HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

“The Binge”: House GOP Conference Secretary John Carter on Washington Democrats’ Spending Eruption

Rep. John Carter (R-TX), in an op-ed today entitled “The Binge”, called out the Democrats’ on their profligate spending and warned that “we are now on a course straight for national bankruptcy and a catastrophic devaluation of the U.S. dollar unless we can turn this around over the next couple years.”

His op-ed criticizes several elements of the administration’s new budget proposal, and has a hard hitting critique of the proposed “cap and trade” system.  Rep. Carter states that, “Under this plan, businesses that produce carbon emissions such as power companies or livestock producers would pay a new federal tax on those emissions.   Only in truth, they won’t be paying them - you will, in your power bill, at the grocery store, and at the gas pump, as these businesses pass along these higher production costs in the form of higher consumer prices.  That’s the last thing we need in a recession, when families are trying to stretch every penny as far as they can.”

Rep. Carter doesn’t just say “no” to the Democrats, however; he offers better solutions: “It’s time we went on the wagon.  We can begin by simply eliminating every earmark - both Republican and Democrat - from both the stimulus bill and the budget.  We should continue by dropping the tax increases, especially the outrageous ‘cap and trade’ proposal. The finishing touch should be a simple spending freeze on the budget for a year.”

Read the rest of Rep. Carter’s op-ed here.

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The Era of Big Government is Back: Newspapers Slam New Budget Proposal

Newspapers from Boston to Los Angeles blasted the administration’s budget proposal in editorials published this morning.  The Fiscal Year 2010 Budget contains hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes on small business; creates a new “carbon tax” that would penalize Americans for using energy; expands entitlement spending by $1 trillion over 10 years; brings back to life the “death tax”; and would result in the doubling of the national debt by 2019.

As Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pointed out this morning at a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC):

This budget is nothing more than a job killer, plain and simple. It raises taxes on all Americans in the midst of a recession. It relies on tax increases on small businesses, family farms, middle- class families, retirees, charities, every American with a 401(k), and yes, any American who dares flip on a light switch at home. They’re all going to pay higher taxes under this budget.

Editorial boards tend to agree with Leader Boehner:

The Detroit News:  “Obama budget is too heavy on taxes, spending“

President Barack Obama’s proposed budget outline assumes tax increases don’t affect behavior.  They do.  It also assumes Congress will end its spending spree.  It won’t.  If all of the programs in the budget plan become law, tax increases will affect more Americans than the high-income earners targeted in this proposal, and the economy will suffer.

Boston Herald: “A Taxing Agenda”

All told the tax increases amount to about $1 trillion in Obama’s budget plan and will be used to help finance new spending on health care, education and energy.  Heck, even The New York Times described it on the front page yesterday as a ‘pronounced move to redistribute wealth.’  Turns out Joe the Plumber wasn’t all that far off.

New York Post: “Spendapalooza”

Make no mistake: If Obama’s vision is embraced by his fellow Democrats, who control Congress, the role of government in everyday America would balloon….Now, it’s true: Voters wanted change.  Maybe even re-energized government.  But it’s hard to believe many folks expected such a massive, fundamental shift in basic US institutions.

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Omnibus Denies School Choice to Washington, D.C. Students

Congressional Democrats are scheming to deny low-income parents and students in the nation’s capital a popular school choice program by inserting a provision mandating Congress renew the program before more money is spent on it.  While this may sound innocuous enough, it would serve as a death blow to the groundbreaking D.C. school choice program - a goal Congressional Democrats have sought since taking control of Congress in 2007.  By burying their attempt to kill school choice in a $410 billion, 1,122 page omnibus spending bill, Democrats seem to acknowledge that their plan to deny residents of the District access to the school of their choice wouldn’t stand the light of public scrutiny if it had been subject to an open debate.  Perhaps that’s why they wrote this bill behind closed doors and without Republican input, and kept the bill secret until the last possible minute before attempting to rush it through the House.

