HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

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.

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Democrats Kill School Choice in the Nation’s Capital

Despite promises to “fund what works,” President Obama signed a bill earlier this year which effectively kills the DC Opportunity Scholarships Program, a popular school choice program started by Congress in 2004.  The President has said he will extend the program until all current participants graduate from high school, but will not accept any new applicants, The Washington Post reported last week.

More than 2,000 students have been able to attend one of the D.C. area non-public schools through the program since it was established, and more than 7,200 have applied for scholarships, demonstrating the overwhelming public demand in the District among parents for new educational options for their children.

However, Democrats stripped funding for the program in the massive $410 billion omnibus spending bill.  Despite passing a bill littered with 9,000 earmarks and which boosts government spending by nearly 10 percent over the previous year, the President and the Democrats in Congress apparently couldn’t find a mere $14 million to provide a better future to the children of the nation’s capital through the DC Opportunity Scholarships Program.

Why is the DC Opportunity Scholarships Program (OSP) worth preserving?  A Department of Education study released in March offers some reasons:

• Overall, those offered a scholarship were performing at statistically higher levels in reading equivalent to 3.1 months of additional learning.
• The program received high marks from parents and students alike.
• To qualify, students must come from a home that is at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty line.

And, according to DC Children First, students who participate in the program: “come from families with an average income of approximately $22,000 a year, and have standardized reading and math test scores below the 33rd percentile.”  Moreover: “Without the scholarship, 86 percent of the students participating in the program would otherwise have been assigned to attend a D.C. Public School in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.”

More than 1,000 people attended a rally last week, pleading for the school choice program to be continued.  But despite calls from former Mayor Williams of Washington, D.C. and House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), the President and his Congressional allies seem intent on killing school choice. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board wrote yesterday that: “The teachers’ unions hate vouchers, so bye-bye, D.C. voucher program.  What a sock in the eye to kids and parents motivated enough to seek a school where they can get a better education.”

The DC school choice program is offering hope to children who otherwise would have almost no opportunity to receive a quality education.  The President has made the right choice in allowing children currently in the program to stay in it, but it’s the bare minimum that really needs to be done for these families.  The Administration and Congress should allow the program to continue on a permanent basis to ensure children continue to benefit from it in the future.

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Better Solutions: Helping Americans Restore Their Lost Savings

Recent polls from both NBC/The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio (NPR) have confirmed that Americans’ concern about decline in the stock market and investment losses trumps even concerns about losing their jobs.  Unfortunately, Washington hasn’t responded to the American people - and some in Washington are even calling for a national energy tax that will only add to the burdens Americans face every day.

Republicans, however, are advocating a solution to help Americans restore their lost savings.  House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently formed the House Republican Savings Recovery Solutions Group, which aims to promote better solutions to help Americans rebuild their 401(k), college, and home savings as quickly as possible. 

In fact, Leader Boehner recently introduced the Savings Recovery Act (H.R. 2021), which is designed to help Americans protect and rebuild their hard-earned savings while ensuring the federal government does not hinder the process.  Some of the better solutions that the Savings Recovery Act incorporates include:

• Make it easier to save by raising the contribution and catch-up limits for retirement accounts
• Effectively reducing, by up to half, the cost of a family’s contribution to a 529 plan
• Helping families save for college by allowing them to change the investment direction of a 529 plan twice a year
• Increase retirement income by doubling the Social Security earnings limit from $14,160 to $28,320
• Suspending the capital gains tax on newly acquired assets for the next two years
• Suspending taxes on dividend income through 2011
• Preserving 401(k)s and workers’ ability to make their own decisions about their retirement savings

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in his testimony earlier this year before the Economic Stimulus Solutions Group that is led by Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), noted that:

The net worth of American families has shrunk by approximately $11 trillion. This translates into about $400 billion less annual spending by consumers. And that $400 billion drop in consumption would lead to a deepening downward spiral of business failures and unemployment.

It’s clear that Americans are hurting and that they want Washington to act.  Congress, however, seems to have turned a deaf ear to the American people, who remain concerned above all about the evaporation of their savings. 

