Washington for real leadership during times of economic crisis. That is precisely why we should be working together on a responsible budget that helps our economy recover without piling more debt on future generations.”
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“American families and small businesses know we cannot afford more taxes, more spending, and more debt amid this increasingly-severe recession, and they deserve real answers from Secretary Geithner and Director Orszag today. How can the Administration justify a trillion-dollar tax hike on families, seniors, and small businesses during a recession? With our nation’s economy in a tailspin, who will pay for the big government spending spree proposed in the Administration’s budget? During this unprecedented economic turmoil, why does the President plan to sign into law the nearly half-trillion spending bill making its way through Congress, even though it is loaded with some 9,000 airdropped earmarks and includes the biggest discretionary spending increase since the Carter Administration?
“With a deepening recession and growing uncertainty among middle-class families about their jobs and nest eggs, the American people are looking to both parties in Washington for real leadership during times of economic crisis. That is precisely why we should be working together on a responsible budget that helps our economy recover without piling more debt on future generations.”
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Monday, March 2, 2009
Taxpayer Tea Parties: Americans Speak Out Against Washington Democrats' Tax-and-Spend Agenda
Congress returns to session today, and Democrats are again prepared to ask middle-class families and small businesses to bankroll a huge slate of new government spending in Washington. Tomorrow, the House is scheduled to vote on legislation asking the 90-some percent of responsible homeowners to come to the rescue of speculators, scam artists, and those who knowingly made bad decisions in yet another housing bailout bill. And this week, some Washington Democrats will continue efforts to defend the Administration’s $3.5 trillion budget – a blueprint that a senior Democratic aide admitted in yesterday’s Washington Post was “a tax-and-spend budget the likes of which we haven't seen in years.....
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=2915407622403503634
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=2915407622403503634
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Boehner Statement on Housing Plan Introduced by President Obama
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday issued the following statement on the housing plan outlined by President Obama in Phoenix, Arizona:
“The housing crisis is at the heart of our economic troubles, and House Republicans want to work with the President on a plan that keeps families in their homes without asking taxpayers to bail out irresponsible lenders, scam artists, and borrowers who knowingly made bad decisions. While we hope to work together, there are many unanswered questions that remain about the proposal that was announced today. Why should we reward Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with $200 billion in taxpayer dollars without first reforming these housing entities that were at the heart of the economic meltdown? Will taxpayers be forced to subsidize the scandal-plagued activist group ACORN under this proposal? Should a responsible plan include a ‘cramdown’ provision that could increase the monthly mortgage payments for responsible borrowers?
“Taxpayers and homeowners who are playing by the rules expect their leaders in Washington to work together on solutions to get our housing industry – and our entire economy – moving again. The President’s announcement of his plan is an important step in that process, and Republicans look forward to working with him and our Democratic colleagues in Congress on this issue in the weeks and months to come.”
NOTE: Boehner and Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent a letter to President Obama earlier today seeking clarification on six common sense questions about his housing proposal. Specifically, Boehner and Cantor asked:
What will your plan do for the over 90% of homeowners who are playing and paying by the rules?
Does your plan compensate banks for bad mortgages they should have never made in the first place?
Will individuals who misrepresented their income or assets on their original mortgage application be eligible to get the taxpayer funded assistance under your plan?
Similarly, will you require mortgage servicers to verify income and other eligibility standards before modifying mortgages?
What will you do to prevent the same mortgages that receive assistance and are modified from going into default three, six, or eight months later?
How do you intend to move forward in the drafting of the legislation and who will author it?
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“The housing crisis is at the heart of our economic troubles, and House Republicans want to work with the President on a plan that keeps families in their homes without asking taxpayers to bail out irresponsible lenders, scam artists, and borrowers who knowingly made bad decisions. While we hope to work together, there are many unanswered questions that remain about the proposal that was announced today. Why should we reward Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with $200 billion in taxpayer dollars without first reforming these housing entities that were at the heart of the economic meltdown? Will taxpayers be forced to subsidize the scandal-plagued activist group ACORN under this proposal? Should a responsible plan include a ‘cramdown’ provision that could increase the monthly mortgage payments for responsible borrowers?
“Taxpayers and homeowners who are playing by the rules expect their leaders in Washington to work together on solutions to get our housing industry – and our entire economy – moving again. The President’s announcement of his plan is an important step in that process, and Republicans look forward to working with him and our Democratic colleagues in Congress on this issue in the weeks and months to come.”
NOTE: Boehner and Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent a letter to President Obama earlier today seeking clarification on six common sense questions about his housing proposal. Specifically, Boehner and Cantor asked:
What will your plan do for the over 90% of homeowners who are playing and paying by the rules?
Does your plan compensate banks for bad mortgages they should have never made in the first place?