The Heritage Foundation put together a powerful video with testimony from D.C.’s school children imploring Washington Democrats not to scrap school choice in the nation’s capital:

Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) decried the Democrats’ attempt to kill school choice:

The D.C. school choice program has provided hope for thousands of low-income children in the District of Columbia since it was established, and has been demonstrating results when it comes to parental satisfaction and increased parental involvement.  Eliminating this program would represent an irresponsible and shameful act on the part of the Democratic leadership in Congress, and the children of the District of Columbia deserve better.

The Congressional Democrats’ plan has not gone unnoticed, however.  Today, The Washington Post featured an editorial on the subject, which described the Democrats’ omnibus spending bill as “an ill-disguised bid to kill a program that gives some poor parents a choice regarding where their children go to school.”  The Post goes on to note that “[m]any of the Democrats have never liked vouchers, and it seems they won’t let fairness or the interests of low-income, minority children stand in the way of their politics.  But it also seems they’re too ashamed — and with good reason — to admit to what they’re doing.”

At a time when Americans are hurting, now is not the time to deny families access to a quality education of their choice; it’s also not a time to grow the size and scope of government - especially by paying for it on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

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Boehner Web Video: “We Need Some Spending Sanity Here in Washington”

In a web video released yesterday, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called for spending sanity here in Washington as Democrats move a nearly half-trillion omnibus spending bill through the House.  House Republican leaders yesterday sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) a letter requesting they scrap the omnibus spending bill in favor of legislation that freezes federal spending at current levels and contains no earmarks.  The full web video and text follow:

“Hi, I’m Congressman John Boehner.  We need some spending sanity here in Washington.  You know, we just passed this $800 billion so-called stimulus bill and now we’re about to pass a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill because we didn’t finish our work last year.  There are nine appropriations bills that [Democrats] are going to wrap together that are $30 billion over budget in a bill that contains 9,000 earmarks.  This is absolutely crazy.

“We’ve asked Speaker Pelosi to give us a chance to have a spending freeze for the balance of this year.  It gets rid of all the earmarks and makes it clear that we’re not going to - these agencies don’t need any more spending than what they had last year.  I think at the end of the day, this would be a much more appropriate way in which to spend your money and to show the American people that, listen, if you can live on a budget that’s not any bigger than last year and maybe even smaller, the federal government doesn’t need to increase spending at any of these agencies either.  Hope you have a good day.”

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Congressional Democrats Seek to Top “Stimulus” Spending Sundae with $410 Billion Cherry

On the very same day President Obama is hosting a “fiscal responsibility” summit at the White House, Congressional Democrats are preparing to rush another massive and secretive spending bill through Congress - this one containing the largest permanent, non-emergency, increase in federal spending since the Carter Administration.  If House Democrats get their way, Congress will approve an 8.7% increase in discretionary spending - the biggest bump since 1978, with the exception of a temporary 10% boost in the wake of 9/11.

The Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee have dubbed the massive $410 billion omnibus spending “the cherry on top of the stimulus sundae.”  They’ve broken down the numbers on the omnibus appropriations bill, revealing some very interesting numbers, which can be viewed here, here, and here.

House Republicans have urged Democrats to scrap the massive spending bill and instead called for a federal spending freeze.  As Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the Chief Deputy Republican Whip, said today:

After trillions of taxpayer dollars have been spent for bank bailouts and expanded Washington spending, now is the time for honest budgeting that doesn’t saddle our children’s generation and our grandchildren’s generation with mountains of debt. That is why I join my colleagues in calling for a federal spending freeze to address the growing budget deficit.

The House Democrats’ omnibus spending bill, like its cousin the $1 trillion “stimulus” bill, was kept hidden from public scrutiny until the very last moment - even though Republicans called for the bill to be posted online three weeks ago.

As Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) said, “It’s time that Washington ends its spending spree and live within its means like American families are forced to do.”

