HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Administration Touts False ‘Stimulus’ Numbers

Wednesday marked that 100th day since the President signed the $1 trillion “stimulus” spending bill into law.  Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that: “the federal government has paid out less than 6 percent of the money.”  Now, it turns out that even that paltry number appears to have been too optimistic.  As the Times’ “Caucus Blog” pointed out in a post last night:

When the Obama administration issued its first quarterly report  on the $787 billion stimulus package earlier this month, prompting questions about the rate of stimulus spending, it overstated how much money had been actually been spent by roughly a third….

The adjusted figures mean that the value of stimulus activity at that time was actually only $35 billion or $36 billion - less than 5 percent of the $787 billion package.

CNBC’s Erin Burnett said today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that: “companies around the world tell me they see no evidence of stimulus spending in the U.S.”  In fact, unemployment claims have “increased by 1.6 million in the first 100 days of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  That’s about 16,000 jobs lost per day,” CNS News reported today.

Moreover, the money that actually has been slated to be spent may not even be going to the communities that need it most, as the Associated Press reported two weeks ago: “Altogether, the government is set to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest.”

And on ABC’s Good Morning America program today, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper reported that much of the ‘stimulus’ spending the Administration is taking credit for was actually appropriated before the ‘stimulus’ even passed:

The massive $1 trillion ‘stimulus’ - some $787 billion in new government spending, financed entirely by deficit spending which will cost the taxpayers over $300 billion in interest payments over the next ten years - has been emblematic of the Democrats’ irresponsible spending binge this year that includes a budget which will double the national debt in five years and triple it in ten.  The Democrats’ profligate spending will add at least $9 trillion to the national debt - which The Washington Post calls “simply unaffordable.”  CNBC’s Trish Regan asked this morning: “isn’t the issue here in fact that we don’t have a game plan to get out of what we’re doing here, it’s just spend, spend, spend?”

Trish Regan has it exactly right.   House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has said that the president’s budget and ’stimulus’ “spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.”  House Republicans have consistently offered better solutions - from a stimulus package that would have created twice the jobs at half the cost, to a responsible budget alternative that cuts taxes and reigns in government spending, to an American Energy Solution that would create jobs at home, protect our environment, and doesn’t raise taxes on a single American.

So, to sum up: the “stimulus” has placed America on a trajectory towards trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see - without having much impact on economic growth or creating American jobs.  Some deal.

Permalink | 1 Comment »

---

Author of National Energy Tax Hasn’t Even Read His Own Bill

Last night, Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee approved their National Energy Tax out of committee on a 33-25 vote.  The bill, at over 930 pages long, is so long that even the author of the new energy tax, Energy & Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), admitted under questioning by Ranking Republican Member Joe Barton (R-TX) that: “I certainly don’t claim to know everything that’s in this bill…I don’t know the details…” 

The House Republican Conference, Chaired by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), put together this video highlighting the exchange between Reps. Waxman and Barton:

Chairman Waxman isn’t alone in his assessment of the massive National Energy Tax proposal, which would cost every American family thousands of dollars.  The Economist noted that:

Another problem with Waxman-Markey is its complexity.  At 932 pages, it is half as long again as an already-bloated previous draught.  It includes a dizzying array of handouts, mandates and technical standards for everything from hot-food-holding cabinets to portable spas.  It allows for a huge increase in ‘offsets’- where a polluter pays someone else to stop polluting instead of curbing his own emissions. These are open to abuse, as Europe’s experience shows.  There is little to stop foreign factories from starting to pollute just so that someone will pay them to stop.

Despite the complexities of the massive National Energy Tax legislation, one thing is clear: the National Energy Tax is emblematic of the Democrats’ governing philosophy that simply spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.

Permalink | 1 Comment »

---

Growing Coalition of Agriculture Groups Opposes Democrats’ National Energy Tax, Citing Impact on Family Farmers

The Democrats are continuing their relentless push to pass a new National Energy Tax that could cost American families up to $3,100 in new taxes each year.  This week the House Energy & Commerce Committee is considering the new tax - but Americans are speaking out against it and the Democrats’ “tax, spend, borrow and repeat” approach to governance.

