"After years of overspending by both parties, it’s time to make tough choices, just as any family does when times are tough, even among very good things. We have to cut even from programs that are good, as difficult as it is, recognizing that the values we are fighting for in this debate are more fundamental than the survival of any one program. We need to face that fact that we don’t have the money. It is not an American value to borrow from others to pay for programs we don’t need and can’t afford.  And it is not an American value to put off tough decisions because you refuse to say no to things you want. If there’s any good news in this debate, it’s that we’re finally beginning to talk about how much to cut in this town instead of how much to spend. But we’re going to need more people to join the fight. We’ll need Democrats to join us. Above all, we need a President who gets it."

                         Senator Mitch McConnell

February 14, 2011

Senator McConnell on Growing our Economy

Aug 02 2012

Administration’s Economic Policies Have Made a Bad Situation Worse

Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today marking the two-year anniversary of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s pronouncement that the U.S. economy was on the road to recovery:

“Two years ago tomorrow, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner declared in a now-infamous New York Times op-ed entitled ‘Welcome to the Recovery’ that because of actions taken by the Obama administration during its first year and a half, the U.S. economy was, as he put it, ‘on the road to recovery.’

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that the Treasury Secretary jumped the gun on that one.

“Far from putting us on a path to recovery, it’s now obvious that President Obama’s policies have made a bad situation worse. Secretary Geithner was right to say that the President’s policies were having an effect on the economy. He was clearly wrong to conclude they were anything approaching a lasting, positive effect.
 
“On the contrary, we can see that the policies of the President’s first two years in office put us decidedly on the wrong path. Two years after Secretary Geithner’s op-ed, 23 million Americans are either unemployed, underemployed, or have given up looking for work altogether. Half of college graduates can’t find a decent job, and with little to no income, many have decided to move back home with Mom and Dad.

“Two years after Secretary Geithner all-but declared victory, GDP growth is still an anemic 1.5 percent.

“Foreclosures are still common.

“More Americans than ever are on food stamps.

“And two years after Secretary Geithner welcomed Americans to the recovery, more Americans are signing up for disability than finding jobs.

“All of this after the President and a Democrat-led Congress passed his major policy initiatives.

“Now, in the face of all these things, you’d think the administration would change course. After all, if it claimed credit then for what it thought was a recovery, it would have to claim credit for what we see now.

“Not exactly.

“As it turns out, the administration is happy to claim credit when it thinks things are going well, but even happier to cast blame when it thinks things aren’t. So two years after touting the impact the President’s policies were having on the economy, the administration now acts as though they’ve been irrelevant.

“They act like an additional $5 trillion dollars in debt isn’t affecting people’s anxiety about the nation’s future.

“They act like a trillion dollar health care bill that hammers the private sector isn’t affecting business activity.

“They act like the President’s perpetual threats to raise taxes aren’t impacting investment.

“They act like somehow the President’s attacks on free enterprise aren’t putting a chill on risk-taking.

“They act like a barrage of new regulations isn’t keeping businesses from hiring and expanding.

“It’s Bush’s fault. It’s headwinds from Europe. It’s the Tsunami. It’s Republicans.

“Well, the President can’t have it both ways. He can’t be responsible for the economy when he thinks it’s going well, then disavow responsibility when it clearly isn’t. He’s either responsible for it or not.

“The Treasury Secretary had it right two years ago: the President’s policies have had a big impact on the economy. What he got wrong was the fact that the impact was negative. If we were to ask ourselves whether Americans are better off now than they were two years ago, the answer would be obvious.

“The President’s policies have clearly made it harder for Americans to find a job and keep it.

“If the President wants to cast blame for the economic mess we’re in, he should look no further than his own policies. And if he’s more concerned about the future of the country than his own re-election, he’ll work with us to change direction. For three and a half years, Republicans have stood ready to work with him on the kinds of policies that will empower the private sector and finally revive this economy.

“Comprehensive tax reform, an all-of-the-above energy policy, eliminating burdensome regulations 

“These are the kinds of things we could do together. We’re ready when he is.”

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