Will individuals who misrepresented their income or assets on their original mortgage application be eligible to get the taxpayer funded assistance under your plan?
Similarly, will you require mortgage servicers to verify income and other eligibility standards before modifying mortgages?
What will you do to prevent the same mortgages that receive assistance and are modified from going into default three, six, or eight months later?
How do you intend to move forward in the drafting of the legislation and who will author it?
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Friday, February 13, 2009
Boehner: Dems' Trillion-Dollar Spending Bill Rations Health Care, Guts Welfare Reform, Raises Energy Costs
Dems' Trillion-Dollar Spending Bill Rations Health Care, Guts Welfare Reform, Raises Energy Costs
Though no one – aside from a few senior Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill – has actually seen the final trillion-dollar spending bill set for House and Senate votes later this week, some details about the legislation are emerging … and they aren’t pretty. For starters, the bill is loaded with unfocused Washington spending – like money for plug-in cars, funding for education on sexually-transmitted diseases, and $2 billion for a fund available to the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) – and leaves behind critical tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses......
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=111214
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Though no one – aside from a few senior Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill – has actually seen the final trillion-dollar spending bill set for House and Senate votes later this week, some details about the legislation are emerging … and they aren’t pretty. For starters, the bill is loaded with unfocused Washington spending – like money for plug-in cars, funding for education on sexually-transmitted diseases, and $2 billion for a fund available to the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) – and leaves behind critical tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses......
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=111214
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
House Republicans Urge President Obama to Reverse Plans for White House Census Takeover
House Republican leaders today sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to reconsider an unprecedented plan by the White House to move control of the Census Bureau and the 2010 Census from the Commerce Department to political operatives on the White House staff. Politicization of the Census will “undermine the goal of a fair and accurate Census count” and “open the door to massive waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer funds,” GOP leaders warned. An estimated $300 billion in federal funds are distributed annually on the basis of U.S. Census data, according to Census officials.
The letter was signed by Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and the entire House GOP elected leadership team, Oversight & Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrel Issa (R-CA), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Administration Ranking Member Dan Lungren (R-CA), Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC), and Census Task Force Chairman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).
“Placing the Census under the control of political operatives in the White House will inevitably corrupt the independence [of] critical Census functions, and could result in a dramatic increase in abuse and misallocation of taxpayer funds at a time when both parties should be working together to eliminate such waste,” House Republicans warned in the letter.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s own website, “Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.”
NOTE: Former Census Bureau Director Bruce Chapman recently penned an op-ed in which he noted, “[T]he White House and its Congressional allies are wrong in asserting that the Census in the past has reported directly to the president through his staff. Directors of the Bureau often brief presidents and their staffs, but, as a former director (under President Reagan), I don’t know of any cases where the conduct of the Bureau was directly under White House supervision. That includes Clinton in 2000, Bush 41 in 1990 and Carter in 1980.”
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The letter was signed by Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and the entire House GOP elected leadership team, Oversight & Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrel Issa (R-CA), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Administration Ranking Member Dan Lungren (R-CA), Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC), and Census Task Force Chairman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).
“Placing the Census under the control of political operatives in the White House will inevitably corrupt the independence [of] critical Census functions, and could result in a dramatic increase in abuse and misallocation of taxpayer funds at a time when both parties should be working together to eliminate such waste,” House Republicans warned in the letter.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s own website, “Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.”
NOTE: Former Census Bureau Director Bruce Chapman recently penned an op-ed in which he noted, “[T]he White House and its Congressional allies are wrong in asserting that the Census in the past has reported directly to the president through his staff. Directors of the Bureau often brief presidents and their staffs, but, as a former director (under President Reagan), I don’t know of any cases where the conduct of the Bureau was directly under White House supervision. That includes Clinton in 2000, Bush 41 in 1990 and Carter in 1980.”
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Boehner: Republicans Stand Ready to Work With President Obama on Responsible Plan That Will Create and Protect Jobs
Boehner: Republicans Stand Ready to Work With President Obama on Responsible Plan That Will Create and Protect Jobs – But Democratic Congress Hasn’t Delivered
After a press conference held last evening by President Barack Obama, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement:
“Our nation is in recession, and we applaud President Obama for continuing to make the case for action from Congress to help our economy create and protect jobs. As he said earlier this year and again this evening, both parties in Washington have a responsibility to tackle the challenge before us. In response to the President’s request for input, House Republicans have offered a plan that creates twice the jobs as the Democrats’ proposal – 6.2 million jobs total – at half the cost. Unfortunately, the trillion-dollar plan moving through Congress takes us in the wrong direction, relying on slow-moving and wasteful Washington spending that will pile even more debt on future generations, providing less tax relief than requested by the President, and encouraging dependence on welfare programs that hurt Americans instead of helping them. The American people need our help, and they deserve better than this. It is not too late to craft a bipartisan plan that creates more jobs and helps get our economy back on track, and Republicans stand ready to work with the President to do this.”