A myriad of agriculture groups, from the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association to the Ohio Poultry Association, have sent letters to Congress opposing the National Energy Tax, known as the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009″ (H.R. 2454).  In fact, as The New York Times reported this morning: “no large agriculture industry groups have endorsed the bill and two major farm groups - the National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau - have come out against the bill’s treatment of the agriculture sector.” 

Agriculture Committee Ranking Republican Frank Lucas (R-OK) commented that: “As it becomes clearer the extent of damage this bill will cause to agriculture without providing any benefits, more and more farm groups are writing to encourage their Members of Congress to oppose this bill.”

The Times‘ story also noted the bipartisan opposition to the new energy tax in the Agriculture Committee and mentioned the Rural Solutions Group that House Republican members formed earlier this year:

Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has also been outspoken in his criticism of the legislation, and top Republicans on the panel formed a ‘rural working group’ that launched a campaign against the bill this week.  Peterson and Holden and the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), each said they have heard complaints from many members of their committee.  ‘I think we’re pretty much united in our concerns,’ Peterson said in an interview yesterday.

Despite some concern for the National Energy Tax expressed by Chairman Peterson, Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee continue to oppose common sense proposals offered by Republicans, as CQ Today reported:

In other action Wednesday, the panel narrowly rejected an amendment that could have provided a boost to the nuclear industry, voting 26-30 against the Republican proposal, which would have enhanced the role of nuclear plants in the bill’s mandate for states to purchase 12 percent to 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.  Five Democrats crossed over to vote for the amendment, offered by Cliff Stearns of Florida.

House Republicans will continue offer better solutions for achieving American Energy Independence.  Next week, Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) will host a series of forums in California, Pennsylvania, and Indiana to highlight Republicans’ better solutions - and shine a spotlight on the devastating consequences of the Democrats’ National Energy Tax.

Permalink | No Comments »

---

Democrats Hire a “Speed Reader” For Massive National Energy Tax

The Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee are continuing their push to impose a new National Energy Tax today.  The bill is 946 pages long - almost as massive as the 1,100 page “stimulus” bill the Democrats rammed through the Congress earlier this year.  In fact, it’s so long, Democrats have hired a speed reader, as The Wall Street Journal reported this morning:

Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have taken a novel precaution to head off Republican efforts to slow action this week on a sweeping climate bill.  They are hiring a speed reader.  Republicans on the committee have said they may force the reading of the entire 946-page bill - as well as major amendments that measure several hundred pages - all aloud.  This is a procedure lawmakers have a right to invoke.

The unidentified speed reader can read a page “about every 34 seconds,” according to the Journal.  Still, it would take him nine hours of non-stop reading to get through the entire bill.

House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee have offered several common sense amendments to the National Energy Tax bill, which would cost families up to $3,100 per year.  As Congress Now noted:

At the markup, several Republicans offered amendments that would repeal the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) if electricity rates, unemployment levels and gasoline prices rise to certain levels.  All told, the panel considered 17 amendments to the bill during the markup’s second day, but no GOP provisions were attached to the legislation.

Democrats seem intent on ramming their National Energy Tax through the Congress, without regard to the burdens it would impose on American families or small businesses.  House Republicans will continue to highlight their better solutions on energy, including:

• Increasing environmentally-safe energy production on remote lands and far off our shores;
• Promoting the use of alternative fuels that will reduce carbon emissions, such as nuclear, clean-coal, and renewable energy technologies; and
• Encouraging conservation to preserve and protect our natural resources.

Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) will host a series of forums next week in California, Pennsylvania, and Indiana to highlight the plan - and shine a spotlight on the devastating consequences of the Democrats’ national energy tax.

Permalink | 2 Comments »

---

New Auto Mandates Will Increase Cost of New Cars to Consumers and Manufacturers, Ship More American Jobs Overseas

The President will announce this morning a “a single new national standard that will create a car and light truck fleet in the United States that is almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016 than it is today,” as The New York Times reports.  But economists have long said that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” - and by speeding up the implementation of new fuel-economy standards, his plan will hit consumers and automakers when both can least afford it. 

