Republican Leader John Boehner | Democrats Again Reject Earmark Freeze Offered by Republicans

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Democrats Again Reject Earmark Freeze Offered by Republicans

Posted by Nick on April 2nd, 2008

Following the release of the annual Citizens Against Government Waste Pig Book, House Republican leaders today forced a vote on a freeze on pork barrel projects. Unfortunately, Democrats rejected the GOP proposal by a vote of 215-199.Not surprisingly, a majority of Democrats including freshmen that Speaker Pelosi has “Showered with Pork,” declined to curb wasteful spending by enacting a one-year moratorium on taxpayer-funded earmarks.

Earlier this week the Associated Press reported on Pelosi’s apparent unwillingness to address Washington’s broken spending process:

As lawmakers returned Monday from a two-week spring break, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quietly shelved the idea of a one-year moratorium on so-called earmarks, the $18 billion in pet projects that lawmakers sent to their home states this year.

Visit earmarkreform.house.gov for more information on House Republicans’ continuing efforts to enact meaningful spending reform.

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Podcast Update

Posted by Nick on March 17th, 2008

Audio from the March 13th press briefing can now be found on the House Republican Leader Podcast. If iTunes is installed on your computer, you can click here to subscribe.

MORE: Past episodes and more information on Podcasts

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Podcast Update

Posted by Nick on March 11th, 2008

Audio from today’s Republican Leadership stakeout can now be found on the House Republican Leader Podcast. If iTunes is installed on your computer, you can click here to subscribe.

MORE: Past episodes and more information on Podcasts

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How Much Will the Democrats’ Budget Raise Your Taxes?

Posted by Nick on March 7th, 2008

From the Office of the Budget Committee Republicans:

The House Democrats’ Budget, expected to be on the floor next week, will impose on American workers and businesses a $683 billion tax hike – the largest in history. The table below illustrates how much more the average taxpayer will be paying on an annual basis under this budget:

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Budget Buzz Wrap Up

Posted by Nick on March 6th, 2008

We would like to thank everyone that joined us yesterday as we live-blogged the Budget Committee debate over the Democrats’ FY 2009 budget. Their budget will now move to the floor of the U.S. House next week for a vote. Moving forward, it is our goal to use this and other innovative tools to provide the American people with a more transparent and accountable Congress.

If the 300 percent increase in visits to the site that we received yesterday is any indication, this is a feature many of you found interesting. Please check back regularly for updates and future special events.

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House Democrats Make History, and You Pay for It

Posted by GOP Leader Press Office on March 5th, 2008

12:30 A.M. - Democrats on the House Budget Committee made history today. Here’s just a sampling of what they achieved:

• Passed the largest tax increase in American history;

• Raised federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars to grow government programs;

• Refused to stop earmarks and begin real reform;

• Raised taxes on children by slashing the $1,000 per child tax credit in half; and

• Refused to rein in entitlement spending in order to save Medicare for future generations.

Yes, it was an historic day, but unfortunately America’s workers and middle-income families will be footing the bill for all of this in the form of massive tax hikes, exploding deficits and overburdened entitlement programs.

Every single Republican voted NO on the Democrats’ fiscally irresponsible budget; every Democrat voted YES.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Examiner Editorial: Oink! Oink! Murtha’s porkfest

Posted by GOP Leader Press Office on February 27th, 2008

From today’s Examiner.com:

“Murtha is one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s closest allies and one of the leading earmarkers in Congress. Tickets for the “Evening with Jack and Joyce Murtha” dinner cost $1,500 per person. Murtha and cohorts like Rep. James Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., have refined the earmark-for-a-contribution process to a fine art. A Roll Call investigation last year found, with assistance from Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Sunlight Foundation, that the three Democrats funneled millions of dollars in earmarks for firms whose executives then contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to their re-election campaigns.”

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