HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

House GOP Raises Questions About Closing Guantanamo

Today on Fox News, Leader Boehner reacted to President Obama’s executive order to close the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay:

Leader Boehner and House Republicans have serious reservations about closing the terrorist detention camp.  “The key question is where do you put these terrorists?” Leader Boehner said.

The Leader issued a statement today regarding elaborating upon his concern:

The Guantanamo Bay prison is filled with the worst of the worst - terrorists and killers bent on murdering Americans and other friends of freedom around the world.  If it is closed, where will they go, will they be brought to the United States, and how will they be secured?  Will they be released by the courts, despite reports that more than 60 former terrorist detainees have already returned to battlefields to fight us again? Unfortunately, in briefings yesterday the new Administration did not have any real answers to these concerns.

Just as important, if a terrorist detainee is brought to the United States that terrorist is automatically afforded more constitutional rights than U.S. military personnel under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  That only increases the threat that a judge will release the detainee into the U.S. population.  There are also serious questions about whether the Army Field Manual, while appropriate to guide soldiers on the battlefield, is best suited for professionally-administered lawful interrogations.  Republicans want to work with our President to address these national security concerns, but we should not gamble with the safety and security of the American people and our troops on the battlefield.  It would be irresponsible to close this terrorist detainee facility until these important questions are answered.

Recently, the Associated Press ran a story entitled, “Gitmo detainees rejoin fight against U.S.,” which states that:

Terrorism suspects who have been held but released from Guantánamo Bay are increasingly returning to the fight against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Sixty-one detainees released from the U.S. Navy base prison in Cuba are believed to have rejoined the fight, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, citing data from December. That’s up from 37 as of March, he said.

Others share the House Republicans’ concerns.

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So-Called “Freedom of Choice” Act Would Deepen the Tragedy of Roe v. Wade

Today marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Since that fateful decision was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly 50 million abortions have been performed.

Each year, hundreds of thousands gather not far from where Barack Obama took the oath of office this past Tuesday to “March for Life” and commemorate the lives ended in abortion since the Court legalized the practice in 1973.  Those who attend, and the millions more who support the pro-life cause, seek to promote a “culture of life” by urging the adoption of policies which will protect all innocent human life.

This year presents a new challenge to life: the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA).  Despite its name, FOCA would deprive Americans of their freedom to enact almost any restraint on abortion at any stage of pregnancy.  It would overturn hundreds of current laws on conscience rights, informed consent, limits on tax-funded abortion, and parental involvement in minors’ abortion decisions.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Obama vowed that signing FOCA would be the “first thing” he would do if he were elected president.

Led by Leader John Boehner (R-OH), a total of 105 House Republican Members of Congress sent a letter to the President urging him to reconsider his support for the Freedom of Choice Act:

You have expressed a desire to be a president for all Americans, and to use your presidency to promote initiatives that bring Americans together, rather than drive them apart.  We recognize it will not always be easy for you to do this.  However, too much is at stake for this divisive and destructive legislation to move forward and life-saving laws to be rolled back.  We respectfully urge you to withdraw your pledge to sign FOCA, and that you pledge not to sign legislation that incrementally enacts FOCA by rescinding existing pro-life laws and legal protections.

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GOP Leaders Request Meeting with President Tomorrow

Consistent with Leader Boehner’s pledge to work with President Obama, today Republicans on Capitol Hill sent a letter to the President requesting a meeting tomorrow to discuss Republican proposals to strengthen the economy and create new jobs.

Last week on PBS’s Newshour, Leader Boehner stated:

[W]hat we’re attempting to do is, we want to work with the new administration. There probably will be times where we can. There will be times where we will disagree. But, when we disagree, we’re not going to be the party of no.  We want to be the party of better solutions.  And I have pushed our members rather strongly that we don’t want to be out there whining, and we don’t want to be out there just being the party of no, that we have better solutions, and, if we do, let’s put them out there.

For the last several weeks, an Economic Recovery Working Group chaired by Republican Whip Eric Cantor has heard from experts and begun crafting a series of principles to present to the President.

The Congressional Democrats’ “Stimulus” Bill - now estimated to cost $825 billion, and growing - is hardly consistent with the President’s statement that a stimulus plan should “immediately jumpstart job creation and long-term growth.”