While increasing fuel economy standards is an admirable goal, there are notable side effects of the President’s decision, including burdening new car buyers with additional costs and hampering car companies with more regulations that could cost more American jobs.

The Washington Post reported that the President’s plan will increase the cost of an average car by $1,300; and The Wall Street Journal noted that: “The Transportation Department last year estimated that requiring auto makers to achieve 31.6 mpg by 2015 would cost the industry $46.7 billion, among the most expensive rule makings in U.S. history.”

The Journal story also quoted Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, who said: “‘Unless there’s a huge spike in the price of gasoline…there will have to be incentives from the government’ to encourage consumers to buy advanced-technology vehicles at prices that will return a profit to manufacturers.”

Moreover, President Obama is merely speeding up hikes in fuel-economy standards - by four years - that were already passed by Congress in 2007, as Bloomberg News noted.  The urgency of the President’s decision may have more to do with political considerations than sound science, as The New York Times reported this morning: 

One ranking industry official said that the administration wanted to get the new mileage rules in place before General Motors made a decision on a bankruptcy filing, which could happen by the end of this month. The new rules also provide some certainty for Chrysler, which is already under bankruptcy protection, so that it can plan its future models.

Myron Ebell, an energy expert with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said of the President’s proposal: “We think these new mandatory fuel standards are most unfortunate…They will price people out of larger vehicles and force them into smaller vehicles.”

That’s exactly right.  The President’s plan will increase costs for American consumers who want to buy a new car and impose additional burdens to an already struggling auto industry that could result in more jobs being shipped overseas.  The result?  Consumers get less choice, higher prices and fewer Americans jobs.

Permalink | No Comments »

---

Indiana Says “No Thanks” To New National Energy Tax

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels wrote an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal which highlighted how the Democrats’ proposed new national energy tax, known as “cap and trade,” would affect jobs and the economy in Indiana:

The Waxman-Markey legislation would more than double electricity bills in Indiana.  Years of reform in taxation, regulation and infrastructure-building would be largely erased at a stroke.  In recent years, Indiana has led the nation in capturing international investment, repatriating dollars spent on foreign goods or oil and employing Americans with them.  Waxman-Markey seems designed to reverse that flow.  ‘Closed: Gone to China’ signs would cover Indiana’s stores and factories…

Politicians in Washington speak of a reawakened appreciation for manufacturing and American competitiveness.  But under their policy, those who make real products will suffer.  Already we observe the piranha swarm of green lobbyists wangling special exemptions, subsidies and side deals.  The ordinary Hoosier was not invited to this party, and can expect at most only table scraps at the service entrance.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) agrees, and has stated that the Democrats’ national energy tax would “raise taxes on every American who drives a car, flips on a light switch, or buys a product manufactured in the United States.”  Moreover, it would cost every family in America as much as $3,100 a year in additional energy costs and will drive millions of good-paying American jobs overseas. 

House Republicans have a better solution: an “all of the above” energy strategy that will increase energy production to create more jobs, and reduce carbon emissions through conservation, alternative fuels, nuclear and clean coal technologies.  Last week, House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) led an Energy Summit designed to highlight the House Republicans’ better energy solutions which will pave the way for a cleaner, healthier environment for our kids and grandkids, lower energy costs, and create good-paying jobs here in America. 

At the end of May, Rep. Pence plans to hold several energy summits outside the Beltway to highlight House Republicans’ better energy solutions.

Permalink | No Comments »

---

Boehner Endorses Mandatory Review Period for Major Spending Bills, Praises Work of Cantor-Led Anti-Waste Group

During a meeting today with representatives of organizations fighting government waste organized by House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said that in addition to eliminating billions of dollars in wasteful spending that is currently in the federal budget, Congress should adopt a mandatory 72-hour public review rule for all major spending bills.  The 72-hour review proposal, which Boehner said would help to prevent taxpayer-funded outrages such as the empty “Airport for No One” in the congressional district of Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and huge bonuses for AIG executives, is a reform proposal that been advocated by nonpartisan organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a coalition of reform-minded state legislators, and the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation. 

