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Posted by
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November 22, 2010
It’s now been five days since White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that President Obama supports “an outright ban on earmarks” after questions were raised as to whether that was in fact the case. Unfortunately, the president has yet to call on Democratic Leaders to follow House and Senate Republicans in adopting an earmark ban in the 112th Congress. Of course, it’s not hard to decipher the president’s hesitation, what with Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) offering “no apologies” for his support of earmarking as we know it. For her part, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has fallen silent on earmarks despite declaring in July 2006, “‘I’d get rid of all of them. None of them is worth the skepticism, the cynicism the public has . … and the fiscal irresponsibility of it.”
Meanwhile, support for an earmark ban continues to roll in from editorial boards around the country:
Republicans are listening to the people and standing firm on the need to take this and other critical steps to restore public trust. Shortly after House Republicans adopted an earmark ban for the 112th Congress, Speaker-designate John Boehner said, “This earmark ban shows the American people we are listening and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington.” It’s now up to President Obama to prove his support for an earmark ban is serious, and not just post-election me-tooism designed to make up for nearly two years of runaway spending. Republicans are listening to the people and standing firm on the need to take this and other critical steps to restore public trust. Shortly after House Republicans adopted an earmark ban for the 112th Congress, Speaker-designate John Boehner said, “This earmark ban shows the American people we are listening and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington.” It’s now up to President Obama to prove his support for an earmark ban is serious, and not just post-election me-tooism designed to make up for nearly two years of runaway spending.
Posted by
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November 18, 2010
House Republicans today unanimously adopted a resolution offered by Representative-elect Sean Duffy (R-WI) to ban earmarks in the people’s House. Mr. Duffy will soon represent the same district as current Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI), author of the infamous “stimulus” bill. But when will congressional Democrats hold a similar vote, and when will President Obama call on them to do so?
Judging by their track record, Democrats may never get around to banning earmarks. Check out what then-Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in 2006: “Ms. Pelosi also spoke out against earmarking billions of dollars for home-state projects, a practice she calls a ‘monster’ that hurts Congress. If she becomes speaker in the next Congress, she says, she would press to severely reduce earmarks. ‘Personally, myself, I'd get rid of all of them,’ she says.” (The Wall Street Journal, 7/13/06, A4) Speaker Pelosi and Washington Democrats have had four years to ban earmarks – and never did. The new Republican majority has already moved to ban earmarks even before the start of the 112th Congress, earning support of support of both House and Senate Republicans, as Reuters recently noted: Republicans in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have now forsworn earmarks as they eye large spending cuts in the coming year…Though earmarks account for less than one half of a percent of the federal budget, they have become a symbol of wasteful spending for many grassroots Tea Party activists who helped Republicans win big in the November 2 elections. ‘I think it shows that this conference is serious about doing what it said we were going to be about -- limited government, spending reduction, dealing with the national debt,’ said newly elected Republican Senator Marco Rubio.With bicameral Republican support of a ban on earmarks, House and Senate Republicans are demonstrating that they are listening to the American people and are serious about restoring trust between the American people and those who are elected to represent them. As the New York Times noted yesterday, the earmark ban “has quickly emerged as a high-profile if somewhat symbolic test of the willingness of Republicans…to respond to what they see as a message of the midterm elections.” Contrast that with Washington Democrats, who have refused to consider an earmark ban, as POLITICO reported last evening: One day after Republicans challenged them to reject earmarks, Senate Democrats huddled behind closed doors Wednesday and held a ‘long discussion’ on the practice as part of a larger debate over how to balance the federal budget and erase mounting debt...But most Democrats defend the practice of funneling federal dollars to pet projects in their home states. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary said the President supported the Republicans’ earmark ban: Q: And real quick on the earmarks, on the earmarks. I know Obama has come out up front a lot on this, but does he want an outright ban on earmarks? Representative-elect Sean Duffy wrote in an op-ed for POLITICO today that “If we are serious about cutting spending, focusing on creating jobs and reforming Congress, then we must agree: The time for earmarks has come to an end.” By banning earmarks in the 112th Congress, Republicans have shown they are listening to the American people; when will President Obama and Washington Democrats follow suit?