House Republicans are advocating a better solution that will help people rebuild their nest eggs.  To learn more, visit the House Republicans’ Saving Solutions website HERE.

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Newspapers Weigh in on President’s 100 Days

Yesterday marked the 100th day in office for President Obama: 100 days that “can be summed up in three words: spending, taxing, and borrowing,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH). 

Since the President took the oath of office in January of this year, he has proceeded to spend one trillion dollars on a “stimulus plan”, passed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill that was over budget and laden with earmarks, proposed a $3.6 trillion budget that would raise taxes on every American and triple the national debt in ten years, and pursued policies that have weakened the ability of the government to effectively fight the War on Terror and keep the American people safe.

House Republicans have consistently offered better solutions throughout the President’s first 100 days.  From a stimulus plan that would have created twice the jobs at half the cost, to a Republican budget alternative that focused on curbing spending, creating jobs, and controlling the nation’s debt, to offering solutions to restore the American people’s savings, House Republicans have proposed responsible solutions to the problems Americans face each day.

Newspaper editorials from around the country commented on the President’s 100 days, noting how radical an agenda Washington Democrats are pushing on the country:

The Wall Street Journal: “The Liberal Hour”

Mr. Obama talks the language of pragmatism, but his program has revealed a man of the left.  He clearly views the financial crisis and the liberal majorities in Congress as a rare chance to advance the power of the state in American life.

Union Leader (New Hampshire): “The first 100 days: Obama is no moderate”

President Obama has shown that he is not content to run the federal government; he wants to run the entire country.  He wants to accumulate as much power and decision-making authority in Washington as the people will allow…In his first 100 days, President Obama has initiated the most left-wing agenda of any President in American history.  And he’s only getting started.

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House Committee Republicans Speak Out on President’s 100 Days

House Committee Ranking Members are speaking out on the 100th Day of the President’s Administration.  The Ways & Means Committee Republicans say that the first one hundred days can be summed up by: “higher taxes for families & small businesses; no reform, but more deficit spending on health care; and, more welfare checks & fewer paychecks.”  Other Ranking Republicans from the various House Committees share their thoughts on the President’s one hundred days below:

Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI) of the Budget Committee:

Despite claims of “fiscal responsibility,” the administration’s actual budget actions and proposals constitute a sweeping expansion of government, and extraordinary increases in spending, taxes, deficits, and debt.  In his first 3 months, the President has signed a $787-billion “stimulus” bill; enacted a $406.7-billion omnibus, which increased nondefense appropriations by 10 percent just for this year, and included 9,000 earmarks the administration dismissed as “last year’s business”; and increased this year’s deficit by more than $600 billion.

Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-WA) of the Natural Resources Committee:

If past is prologue, President Obama’s first 100 days in office do not bode well for the future of American energy production, public use of public lands,  Second Amendment rights, energy costs and tax rates.  Simply put, we’ve witnessed changes that Americans can’t afford.  Unless the Administration pursues another new direction, Americans will soon pay higher energy bills, our country will become more dependent on foreign oil and more jobs will be sent overseas.

Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) of the Judiciary Committee:

President Obama has been very busy during his first 100 days in office.  Unfortunately, his most defining achievements have been putting American lives at greater risk and undermining American workers.

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NBC News/WSJ Survey Shows Evaporating Savings is Top Concern for American Families

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey conducted from April 23-26, 2009 shows that Americans remain very concerned about the collapse of their savings for retirement, which ranked as the number one issue most Americans are focused on personally. 