According to a recently released Congressional Budget Office report on the Congressional Democrats’ Stimulus Bill:

Only about $136 billion of the $355 billion that House leaders want to allocate to infrastructure and other so-called discretionary programs would be spent by Oct. 1, 2010. The rest would come in future years, long after the CBO and other economists predict the recession will have ended…

Of $30 billion in highway spending, less than $4 billion would occur over the next two years. Of $18.5 billion proposed for renewable energy, less than $3 billion would be spent by 2011. And of $14 billion for school construction, less than $7 billion would be spent in the first two years.

Republicans know we can’t borrow and spend our way to prosperity.

In order to support real job creation and make an immediate impact for our economy, any government “stimulus” bill must include real tax cuts and promise spending restraint.  House Republicans look forward to presenting the President with such a plan at the earliest opportunity.

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Giving a Voice to the “Stimulus Spending” Skeptics

In response to President-elect Obama’s request for Republican input, House Republicans formed a working group (led by Republican Whip Eric Cantor) aimed at developing constructive ideas that can be included in legislation to help put the nation’s economy on the path to recovery.

Yesterday, the working group held a hearing to discuss America’s economic recovery.  Joining the discussion were Governor Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman, Grover Norquist, Alex Brill, and Bill Beach.  In addition, the panel answered questions that were submitted for the panel by the American people via YouTube.  A video of the working group hearing is below.

In addition, Leader Boehner has solicited, and received, comments from prominent economists who are skeptical of Congressional Democrats’ trillion dollar spending plan.  Scholars’ opinions have continued to pour in, and they have been universally critical of the tax, spend, and borrow precepts of the Democratic proposal.  On January 7, Boehner released comments from dozens of skeptical economists, and since then, opinions have continued to stream in.

Following is some of the latest commentary made by economists about the impact of a massive government “stimulus spending” bill.   For a more detailed list, click here.

“I have a number of reservations about a major stimulus package. One is that it is not in any sense clear that the benefits justify the significant price tag of the package. Another concern is that the historical record of government stimulus programs is poor - I can’t think of a single fiscal stimulus program that demonstrably moderated a recession. But there is ample evidence based on peer-reviewed research that these programs have substantially damaged the U.S. economy, such as the New Deal programs in the 1930s. More recent stimulus attempts, such as the tax rebate in early 2008, did nothing but increase the deficit. The best policies are those that are evaluated carefully and not rushed out, and that are consistent with the key goals of long-run economic prosperity - broad-based tax reform that raises the incentives to work, save, and invest, promoting competition, and fostering economically open ties with other countries. Any fiscal policy should pass this test, and this one doesn’t seem to.”
-Lee Ohanian
Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles
Director, Ettinger Family Program in Macroeconomic Research

“The stimulus plan is little more than a grossly-inefficient special-interest grab bag that will leave a massive burden for our grandchildren to pay and, in the meantime, deter development of more productive sectors of the economy in favor of those politically favored.”
-Roger Meiners
Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Arlington

Leader Boehner has repeatedly stated that “We can’t simply borrow and spend our way back to prosperity.”  Clearly many American economists tend to agree.

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If At First It Fails, Try, Try Again?

The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), has sponsored new legislation that would allegedly make the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) more accountable to the American people.  Despite the title of his bill, Rep. Frank’s “TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009″ (H.R. 384) provides neither reform nor accountability to the TARP.  That’s unfortunate, because both are desperately needed.

Though Rep. Frank’s bill does not authorize the release of the remaining $350 billion of TARP funds, the purpose of the bill is to help ensure that congressional efforts to stop the release of the remaining funds fail.  House Republican leaders today issued an analysis warning that “passage of H.R. 384 may facilitate the discharge of the final tranche by establishing guidelines for spending the next $350 billion for those Members concerned with how the first tranche was spent.”

There are several concerning elements of Rep. Frank’s Bill, most notably among them (From the “Statement of Republican Policy” issued Jan. 15, 2009):

1. There is a danger that the provisions in H.R. 384 place the TARP on a slippery slope to a “command-and-control” economic model.  For example, the bill provides for government observers to attend the meetings of the boards of directors of assisted institutions and at the committees of such boards while any funds from TARP remain outstanding.

