Over the weekend, the House Democrat leadership made it relatively clear that they plan to leave town this week, having failed to hold a vote on eliminating a massive tax increase on American families and small businesses in 2011. After nearly two years of one failed economic experiment after another, House Democrats are preparing to cap their dismal record by letting tax hikes hang over an already uncertain economy. Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in response to this reckless failure of leadership.

“The Democrats’ dismal record of support for American families and job creators reads like a who’s who of big government programs that should have never seen the light of day,” said Congressman Price. “They have given us trillions of dollars in so-called ‘stimulus’ that heralded in stagnantly high unemployment. Their signature domestic agenda items – ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank permanent bailout bill – have sowed a massive level of uncertainty into the economy. Our small businesses and entrepreneurs have been put on notice that growing an enterprise and hiring more workers will now come with a whole host of new mandates, taxes, and regulatory burdens. And let’s not forget about the creation of a politicized economic environment in which Washington has the power to pick winners and losers.

“Having weathered a barrage of job-killing policies, American families and small businesses will now have to contend with the uncertainty of a massive tax increase in the New Year. It is the height of irresponsibility that the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats are planning to leave town with this cloud hanging over our economy. They should put to rest the political game-playing for the sake of the millions of Americans out-of-work and start making decisions based on what is in the best interest of our economy. House Republicans are calling for an immediate vote on extending all the current tax rates. After two years of the Democrats’ failed economic agenda, the least we can do for our nation’s job creators is ensure their taxes do not balloon in a few short months.”