The Democrats have done nothing to address this issue, while House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and other House Republicans have introduced the Savings Recovery Act (H.R. 2021) to help Americans rebuild their retirement, college, and personal savings.  In an interview on the Mike Gallagher radio show today, Boehner spoke about ways in which the Savings Recovery Act can help get Americans’ savings back on track:

Americans have lost a lot of their savings.  People who are retired, near retirement or even people who aren’t have seen their 401(k)s drop precipitously in value and so we set about trying to find ways to help people rebuild their savings more quickly and finding ways for people to rebuild their 401(k)s.  And so, for those who have some assets, why not allow them to put more into their 401(k), here while the values in the market are down?  Why not open up IRAs and allow people, more people to put more money in there at a time when their accounts are low and they can begin to rebuild them.  And if we do this on a tax incentivize basis, there are people who are going to put more money in these accounts. (AUDIO)

In an op-ed published yesterday in the Hamilton Journal News (OH), Leader Boehner noted the struggle that everyday Americans are facing while their savings evaporate:

People who spent a lifetime living frugally and responsibly were hit with the terrible reality that they wouldn’t be able to retire as planned.  Parents who sacrificed and saved for their children’s college funds had to tell their kids that they couldn’t attend the school of their choice.  And every day personal savings accounts, meant to carry workers and families through a rough patch, were emptied to pay mortgages, credit cards and other debts.  And what has Washington done during all this?  It’s fiddled while you burned through your savings.  The lawmakers in charge of Congress have refused to lead, instead picking political fights and advancing a left-wing agenda that will bankrupt our state and country.

Leader Boehner has a Savings Solutions website, accessed here, with more information on how House Republicans are working to restore Americans’ savings.

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Poll Shows Americans Would Rather Go to the Dentist Than Prepare Income Taxes

April 15 has arrived – and this tax day, Americans are more outraged than ever before at the Democrats’ tax, borrow, and spend mentality in Washington, D.C. In fact, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released today, “nearly half of all Americans say preparing income tax forms is worse than going to the dentist.”

The poll also found that, “Forty-five percent also think they pay more than their share in taxes” and “66% say President Obama is likely to raise taxes on those earning less than $250,000 a year.”

Well the American people are right on both counts. Americans do pay too much in taxes; and, under the President’s budget, every American will pay higher taxes in the form of a national energy tax (dubbed “cap-and-trade”), higher taxes on small businesses, and higher taxes on capital gains and dividends. The President’s budget even resurrects the death tax. Simply put: the Democrats’ budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said today that:

April 15th has long been and always will be a day American workers and their families despise – and rightfully so. It is the symbol of a government that has grown too big, too costly, and too arrogant, as it asks Americans for more and more of their hard-earned money to pay for wasteful government programs that never go away.

Citizens across American have organized “taxpayer tea parties” to protest the Democrats’ proposed tax hikes – and as Steven Moore of The Wall Street Journal reports, they have struck a chord with ordinary Americans:

Today is tax protest day, with tea parties around the country. No one knows how many, but the latest estimate from taxdayteaparty.org is anywhere between 600 and 2,300. Organizers are predicting one million people will participate in towns as large as Chicago and as small as Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

House Republicans will continue to stand up for taxpayers. That’s why the House Republican budget doesn’t raise taxes on a single American. It offers real tax relief to American families and small businesses; proposes the adoption of an optional flat tax; freezes non-defense discretionary spending for five years; and keeps our debt and deficit under control.

No wonder 59 percent of Americans believe President Reagan’s quip that “government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.”

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Dem Deception as “Barely Noticed” Budget Campaign Fizzles

On March 16 Politico reported that senior White House and Democrat party officials were gearing up for a massive campaign-style effort in support of President Barack Obama’s proposed FY2010 budget.  The article reported that “the White House will harness every part of the Democratic Party’s machinery to defend President Obama’s budget…”

The effort, called Organizing for America, launched a massive, e-mail “pledge drive” to generate support for the Obama budget.  Tapping a 10 to 13 million-strong database of Obama’s supporters, the grassroots army would help Democrats “deflect attention from the size of Obama’s budget and blunt attacks on the ambition of his agenda.”

But according to news reports today, the massive effort appears to have fizzled.  The McClatchy news service reports, “Members of Congress barely noticed.”  One Democrat House member, Rep. Health Schuler (D-NC) is quoted as saying “I’ve never even heard of this.”  Another, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) told McClatchy, “We get bombarded all the time…I haven’t seen any big uptick in my e-mails since they knocked on doors.  It’s not that effective.”