2. The bill provides for the expenditure of up to $100 billion (and no less than $40 billion) to implement foreclosure mitigation programs that require taxpayers to subsidize the bad decisions of irresponsible lenders, investors, and borrowers, and have not been demonstrated to be effective in keeping borrowers in their homes or stemming the tide of defaults and delinquencies.

3. H.R. 384 attempts to “fix” the “Hope for Homeowners” program (P.L. 110-289), and make it a more attractive option for lenders and borrowers.  But in doing so, the bill abandons key safeguards in the original legislation that were designed to protect taxpayers from bearing huge losses when mortgages re-worked under the program default.  For example, H.R. 384 strikes the payment of upfront premiums paid to the Federal Housing Administration for providing the government guarantee (and sharply reduces the required annual premium), increases the permissible loan-to-value ratios, and cancels the government’s share of the profits in the event of long-term home price appreciation.

There has been a plethora of criticism from other quarters as well concerning the Frank bill and the larger effort by Democratic congressional leaders to ensure the remaining $350 billion in taxpayer funds is released. Read the rest of this entry »

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American Taxpayers Deserve a TARP Exit Strategy

Leader Boehner has an op-ed in today’s USA Today in which he expresses his reservations about approving the second tranche – which would amount to $350 billion – of money from the so-called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program).  The Treasury Department has already blown through the first $350 billion, but the money was spent with little transparency and virtually no accountability.  This morning in USA Today, Leader Boehner argues that unless dramatic changes are made and a clear exit strategy is defined that would get the federal government back out of the private sector, Congress should not approve the release of any further TARP money.

This program has gone off the rails.  As Leader Boehner stated in his op-ed:

Funds that were intended to buy up “toxic assets” to help unlock the credit markets at the heart of the financial crisis suddenly made their way elsewhere. Some went to help financial institutions acquire other banks. Some went to the automobile companies. And some…well, we don’t really know where some of it went. Is it any wonder that taxpayers are outraged?

Moreover, given the mismanagement of the first $350 billion, Leader Boehner asks a reasonable question:

How could Washington even consider asking middle-class families and small businesses to cough up another $350 billion for this program?

American taxpayers deserve a TARP exit strategy, and major changes in the way the program is operated.  Until taxpayers get these things, Congress should not even consider releasing the remaining TARP money

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Keep the Airwaves Free of the Fairness Doctrine

Leading Democrats are pushing to restore the “Fairness Doctrine” - an antiquated idea which would effectively silence critics of the government. This blatant attempt to quash those who disagree with the Democrats should offend all who cherish their First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech. The right to speak one’s mind is diminished - and effectively silenced - if it cannot find a voice on the radio, television, or the internet.

The American people should not have to get approval from bureaucrats in Washington before they speak their mind on any given issue. Republicans in the Congress agree with that sentiment - and have taken to heart Voltaire’s famous declaration (”I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”) by introducing the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009.

The bill, introduced January 7, 2009, by Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the House Republican Conference, Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, and Senator John Thune (R-SD), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would suppress free speech by requiring the government to monitor political views and decide what constitutes fair political discourse. The Pence-Walden bill in the House already has over 100 cosponsors including Republican Leader Boehner.

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Congress Comes to YouTube (again)…But it Almost Didn’t Happen

Today marks the launch of a new collaborative effort between The U.S. Congress and YouTube.com.  The House Hub and Senate Hub have been developed to make it easier for visitors to find their elected officials and their YouTube channels.  YouTube and other popular technologies continue to empower American citizens with real-time information about the policy debates and actions being undertaken by Congress.

As we see more and more members from both sides of the aisle embrace web video and social media, it’s easy to forget that only a few months ago Democrats on the House Administration Committee were proposing rules that would have brought this free flow of information to a screeching halt.  The proposed rules, including an “approved list” of websites that could be used by members of Congress, would have amounted to new government censorship of the Internet by a panel of federal officials that is neither neutral or independent.

Using the very tools Democrats proposed to restrict, citizens spoke out in the thousands.  Thankfully, House Republicans, led by Reps. Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Tom Price (R-GA), and supported strongly by Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) and Leader Boehner, expressed their strong opposition to this attack on Internet freedom and proposed an alternative solution that would allow Members of Congress to continue posting content at sites of their choosing.  House Republicans’ recommendations were eventually adopted by the Committee on House Administration.