Under the guidance of Rep. Cantor, the House GOP Economic Recovery Solutions Group is working on a list of recommended spending cuts and reforms to present to President Obama.  Boehner praised the work of the Cantor-led Solutions Group and suggested the mandatory 72-hour review could be included in this reform package along with the list of significant cuts in existing waste and unnecessary spending that Republicans are expected to recommend to the President.

Boehner said a 72-hour mandatory review period alone would “hardly be a cure-all” for preventing waste, but would be “a good first step toward greater transparency and accountability in congressional spending.”

During the debate over the controversial “stimulus” bill early this year, Leader Boehner tossed text of the massive trillion-dollar spending bill to the floor of the House in protest of the Democratic majority’s refusal to allow the American people to have even 48 hours to review the bill’s contents.  The video of Boehner’s floor speech has since received nearly half a million views on YouTube. 

It was later revealed that the “stimulus” spending bill included taxpayer funding for AIG bonuses.  Funds from the “stimulus” have also been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to repave the empty “Airport for No One” in the congressional district of Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA).  Murtha is a close confident of powerful House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Permalink | 4 Comments »

---

Boehner Conducts “Stress Test” on Federal Government – and (Surprise!) the Government Flunks

We’ve heard a lot from the Obama Administration lately about “stress tests” for banks.  What would happen if we gave the federal government a “stress test” of its own?  And what is the likely impact of the binge of new spending, taxing and borrowing upon which Washington has embarked since January 2009? 

This morning, after consulting with the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced the results of his own mock “stress test” on the federal government.  As Boehner explained:

Last week, the Administration released the results of a ‘stress test’ for our nation’s financial institutions.  After the Medicare and Social Security trustees released their ominous report earlier this week and Vice President Biden attempted to spin the Democrats’ massive ‘stimulus’ bill yesterday, I wondered:  How would the federal government fare if we applied a stress test to it?

Could the federal government pass a “stress test” if we gave it one?  And does anyone really think the budget recently passed by Congress, which features sharp increases in spending, taxing, and borrowing, will result in less “stress?”  Consider these facts, discussed by Leader Boehner this morning:

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was down 6.1 percent last quarter.
• Unemployment has reached 8.9 percent, with about 2.5 million jobs lost this year alone.
• Last month, when the government usually runs a huge surplus because of Tax Day, Washington ran a $21 billion deficit.
• The national debt has reached unthinkable levels. We’ve racked up more debt this year than the past 200-plus combined.
• The federal budget deficit will be nearly $2 trillion this year, piling even more debt onto our kids and grandkids.
• Medicare and Social Security are on the brink of bankruptcy.  When will Washington get serious about entitlement reform?

In Boehner’s words:

Instead of heeding these warning signs, Washington keeps making decisions that put us in further jeopardy.  By spending too much, taxing too much, and borrowing too much, they ensure future generations will inherit an even more severe crisis.  Instead of working together to put Americans back to work and rebuild their savings, Washington Democrats keep digging the hole deeper.

U.S. House Budget Committee Republicans, led by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), did a similar and more comprehensive “stress test” analysis of the federal government back in March; it can be seen here.  Leader Boehner also credited the Illinois Policy Institute, a state-based think tank, with advancing the idea of conducting a “stress test” on the federal government’s books.  The Institute’s own “stress test” analysis, released recently, can be seen here. 

Leader Boehner and House Republicans have proposed a better solution: a budget alternative developed by Rep. Ryan that reigns in government spending by freezing non-defense and non-veterans benefits for five years, offers real tax relief to American families and small businesses, and reforms Medicare and Medicaid to make them sustainable.

Permalink | No Comments »

---

Tax Hikes Will Kill Recovery, Harvard Economist Says

Democrats have been in control of the Presidency and Congress for only five months - and so far they’re having trouble restraining themselves from taxing nearly everything Americans do.  The President’s $3.6 trillion budget raises taxes on every single American and will “kill any chance of an early and sustained recovery,” according to Martin Feldstein, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and current Harvard professor.