Posted by
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November 17, 2010
In this week’s Constituent Mailbag, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) responds to e-mails from Sylvia from West Chester and Charlie in Hamilton about his plans to use commercial airlines, and Republicans’ Pledge to bring about a smaller, more accountable and less costly government. Video and key excerpts are included below: Boehner Outlines New Majority’s Plans to Cut Spending and Reduce the Size of Gov’t: “Republicans have been listening to the American people who are saying ‘enough is enough,’ and in the next Congress we’ll act immediately to reduce the size of government and return power in the House where it belongs: in the hands of the people. Through our Pledge to America we’ll require each bill moving through Congress to include a clause citing the specific constitutional authority upon which the bill would be enacted. We’ll also act on a plan to rein in the red tape factory in Washington, D.C., by requiring congressional approval of any new federal regulation that has an annual cost to our economy of more than $100 million or more. And we’ll repeal the President’s costly jobs-killing health care law and its burdensome ‘1099 Mandate.’” Boehner Says He’ll Use Commercial Airlines to Commute to Washington: “I am serious about cutting government spending as a way to help end the economic uncertainty in America that is keeping small businesses from growing and hiring… As to the Speaker’s plane, I’ve been flying commercial between Ohio and Washington for more than 20 years and I’m going to continue to fly commercial if I become the next Speaker.”
Posted by
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November 15, 2010
House and Senate GOP leaders are now unified in support of an earmark ban. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he would support an earmark ban in the 112th Congress reinforces Republicans’ commitment to ending business as usual in Washington. More importantly, it means that only President Obama and Washington Democrats stand in the way of this critical effort to restore public trust.
For his part, President Obama issued a statement praising Sen. McConnell’s announcement and reiterating his support for “cracking down” on earmarks. Yet, nowhere in his statement does the president urge the leaders of his party to hold simple up-or-down votes on imposing an earmark ban, something House and Senate Republicans will do this week. It appears the president is not yet willing to confront what The Washington Post calls “resistance from veteran Democratic lawmakers” clinging to earmarks. POLITICO adds that it “remains to be seen” how the White House will “avert a potential standoff with Senate Democrats on the matter.” Now, compare this uncertainty to how House senior advisor David Axelrod “made it clear” yesterday that the president “has made no commitment to vetoing spending bills that contain earmarks despite calls from fiscal hawks for the president to make that pledge.” To recap:
Here’s one thing we do know: earmarks are a symbol of a Congress that has broken faith with the American people. An earmark moratorium shows elected officials are serious about working to restore trust between the American people and those elected to serve them. Why is President Obama standing in the way of our ability to move forward and take this critical step towards restoring public trust? As he said earlier this year, “Gridlock as a political strategy is destructive to the country.”
Posted by
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October 22, 2010
Despite the Obama Administration’s massive spending binge, Vice President Joe Biden again criticized Republicans on spending. His attacks conveniently ignore the fact that this administration has added $3 billion to the national debt, run up a $1.3 trillion deficit, and left millions of Americans asking “Where are the jobs?” As the manager of the failed ‘stimulus’ - which 68 percent of Americans believe has been “wasted” - Vice President Biden is a curious messenger for the Obama Administration’s desperate attempt to distance itself from the out-of-control spending spree that has been going on in Washington on the Democrats’ watch. As the Vice President talks about fiscal responsibility, it’s worth bearing in mind his dubious record as the manager of the Obama Administration’s failed, budget-busting economic ‘stimulus.’ The Obama Administration Claimed that the ‘Stimulus’ Would Keep Unemployment Below Eight Percent and Create Millions of Jobs:
Vice President Biden Later Admitted that the White House’s ‘Stimulus’ Projections Were Wrong: In June 2009, Vice President Biden Said That “Everyone Guessed Wrong” on the Economy, Denied That the Stimulus Was Sold on the Eight Percent Unemployment Promise. NBC’s David Gregory: “But here is the reality, and that is when this report was issued by your economic advisor and Dr. Romer from the White House, the assertion was that you could keep unemployment at 8 percent and then it would go down after that. In fact, it's now at 9.4 percent. Was it oversold?” Vice President Biden: “No. What we did is, we took the econometric models that were used by businesses as well as academics at the time. No one realized how bad the economy was. The projections, in fact, turned out to be worse. Gregory: “But this package was sold on the premise that it would, in fact, keep unemployment at 8 percent. It's exceeded that with the recovery plan.” Vice President Biden: “No, no, it wasn't sold on that. It was sold on it would create –” Gregory: “That's what the report said, Mr. Vice President.” Vice President Biden: “No, it said it would -- what would happen was it would save or create jobs. It's doing that, it is doing that. Everyone guessed wrong at the time the estimate made, about what the state of the economy was at the moment this was passed.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 6/14/09) Today, There Are 14.8 Million Unemployed Americans, and 2.5 Million Have Lost Their Jobs Since the ‘Stimulus’ Was Signed Into Law:
Vice President Biden Claimed the ‘Stimulus’ Would Create Jobs During the ‘Recovery Summer’:
But the Economy Continued Losing Jobs in June, July, August and September:
Vice President Biden Admitted that Stimulus Dollars Would be Wasted:
BETTER SOLUTIONS IN THE PLEDGE TO AMERICA. Republicans understand that we must do a better job of providing the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs. That is why cutting spending is a critical part of the GOP’s Pledge to America. The Pledge lays out specific proposals to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington by: cancelling unspent ‘stimulus’ funds, immediately cutting government spending to pre-‘stimulus,’ pre-bailout levels; establishing a hard cap on new discretionary spending; cutting Congress’ budget and holding weekly votes on spending cuts. Republicans will continue fighting for immediate enactment of every provision in the Pledge to America to create jobs and get the economy moving again.
Posted by
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October 06, 2010
Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) and other members of the House GOP leadership joined Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and dozens of other House Republicans yesterday in sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging that no earmarks be included in the massive omnibus spending bill the Democratic majority appears likely to try to pass during a “lame duck” session next month after the November elections:
Earmark lists made available coincident with Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations Subcommittee markups include thousands of earmarks worth more than $3 billion. Due to the Republican earmark moratorium, all but the slightest fraction of these earmarks were requested by members of the majority….Taxpayers deserve to have appropriations legislation considered under an open and transparent process. At a minimum, taxpayers should be protected from thousands of unvetted earmarks, produced by a process driven by a spoils system, being stuffed into any end-of-year appropriations measure and shielded from review. Having made the decision to leave earmarks out of the final Fiscal Year 2006 spending plan, there is precedent for the majority taking such a step. In a speech last week at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Boehner said earmarks have become a symbol of the broken trust between the American people and their elected leaders. He noted an entire lobbying industry has been built around the practice, and vowed to press for reforms that will "end the earmark process as we know it." Boehner's comments were echoed by Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN), who also joined Boehner in signing Rep. Flake's letter to Speaker Pelosi. House Republican leaders have also called for an end to the practice of passing massive "omnibus" spending bills, arguing such bills make it too difficult to cut spending and too easy to shield spending projects from public scrutiny and debate. The GOP Pledge to America, which emphasizes the need to stop the job-killing spending spree in Washington, calls for immediate action on billions of dollars in spending cuts and a series of congressional reforms that would help fight unnecessary spending.
Posted by
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September 09, 2010
It’s been more than a year and a half since an “unusual arrangement” gave special treatment to union retirees of bankrupt Delphi Corporation. Still, despite numerous Congressional inquiries, the Obama Administration refuses to answer questions about its role in the process that led government-owned General Motors – the recipient of more than $60 billion in taxpayer bailout funds – to pick up the pensions of union retirees in full while salaried retirees were left to face a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in expected benefits.