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“Stimulus” Drawing Increasing Skepticism from Governors

The so-called “stimulus” package signed into law by President Obama is facing increasing skepticism from some governors, who are reluctant to implement some of the bill’s provisions, which include permanent increases in government spending at the state level - spending which will not have federal support after “stimulus” funds run out.  They’re also echoing a point made by Congressional Republicans: the bill will do little to create and project American jobs.

House Republicans have rightly pointed out that the Democrats’ “stimulus” is nothing more than a spending bill larded up with a laundry list of liberal programs that Democrats have been dreaming of expanding for years.

In his speech on the House Floor on February 13, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) stated that, “my concern is that the plan that’s outlined will not do what we want it to do…We owe it to the American people to get this bill right.  We owe to American families, we owe it to small businesses and we owe it to ourselves to get this right so we can, in fact, help our economy.” (see full speech here)

Governors from across the country criticized the Congressional Democrats’ spending plan this weekend:

Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) on CNN’s “State of the Union”:

If we were to take the unemployment insurance reform package that they have, it would cause us to raise taxes on employment when the money runs out, and the money will run out in a couple of years. And then we’ll have to raise the unemployment insurance tax, which is literally a tax on employment. I mean, we want more jobs. You don’t get more jobs by putting an extra tax on creating jobs.

Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) on NBC’s “Meet the Press”:

The $100 million we turned down was temporary federal dollars that would require us to change our unemployment laws…Why would we take temporary federal dollars if we’re going to end up having a permanent program?  And here’s the problem.  So many of these things that are called temporary programs end up being permanent government programs.

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Photo Album: Boehner-Led CODEL Visits Iraq and Afghanistan

Two weeks ago, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) led a Congressional Delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting the progress the United States and our allies have made in the region combating terrorism while recognizing the challenges that remain in both war-zones.  View the photo album on Flickr here.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Armed Services Committee Ranking Republican John McHugh (R-NY), Intelligence Committee Ranking Republican Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), and Reps. Tom Latham (R-IA) and Jo Bonner (R-AL) joined the trip.

Also while in Afghanistan, Leader Boehner discussed the progress in Iraq and Afghanistan with Fox News’ Chris Wallace. See the video here.

The American people owe a debt of gratitude to the American and Coalition troops who put their lives on the line every day in the defense of freedom.

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Boehner Questions Constitutionality of “Stimulus” Mandate That Undercuts Governors

The pork-laden trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill signed into law by President Obama yesterday includes a controversial provision that allows state legislatures to overrule governors who decline to accept “stimulus” funds for their states, as at least two Republican governors are publicly contemplating.  House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today filed an inquiry with the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) questioning the constitutionality of this federal mandate, which essentially forces taxpayers in all 50 states to swallow Washington’s “stimulus” pork even if they and their governors don’t want it.

Columnist/blogger/activist Michelle Malkin has dubbed the provision the “Punish Mark Sanford Amendment,” since it is conspicuously aimed at Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC).  Governor Sanford has been a vocal opponent of Washington Democrats’ notion that a massive increase in borrowing and spending by the federal government will reverse our nation’s economic recession, while House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) has been one of the leading congressional advocates of the trillion-dollar “porkulus” bill.

“Questions are being raised about the constitutionality of this provision,” the inquiry from Boehner’s office states.  “Is there precedent for such a provision?  Are there other major federal laws that have included such an ‘override’ provision?”

Here is the specific language of the “Punish Mark Sanford amendment,” as signed into law by President Obama:

SEC. 1607.  (a) CERTIFICATION BY GOVERNOR - Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, for funds provided to any State or agency thereof, the Governor of the State shall certify that: 1) the State request and use funds provided by this Act , and; 2) funds be used to create jobs and promote economic growth.

(b) ACCEPTANCE BY STATE LEGISLATURE - If funds provided to any State in any division of this Act are not accepted for use by the Governor, then acceptance by the State legislature, by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution, shall be sufficient to provide funding to such State.

