John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

When President Obama signed the ‘stimulus’ into law nearly three years ago, he did so backed by his Administration’s promise that it would keep the unemployment rate below eight percent.  In the same month, he pledged to cut the deficit in half, saying he refused “to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay -- and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.”  Unfortunately, President Obama and Washington Democrats have failed to live up to their promises, piling more debt on future generations, and making it harder for the economy to create jobs.  Here’s a look at the Obama Administration’s real economic record:

Persistently High Unemployment & Fewer American Jobs:

• 13.3 Million: Number of Unemployed Americans. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12/2/11)

• 34: Historic Number of Consecutive Months the Unemployment Rate Has Been Above Eight Percent. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 12/27/11)

• 1,547,000: Number of Jobs Lost Since President Obama Took Office. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12/2/11)

• 9.4%: Average Unemployment Rate Since the ‘Stimulus’ was Signed Into Law. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 12/27/11)

• 315,000: Number of Discouraged Americans Who Left the Labor Force in November. (Bloomberg, 12/2/11)

• 41: Average Number of Weeks Unemployed Americans Are Out of Work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12/2/11)

• 43%: Percent of Unemployed Americans Who Have Been Out of Work for 27 Weeks or More. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12/2/11)

More Debt & Record-Breaking Deficits:

• $15.130 Trillion: The National Debt as of December 29, 2011. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 12/29/11) 

• $4.5 Trillion: Amount That Has Been Added to the National Debt Since President Obama Took Office. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 12/29/11) 

• During President Obama’s Time in Office, Washington Has Racked Up the Three Largest Deficits in U.S. History. (Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)

• 99.7%: Current Federal Debt as a Share of GDP. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 12/29/11; Bureau of Economic Analysis, 12/22/11)

• 25%: Increase in Non-Defense Discretionary Spending by President Obama When Democrats Controlled both Houses of Congress. (House Budget Committee, 2/3/11)

• $48,376: Every American’s Share of the National Debt. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 12/29/11; U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 12/29/11)

With the New Year just days away, there are a few resolutions Washington Democrats owe the American people: less debt, more jobs, and fewer burdens on small businesses.  As The Weekly Standard’s Yuval Levin noted recently, House Republicans have taken meaningful steps “to restrain the growth of government, cut spending, reform how Congress works, and end the uncertainty in the economy to help get Americans back to work.”  The Republican-led House will move that effort forward in 2012 by continuing to implement the Plan for America’s Job Creators, a framework built on the Pledge to America and designed to create a better environment for private-sector job growth.  It is up to President Obama to urge Senate Democrats to pass more than 25 bipartisan, House-passed jobs bills that are languishing on their doorstep.  Americans cannot afford another year of broken promises and failed policies.

House Republicans are working to give the typical American family a tax cut of $1,000 by extending payroll tax relief for a full year. Senate Democrats and President Obama, on the other hand, are pushing a plan that will create more uncertainty for small business job creators and raise taxes on American families in March. Congressman Boehner has warned all year against short-term Washington gimmicks and quick fixes that create uncertainty and threaten American jobs. For example:

• “Our economy won't grow as long as we continue to trip it up with short-term gimmicks from Washington.” On May 9, Congressman Boehner said to the Economic Club of New York: “I believe our mission as legislators is to liberate our economy from the things that impede growth. . .to provide clear policies, so that innovators and entrepreneurs have the green light to move forward and create jobs, without having to worry about second-guessing from Washington. ... Our economy won't grow as long as we continue to trip it up with short-term gimmicks from Washington.”

• “[Private-sector job creators have] been hurt by a government that offers short-term gimmicks rather than fundamental reforms that will encourage long-term economic growth.” On September 15, Congressman Boehner said to the Economic Club of Washington, DC: “Private-sector job creators of all sizes have been pummeled by decisions made in Washington. They’ve been slammed by uncertainty from the constant threat of new taxes, out-of-control spending, and unnecessary regulation from a government that is always micromanaging, meddling, and manipulating. They’ve been hurt by a government that offers short-term gimmicks rather than fundamental reforms that will encourage long-term economic growth.”