Congressman Boehner greets members of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association in his West Chester office. More than 20,000 salaried retirees – including hundreds who call Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District home – have still not received answers from the Obama Administration as to why they were unfairly treated in Delphi’s bankruptcy proceedings. Over the past year and a half, Boehner has helped lead the efforts in Congress to shine a light on the government’s handling of the process. Most recently, Boehner and Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) requested that the independent, non-partisan Government Accountability Office conduct an investigation into the issue. In a statement following the official request, Boehner said the following:
The GAO’s findings are expected sometime at the beginning of the next year. In the meantime, House Republicans are offering a number of common-sense solutions right now to cut down on government meddling in the private sector and help put Americans back to work. These Boehner-backed proposals include a plan to end the bailouts and get the government out of the business of running private business once and for all, and a ‘no-cost jobs plan’ to boost our economy and help manufacturers and small businesses start hiring again. To read more, click here.
Posted by
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September 08, 2010
During an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) said both parties should work together this month to promote job creation by cutting spending to 2008 levels and freezing all tax rates for two years. Boehner set out this two-point plan for September action on the economy just hours before President Obama was scheduled to appear in Cleveland – an event the White House has admitted is a direct response to an economic speech Boehner made in the same city two weeks ago. President Obama’s latest economic proposals fall well short of what is needed to address the two main problems hampering job creation: excessive government spending and the uncertainty Washington Democrats’ policies are causing small businesses. House Republicans’ plan tackles both problems, immediately and decisively. Following are the full video and excerpts from Boehner’s interview:
Boehner Sets Out Two-Point Plan For Immediate, Bipartisan Action On The Economy: “What I’d like to do is work on a bipartisan basis to do two things. First, instead of waiting until after the election to put together some big omnibus spending bill with a bunch of wasteful spending, why wouldn’t we do this? Why don’t we pass a bill this month at 2008 spending levels – before the TARP, before the bailouts, before the ‘stimulus’ – and let’s put some certainty in the economy. … Secondly, why wouldn’t we work together to make it clear that all current tax rates will be extended for the next two years? What that will do is help small businesses, who have no clue what the coming tax rates are going to be, and give them some certainty. If we’re able to do this together, I think we’ll show the American people that we understand what’s going on in the country and we’ll be able to get our economy moving again and get jobs growing in America.”
Posted by
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September 08, 2010
Appearing on CNBC’s Kudlow Report last night, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) talked about how President Obama’s recent economic proposals fall well short of what is needed to address the two main problems hampering job creation: excessive government spending and the uncertainty Washington Democrats’ policies – especially their massive tax hike – are causing small businesses. Boehner’s comments came in advance of President Obama’s speech in Cleveland tomorrow – a speech the White House admitted today is a “direct response” to remarks Boehner made there two weeks ago, when he laid out five steps President Obama should take immediately to end the ongoing economic uncertainty. Boehner also discussed Republicans’ better solutions to create jobs, cut spending, and make government more transparent and accountable to the people it serves. Following are rough excerpts and the full video of Boehner’s interview:
Boehner On White House Attacks, How Excessive Spending And Uncertainty Are The Two Main Problems Hampering Job Creation: Boehner Talks About How President Obama's Tax Proposals Miss The Big Picture: Boehner Says House Gop's Forthcoming Agenda Will Focus On Jobs & Spending: “We expect to unveil something later on in September. But let’s understand: these will be the first steps, our first priorities. We’ve been listening to the American people over the last year. We’ve heard them loud and clear. They want something done about jobs, they want something done about spending. These are the two big issues on the minds of the American people.” Boehner Discusses House GOP's Transparency Reforms: “Well, one of the first things we have to do is to -- is to adopt a set of rules for the House. … And you’ll see more openness, transparency, and accountability in the Congress -- more than we’ve ever seen in the history of our institution. And I’ll make it clear that if we’re serious about taking on the big problems that face our country, we’ve got to find a way to peel away the scar tissue between the two parties. … We’ve got a find some way to work together to address the concerns of the American people, and we will.”
Posted by
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September 07, 2010
In a White House Press Briefing today, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claimed that “by virtually any measure, our economy is a better place than it was two years ago.” Apparently, “virtually any measure” does not include any of these key economic indicators:
While the White House continues spinning its economic record and scrambling for ideas to convince Americans that the President is focused on the economy, Republicans have been busy listening to the American people and crafting a new governing agenda with their input. With this new agenda, Republicans will continue offering better solutions to create jobs and get the economy back on track. |
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