Just how ineffective?  Apparently Democratic operatives have resorted to deception in calculating the number of pledges secured on-line and in street canvassing.  Organizing for America yesterday claimed 642,000 Americans had signed their pledge drive.  But according to CNN and the Washington Post, Democrats actually tripled the real number of pledge signers.  The Post noted: “The DNC got to 642,000 by making three photocopies of each pledge so that each signer’s senators and representative could get one.”

While the Huffington Post gloated over a clearly rigged number, the Post pointed out that “the canvassing of Obama’s vaunted e-mail list of 13 million people resulted in just 114,000 pledges — a response rate of less than 1 percent.”

So much for harnessing the vaunted Democrat party machinery.

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Boehner Launches “Democratic Spend-O-Meter” To Track Democrats’ Reckless Spending

Across America, families and small businesses are being forced to make tough budget decisions in the face of our current economic crisis.  Republicans believe it’s time for government to tighten its belt too.  Unfortunately, the Democratic majority in the House continues to spend taxpayer money at an unprecedented pace.  As Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership fund their big government agenda by piling mountains of debt on our children and grandchildren, Republicans have developed a new tool to track their reckless spending in real time. The Democratic Spend-o-Meter and an accompanying document will track the total of all spending legislation passed by the House since January 2009.

The Democratic Spend-o-Meter includes a code that allows Members of Congress, bloggers, and virtually any American citizen with a webpage to add the Spend-o-Meter to their websites.  To place an automatically-updating version of the spend-o-meter on your website or blog, visit  GOPLeader.gov/spendometer.

“Americans know we can’t spend our way back to prosperity.  Putting America back on a path to prosperity requires real reforms that will help our economy create jobs,” said Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH).  “How long is it going to take until Washington Democrats figure this out?  How much new spending is the Democratic Congress going to pass on the backs of our children and grandchildren before they realize the road to recovery starts with reining in spending, controlling the debt, and allowing middle-class families and small businesses to keep more of what they earn?”

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House Republicans Offer Better Solutions While White House Offers Distortions

At the start of the 111th Congress, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pledged that Republicans wouldn’t be simply the party of opposition but would offer “better solutions.”  And since then, Republicans have repeatedly followed through on Boehner’s pledge, offering better solutions whenever Republicans have had to disagree publicly with the direction being taken by President Obama and the liberal Democratic majority in Congress.  In the case of the so-called “stimulus” bill and the federal budget, House Republican leaders have directly presented alternatives to the White House.

It seems the White House wants to mislead the American people into believing otherwise, however.  Yesterday, in an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal, the President reportedly “chided Republican lawmakers. . .for opposing his initiatives without offering alternatives.”  The President complained that Republicans have criticized proposals without offering alternatives: “I do think that the Republican Party right now hasn’t sort of figured out what it’s for…And so, as a proxy, they’ve just decided we’re going to be against whatever the other side is for.”

Mr. President, with all due respect, that’s simply not true.

Since the start of this Congress, Democrats have advanced an agenda that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much.  At every step of the way, House Republicans have offered alternatives - better solutions - to the Democrats’ agenda.

Democrats passed a $1 trillion “stimulus” bill; House Republicans not only objected, but proposed an alternative plan that would create twice the jobs at half the cost using the same methodology as the President’s own senior economic advisor, Dr. Christina Romer.  Democrats passed a $410 omnibus spending bill with more than 8,000 earmarks and the highest increase in non-emergency spending since the Carter years; House Republicans proposed a spending freeze for the rest of this year that would hold spending on government programs to current levels.  Democrats are writing a record-shattering $3.6 trillion budget; House Republicans are proposing an alternative budget that includes spending restraint, tax cuts, expanded health care coverage, an end to taxpayer bailouts, and an “all of the above” energy strategy.

This afternoon, Leader Boehner will outline House Republicans’ better solutions in a “pre-buttal” to the President’s prime time press conference.  Stay tuned to http://gopleader.gov for more updates.

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