Job creators and tax experts alike say Senate Democrats’ short-term bill threatens jobs. Another article out today explains how the two-month Senate bill “would require extensive new record-keeping, and multiple calculations of employees’ wages,” creating more uncertainty at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work.

The House-passed payroll tax relief bill is the only one that prevents a tax hike on families next year and won’t create more uncertainty for small businesses. That’s why the House voted to reject the short-term Senate bill and start immediate negotiations with Senate Democrats. Senate Democrats have a responsibility to start working with the House to get this done immediately, before the end of the year, and prevent an unnecessary tax hike on families struggling in President Obama’s economy.

Bipartisan legislation extending payroll tax relief for working Americans will now include a fix secured by House Republicans that ensures small businesses, already struggling in the current economy, won’t face added confusion and compliance costs.  Without this fix, employers would have been hit with a costly new reporting burden that independent tax experts have warned against and employees’ tax cuts would have been in doubt at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work.  

THE PROBLEM:  

On Saturday, the Senate passed a bill that generated a costly new reporting burden for small businesses through temporary new caps on the wages that are subject to payroll tax relief.  Even if followed by a year-long extension, tax experts and leading small business groups say the Senate approach would create substantial problems and prevent many Americans from seeing their tax cut until new software and accounting systems are put in place:

• “The Senate bill would require extensive new record-keeping, and multiple calculations of employees' wages, payroll officials say. … The two-month extension could increase tax-compliance costs for small firms, which already pay proportionately more than large businesses to comply with tax rules, said Kevan Chapman, a spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business group.  Particularly for small firms that do their own taxes or rely on software, ‘it's just going to be very complicated,’ he said.” (The Wall Street Journal, 12/22/11) 
  
  
• “For payroll processors, the two-month option because of the $18,350 cap is the toughest to implement. … Many payroll systems may not be able to make all the needed changes in January, the [National Payroll Reporting Consortium] believes.  And some may even struggle to get the job done by February.” (CNNMoney, 12/22/11)
  
  
• “[Sherry Dwyer, software support manager for Brentwood-based Optimum Solutions] said it is the worst possible outcome for companies like hers.  … Software vendors, she said, will be forced to ‘drop everything’ to implement the changes.  Further complicating matters is that not all of a company’s clients are on the same pay schedule, so changes will have to be made in waves.  ‘It’s going to be a nightmare,’ Dwyer said.” (Nashville Business Journal, 12/22/11)

HOUSE GOP SOLUTION:

Under the House fix, employers will be able to process and withhold payroll taxation under the same accounting structure that is currently in place.  No costly payroll systems or updates will be required.

While this two-month extension still falls short of providing the certainty Americans need, this solution will at minimum prevent small businesses from bearing a new administrative burden and ensure American workers will see their tax relief as soon as possible.   Just as important, the Senate will now join the House in immediately appointing conferees to reach agreements in the weeks ahead on a full-year payroll tax extension.    

Congressman Boehner, a former small business owner, has warned all year against short-term Washington gimmicks and quick fixes that create uncertainty and threaten American jobs.  That’s why Republicans worked to fix this legislation, and will continue to press for long-term solutions that help our economy get back to creating jobs, including the nearly 30 House-passed jobs bills that remain stuck in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) met with the eight House Republican negotiatorsappointed to work with Senate Democrats on extending payroll tax relief for a full year. Boehner said Senate Democrats should appoint negotiators too and help prevent a tax hike on middle class families -- without hurting small business job creators, as the short-term Senate bill would do:

BOEHNER: “Yesterday the House voted to reject the Senate bill and ask for a conference with the Senate where we could resolve the differences between the two houses. I’ve appointed the eight men and women sitting here with the Majority Leader and I to be our negotiators. We’re here. We’re ready to go to work. And we’re hoping that Senate Democrats will appoint negotiators, come to the table, and resolve these differences. I think it’s important to note that the president, bipartisan leaders in the House and bipartisan leaders in the Senate, have all really asked for the same thing over the course of the last several months: let’s extend the payroll tax credit for a year. And all we’re asking for is to get the Senate members over here to work with us to resolve our differences so we can do what everybody wants to do: extend the payroll tax credit for the next year. I’m hoping that they’re ready to work as we are.”

