FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 03, 2006

CONTACT: Stacey Farnen Bernards (202) 225 - 3130

Hoyer: Bush Ignores the Economic Realities of Most Americans

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after President Bush made remarks on tax and spending to the American Council of Engineering Companies:

“President Bush displayed today why Americans are now giving him the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy: He, along with Congressional Republicans, refuses to acknowledge and address the economic challenges being faced by American families.  Under President Bush, median household income has decreased by $1,670 and the number of Americans living without health insurance has increased by 6 million.  At the same time, American families are faced with skyrocketing prices at the pump and soaring health care costs.

“President Bush’s comments on government spending read like a passage from Alice in Wonderland.  The Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans have taken the record surplus they inherited from the Clinton Administration and turned it into deficits as far as the eye can see, saddling future generations with debt and threatening to damage our country’s national security.  Republicans’ fiscally irresponsible policies have caused the debt limit to be raised four times in the last five years, and have left Americans more vulnerable to global political instability.

 “The fiscal path Republicans have taken the country down leads to disaster.  Democrats will continue fighting to reinstate fiscally responsible policies like the “pay-as-you-go” policies, which helped create record budget surpluses in the 1990s, to ensure our country’s fiscal health and safety.  As we grapple with the War on Terror, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the possibility of an Avian Flu crisis, the stakes are too high to keep following Republicans’ fiscally dangerous policies.”

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