House Republicans will continue fight to increase transparency and openness in government using technology and any other means at our disposal.  If you have any thoughts on how we can better achieve these goals, let us know in the comments or as a video response to Leader Boehner’s welcome video below.

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Stimulus Spending Skeptics Speak Out

Since putting out the call for outside economists’ opinions on President-elect Obama’s proposed $1 trillion economic “stimulus” spending plan, we’ve been contacted by dozens of economists and academics eager to add their name to the list of stimulus spending skeptics. Below you will find selected entries from experts that agree that tax relief for families and small businesses, not more government spending, will help to get America’s economy moving again:

Jeffrey Miron
Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Economics, Harvard University
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/miron

Any stimulus package should consist of permanent tax cuts rather than spending increases. The (limited) available evidence suggests that tax cuts are at least as effective as spending increases in stimulating the economy. Tax cuts help reduce the adverse incentives caused by high tax rates. And spending increases are likely to include numerous projects that do not pass normal cost-benefit criteria and are instead merely pork (e.g., repairing bridges to nowhere).

John Seater
Professor of Economics
Economics Dept., NC State Univ.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jjseater/

I worked 7 years as a Federal Reserve staff economist and have done research in and taught macroeconomics for 27 more years. There is no convincing evidence that stimulative fiscal policy is either feasible or effective. The recognition and action lags (ancient terms from the bygone Keynesian era) alone virtually always mean that the stimulus arrives after the recession is over, thus causing an undesirable distortion that impedes recovery…These aspects of fiscal policy have been known for more than a quarter century. However, if one does not like old evidence, Greg Mankiw on his blog recently cited more recent scholarship showing that Keynesian theory is inconsistent with the data. This I am strongly skeptical of President-elect Obama’s plans. Both theory and evidence are against them. What else do we require to reject them?

Michael Keran
Retired, Former Sr. VP & Director of Research
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Japan in the early and mid 1990s engaged in major fiscal stimulus focused on infrastructure projects with deficits equal to 7-8% of GDP and a cumulative Debt/GDP of almost 150%. None of this led to economic recovery until the late 1990s when the Bank of Japan engaged in quantitative easing of monetary policy and the Government of Japan finally introduced a taxpayer bailout of the banks. The Fed and Treasury in the US have already taken such actions. The Japanese experience suggests that additional fiscal stimulus will only add to the Debt without helping the economy.

Daniel J. Mitchell
Senior Fellow, CATO Institute
http://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell

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New Choice for Labor Secretary Supports Secret Ballots For Democrats, Opposes Them for Workers

According to press reports, President-Elect Barack Obama will name Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) as his choice for Labor Secretary later today.

As a member of Congress, Rep. Solis co-sponsored the highly-controversial Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would end a worker’s right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to join a union.  She also voted for this anti-worker bill when Democrats passed it through the House on March 1, 2007.

However, Rep. Solis took a different tack on secret ballot elections when it came time for internal Democratic Caucus elections.  Specifically, she co-signed a letter criticizing the absence of secret ballots in electing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus leadership on January 5, 2007.  The letter explained:

“… votes by secret ballot were in order but never taken. We therefore believe that we need to follow proper rules of procedure and hold a vote by secret ballot.”

The letter continued:

“[I]t is important that the integrity of the [Congressional Hispanic Caucus] be unquestioned and above reproach.”

So Rep. Solis strongly supports secret ballot elections for Democrats, but opposes them for working Americans.  Ending secret ballots, as Democrats and their Big Labor allies have proposed, would leave workers vulnerable to coercion, pressure, and outright intimidation and threats – from either the management or the union side of the election.  And nearly 80 percent of Americans strongly oppose this bill.

That’s why Republicans are working to preserve the decades-old secret ballot election in the workplace – to prevent workers from being intimidated into doing something they don’t believe is in their best interests.  House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently said on Fox News Sunday that Republicans will do everything they can to stop the efforts of Democrats and Big Labor to kill the secret ballot, saying:

“This is, I think, an affront to the American people, and we will do everything we can to stop it.”

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