NOTE: By letting families, small businesses, home-buyers, and job-seekers keep more of what they earn, the House Republicans’ economic recovery plan will create 6.2 million new American jobs over the next two years, at half the cost of the congressional Democrats’ plan, according to a methodology used by President Obama’s own nominee as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Christina Romer.
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After a press conference held last evening by President Barack Obama, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement:
“Our nation is in recession, and we applaud President Obama for continuing to make the case for action from Congress to help our economy create and protect jobs. As he said earlier this year and again this evening, both parties in Washington have a responsibility to tackle the challenge before us. In response to the President’s request for input, House Republicans have offered a plan that creates twice the jobs as the Democrats’ proposal – 6.2 million jobs total – at half the cost. Unfortunately, the trillion-dollar plan moving through Congress takes us in the wrong direction, relying on slow-moving and wasteful Washington spending that will pile even more debt on future generations, providing less tax relief than requested by the President, and encouraging dependence on welfare programs that hurt Americans instead of helping them. The American people need our help, and they deserve better than this. It is not too late to craft a bipartisan plan that creates more jobs and helps get our economy back on track, and Republicans stand ready to work with the President to do this.”
NOTE: By letting families, small businesses, home-buyers, and job-seekers keep more of what they earn, the House Republicans’ economic recovery plan will create 6.2 million new American jobs over the next two years, at half the cost of the congressional Democrats’ plan, according to a methodology used by President Obama’s own nominee as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Christina Romer.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
House Republicans Urge President Obama Not to Block Deep Ocean Energy Production
Led by Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and John Shimkus (R-IL), House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and dozens of his colleagues wrote to President Barack Obama, urging him not to lock up job-producing oil and gas resources in the nation’s deep ocean energy reserves. The Members wrote as the President and Interior Department are considering closing down the Outer Continental Shelf to environmentally-safe energy exploration.
“As you know, at the height of our nation’s energy crisis last year, the American people spoke with one voice to express their outrage when they saw that not only were we dependent upon foreign oil, but furthermore, that energy resources located within American territory were locked away and could not be developed,” wrote the Members. “Our national vulnerability was on plain display for the American public last summer because we lacked a coherent energy policy to allow for responsible energy exploration and development.”
Rep. Brady and his House GOP colleagues noted that deep ocean energy exploration is not just essential to bringing down energy costs, but critical to job creation as well. House Republicans support an “all of the above” energy strategy that would increase environmentally-safe oil and gas production, encourage more energy conservation and efficiency, and promote greater use of alternative fuels – a strategy that could create more than a million new jobs. A recent ICF International study concluded that developing the untapped energy resources in the OCS alone would create more than 160,000 jobs by the year 2030. Additionally, it is estimated that $1.7 trillion in government revenue would be raised from tapping the billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas far off the American coasts.
“Our country needs to remain on the path to American energy independence, and we believe this is a critical and achievable goal,” the leaders concluded. “Energy exploration means more jobs and stronger national security, nothing less is at stake. We respectfully urge that you allow the five-year offshore drilling plan to continue because it is vital to our economy. Moreover, energy exploration can be achieved responsibly with the needs of our environment in mind.”
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“As you know, at the height of our nation’s energy crisis last year, the American people spoke with one voice to express their outrage when they saw that not only were we dependent upon foreign oil, but furthermore, that energy resources located within American territory were locked away and could not be developed,” wrote the Members. “Our national vulnerability was on plain display for the American public last summer because we lacked a coherent energy policy to allow for responsible energy exploration and development.”
Rep. Brady and his House GOP colleagues noted that deep ocean energy exploration is not just essential to bringing down energy costs, but critical to job creation as well. House Republicans support an “all of the above” energy strategy that would increase environmentally-safe oil and gas production, encourage more energy conservation and efficiency, and promote greater use of alternative fuels – a strategy that could create more than a million new jobs. A recent ICF International study concluded that developing the untapped energy resources in the OCS alone would create more than 160,000 jobs by the year 2030. Additionally, it is estimated that $1.7 trillion in government revenue would be raised from tapping the billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas far off the American coasts.
“Our country needs to remain on the path to American energy independence, and we believe this is a critical and achievable goal,” the leaders concluded. “Energy exploration means more jobs and stronger national security, nothing less is at stake. We respectfully urge that you allow the five-year offshore drilling plan to continue because it is vital to our economy. Moreover, energy exploration can be achieved responsibly with the needs of our environment in mind.”
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