Last week, the House passed a bipartisan bill extending payroll tax relief for a full year. The bill reformed and extended unemployment insurance for a full year, protected Social Security, and would help create new jobs as well. After Senate Democrats passed a short-term two month bill, the House voted to start negotiating with the Senate now so this important matter could be resolved before the end of the year.

Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have so far refused to appoint negotiators. As Speaker Boehner wrote this morning in USA Today, “We hope the president, who has repeatedly said he won't go on vacation until this matter is resolved, will urge Senate Democrats to change their minds.”

Today the House of Representatives will seek to extend payroll tax relief for a full year to help families and job creators by moving to a formal conference committee that can resolve the differences between the House and Senate-passed bills.

Early last week, the House passed a reasonable, responsible bill that extends payroll tax relief for a full year, reforms and extends unemployment insurance, and includes a two-year “doc fix” while also advancing bipartisan measures that support private-sector job creation – “exactly what the president asked us to do,” noted Congressman Boehner.

Senate Democrats, on the other hand, proposed a short-term two-month payroll tax cut extension that non-partisan tax experts call “unworkable” and say could “create substantial problems, confusion, and costs” for job creators.That’s why the House will vote today to reject the short-term Senate proposal and appoint conferees to hammer out an agreement between the House and the Senate.

This chart from the House Ways & Means Committee compares the House and Senate-passed bills:

President Obama says he won’t go on vacation until the payroll tax bill is done and says Congress shouldn’t either.  Even Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) said on December 7, “We’re not going to leave town until [the payroll tax cut is] complete…” House Republicans agree. 

“[T]he best way to resolve the difference between the two-month extension and the full-year bill,” says Speaker Boehner, “is to follow the regular order here in Congress.  When there’s a disagreement between the two chambers we sit down in a conference and resolve those differences.” By appointing conferees to a formal conference committee now, the House will have taken an important step toward finishing this important payroll tax relief and jobs measure before the end of the year.

After today, Senate Democratic leaders have two choices: 1) stay on vacation and watch as their refusal to negotiate leads to tax increases on middle-class families. Or 2) return to Washington and do the jobs their constituents sent them here to do. The House is here and ready to work. We hope Senate Democrats will join us.

Today, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that Senate Democrats would not interrupt their vacation to return to Washington and work with Republicans to ensure American families and small businesses are not hit with a job-crushing tax hike in 12 days.  But Republicans are not the only ones saying the full-year payroll tax cut extension must be done before Congress goes on vacation – President Obama has made that clear many times:

President Obama: “Congress should not go home for vacation until it finds a way to avoid hitting 160 million Americans with a tax hike on January 1st.” (12/17/11)

President Obama: “This Congress cannot and should not leave for vacation until that -- until they have made sure that that tax increase doesn’t happen. Let me repeat that: Congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren't seeing their taxes go up by a thousand dollars and those who are out there looking for work don’t see their unemployment insurance expire.” (12/15/11)

President Obama: “[T]he bottom line is -- is that we are going to stay here as long as it takes to make sure that the American people’s taxes don't go up on January 1st and to make sure that folks who desperately need unemployment insurance get that help.  And -- and there’s absolutely no excuse for us not getting it done.” (12/8/11)

President Obama: “We need to get this done.  And I expect that it’s going to get done before Congress leaves.  Otherwise, Congress may not be leaving, and we can all spend Christmas here together.” (12/2/11)

Like President Obama and several other Democrats, Republicans believe the American people “can’t wait” for Congress to act on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut.  The Senate-passed measure – which extends the payroll tax cut for only two months – “creates uncertainty and will cause problems for people who are trying to create jobs in the private sector,” Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) said today.  

Speaker Boehner also announced that Republicans will hold a vote this evening on legislation requesting a formal conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the payroll tax cut extension.  Sen. Reid should honor President Obama’s request, and work with Republicans to extend the payroll tax break for the American people - instead of worrying about a holiday break for Senate Democrats. The clock is ticking.