In a column in today’s Wall Street Journal he notes that:

Even if the proposed tax increases are not scheduled to take effect until 2011, households will recognize the permanent reduction in their future incomes and will reduce current spending accordingly.  Higher future tax rates on capital gains and dividends will depress share prices immediately and the resulting fall in wealth will cut consumer spending further.  Lower share prices will also raise the cost of equity capital, depressing business investment in plant and equipment.

Feldstein also notes that the President’s proposed national energy tax will hit the least fortunate Americans the hardest: “According to the CBO, households in the lowest-income quintile spend more than 20 percent of their income on energy intensive items (primarily fuels and electricity), while those in the highest-income quintile spend less than 5 percent on those products.”

The President’s budget is riddled with tax increases that will punish the American people and slow economic growth and job creation, plain and simple.

If you drive a car or flip on a light switch - Democrats have a new national energy tax for you.  If you’re a small business owner or if you’re employed by one - Democrats have a new tax for you.  If you’re a charity - Democrats have a new tax for your donors.  If you’re looking to produce more American energy - Democrats have a new tax for you.  If you own stock - Democrats have a new tax for you.  And when you’re finally able to relax - after paying all your taxes to Uncle Sam - and you want to kick back, relax, and have a cold beer, you guessed it, Democrats may have a new tax for you too.

And yet - all of the taxing, spending, and borrowing the Democrats in Washington are proposing still won’t fix our economy, create jobs, or even address the staggering deficit that will hit nearly $2 trillion this year and will consume nearly 13 percent of the overall economy.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has repeatedly said that the President’s budget “spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.”  House Republicans are committed to restoring fiscal sanity in Washington, and have introduced a budget alternative that doesn’t raise taxes and keeps spending under control by instituting a spending freeze for five years, exempting defense and veterans’ benefits.

Ronald Reagan once quipped that: “Our friends in the other party have never met a tax they didn’t like - or hike.”

Funny how some things never change.

Permalink | 1 Comment »

---

Internal White House Memo Warns of “Serious Economic Consequences” with Backdoor Energy Tax

As Democrats duel over the specifics of their national energy tax, which would cost every American household up to $3,100 in new taxes, the Obama Administration is pushing to circumvent the Congress and impose a backdoor national energy tax in the form of “greenhouse gas” regulation that would, for the first time, regulate carbon as a pollutant.   Raising taxes is never a prescription for economic growth and job creation, and imposing new taxes and regulations in our current economic climate would strike a blow to the American economy.

Turns out, some officials in the Obama Administration may privately agree.  ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper reported today that:

Advice in an Obama administration interagency review memo to the Environmental Protection Agency warns that government regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (CAA) will hurt the economy, and questions whether such a ‘precautionary’ move would too expansively open up the door for government regulation.

‘Making the decision to regulate CO2 under the CAA for the first time is likely to have serious economic consequences for regulated entities throughout the U.S. economy, including small businesses and small communities,’ says one comment in the memo, which was officially sent by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. ‘Should EPA later extend this finding to stationary sources, small businesses and institutions would be subject to costly regulatory programs such as New Source Review.’

This is exactly right.  Raising taxes on energy will hurt small businesses and families and won’t create a single new job or create economic growth that will lift the American economy out of recession.

House Republicans have proposed a better solution: an “all of the above” energy strategy that will increase energy production to create more jobs, and reduce carbon emissions through conservation, alternative fuels, nuclear and clean coal technologies.  Last week, House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) led an Energy Summit designed to highlight the House Republicans’ better energy solutions which will pave the way for a cleaner, healthier environment for our kids and grandkids, lower energy costs, and create good-paying jobs here in America.  

And Republicans are far from finished.  In the coming weeks, watch for reform-minded GOP members of Congress and governors to work together to continue their national effort to expose the consequences of the proposed national energy tax and promote Republicans’ better solutions on energy.

Permalink | No Comments »

---