We’ll keep you posted.

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So-Called “Employee Free Choice Act” Would Eliminate Workers’ Secret Ballot

According to press reports, Blue Dog Democrats are calling for the Senate to take up the anti-worker “Employee Free Choice Act” - better known as “card check” - before the House, in order to avoid voting twice for an unpopular measure strongly backed by union bosses.  After spending $450 million to elect pro-union Democrats last year, unions are looking to cash in on their investment.

The aim of the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” (EFCA) is to dramatically expand union membership through coercion and other questionable tactics by eliminating the secret ballot and replacing it with a system of “card checks.”  It would allow unions to intimidate workers by pressuring them to sign a card stating that they want to join a union.  Workers would never have the option of voting against union membership, and millions of workers could be forced into a union without even getting the chance to vote on the matter.

Any wonder that three out of four voters (74%) oppose the “The Employee Free Choice Act?”

Last Congress, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and other Republicans fought to preserve the secret ballot for workers, stating that, “The secret ballot election is a cornerstone of our American democracy.”  Republicans will continue to insist that the right to a secret ballot should not be infringed upon.

Leader Boehner spoke out against “card check” nearly two years ago:

“Employees should be able to vote their conscience in a private ballot election, free from intimidation or fear of retribution,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce.  “Members of Congress should not deny workers the freedom to choose.”The Chamber of Commerce stated in a press release that:

[The] EFCA would effectively eliminate the secret ballot election for union organizing and force workers to make the important decision about whether or not to unionize in front of union organizers.  It would invite intimidation and coercion; lead to widespread disenfranchisement of workers who may oppose unionization by cutting them out of the process; and limit an employer’s ability to counter false and misleading rhetoric.  EFCA also radically alters collective bargaining by allowing unions to end good faith negotiations and force employers into binding interest arbitration to set all the terms and conditions of a union contract, not just wages and benefits, but work rules, management rights clauses, and how union dues are collected.  Finally, EFCA imposes new penalties only on employer misconduct, not on union misconduct.

The National Restaurant Association is also vehemently opposed to “card check” legislation.  They list three reasons to oppose the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act”:

1.  A card-check process increases the risk of coercion.
2.  Private ballots are a basic American right.
3.  An employee’s decision to join a union should be made in private.

Even George McGovern - the 1972 Democratic nominee for president - opposes card check.

That should indicate just how far-left the “card check” bill is.  Americans should not be denied their right to a secret ballot to benefit union bosses.

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Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) Pores Over 1,073-page “Stimulus”

Representative Tom Price (R-Ga.), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, pores through the 1,073 page “stimulus” bill the Democrats made available at 10 p.m. last night.  The House will vote on the “stimulus” today, less than 14 hours after having unveiled the bill to the American people – breaking the Democrats’ pledge on Tuesday that the bill would be posted online for 48 hours before the House voted on it.Chairman Price’s outstanding video is the latest example of how House Republicans are making aggressive use of new social media tools such as YouTube and Facebook to take the GOP message of freedom and responsibility to the American people, and using the internet to hold the Democratic majority accountable for its actions.  Technology gives the American people a new window into the inner workings of their government, making it easier for them to blow the whistle on backroom deals such as the trillion-dollar, special-interest pork-laden spending bill hammered out by congressional Democrats behind closed doors this week.  “YouTube and other new media tools let us provide you with a level of access and transparency that has never been seen before in government,” Boehner noted in a recent web video of his own promoting the new congressional YouTube “HouseHub.”

You can check out the Leader’s own “stimulus”-related web videos HERE and HERE.  Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) has also been using video technology to promote House Republicans’ plans for a smarter, simpler “stimulus.”  And led by Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) and Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), dozens of other House Republicans have been utilizing web video to expose the massive flaws in the Democrats’ trillion-dollar spending package and to spread the word about Republicans’ alternative plan, which would create twice as many American jobs at half the cost.

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