Americans are tired of Washington’s short-term fixes and gimmicks, which are piling uncertainty on job creators at a time when millions are already out of work.  Democrats and Republicans agree the payroll tax cut needs to be extended for a full year to provide relief for Americans struggling in President Obama's economy.  Congressman Boehner, who used to run a small business in the private sector, where he met a payroll, and hired workers, reiterated this morning that a mere two-month extension of the payroll tax cut creates further uncertainty: 

           “Boehner Builds Case for Longer Tax Cut Extension.  A two-month extension, by contrast, ‘causes uncertainty for job creators,’ he said.  That will dilute its economic impact.  ‘The idea that tax policy can be done two months at a time is the kind of activity that we see here in Washington that has really put our economy off its tracks,” Boehner said.” (Portfolio.com, 12/19/11)

             “House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Monday morning that the House is poised to defeat a Senate-passed bill to extend the payroll tax cut for two months and instead will send the bill to a bicameral conference committee, because, Boehner said, the Senate bill “creates uncertainty” for the U.S. economy.” (The Washington Post, 12/19/11)

             “The House intends to vote down a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that cleared the Senate late last week, Speaker John Boehner said Monday, and request immediate negotiations on a full-year renewal that can provide ‘certainty for people who are trying to create jobs.’” (Associated Press, 12/19/11) 

             “A two-month extension ‘causes uncertainty for job creators,’ Boehner told reporters, adding that House and Senate lawmakers should sit down and ‘do our work.’” (USA TODAY, 12/19/11) 

             “House Speaker John A. Boehner said Monday the House will insist on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut… He said that doing tax cuts in two-month increments doesn’t give the economy certainty.” (The Washington Times, 12/19/11) 

            “Boehner repeated that he believes the two-month deal ‘creates uncertainty for job creators.’ ‘Americans are tired of Washington's short-term fixes and gimmicks,’ he said.” (Los Angeles Times, 12/19/11)

             “Boehner said on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday that a two-month extension would create uncertainty for workers and employers at a critical time for the economy.” (Reuters, 12/19/11)

Tonight the House is expected to officially decline the Senate proposal and instead vote to formally move to a conference committee – the formal process in which the House & Senate can resolve differences between two bills.  At the same time, the House is set to take up a measure that reinforces the need to extend the payroll tax relief for one year to provide certainty to job creators.  

Vacation can wait, but the American people can’t.  That’s been the president’s message throughout the fall.  He should live up to his words and make sure Congress fulfills his request for a full-year extension of payroll tax relief.  The bare minimum is no match for an economy crying out for long-term certainty.  We can and must do better.

Earlier today, the House approved H. Res. 497, a resolution sponsored by Congressman Boehner to provide for the placement of a bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the Capitol.  Next week marks 70 years since Churchill addressed a joint meeting of Congress in the Senate chamber.  Churchill holds the record for most appearances by a foreign leader before Congress.  

Congressman Boehner appeared on the floor to express support for the resolution:

December 26, 2011 marks the 70th Anniversary of Winston Churchill’s address to a Joint Meeting of Congress.  Less than three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill arrived in Washington to begin coordinating military strategy with the president and leaders of Congress.  

During his address, he warned the Congress of the difficult path that lay ahead.  He spoke of the many disappointments and unpleasant surprises that awaited us. 

Regarding the Japanese aggressors, he asked, "What kind of a people do they think we are?  Is it possible that they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?"

Churchill’s joint address became known as “The Masters of Our Fate” Speech.   “Now we are the masters of our fate,” he said…  “as long as we have faith in our cause and an unconquerable will-power, salvation will not be denied us.”

In declaring war against the Axis powers, Churchill said, “the United States—united as never before—have drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard.”

This resolution will honor the former British Prime Minister by placing a bust of him in the United States Capitol.  The British, similarly, have a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the park across from Parliament.

Winston Churchill was the best friend America ever had.  Join me in honoring his legacy of persistence, determination, and resolve.