Hensarling Statement on Third Anniversary of Failed "Stimulus" Bill
Hensarling: “He got the spending he asked for, but the American people didn’t get the jobs they were promised.”
WASHINGTON – House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) today issued the following statement marking tomorrow as the third anniversary of President Obama signing the trillion-dollar economic “stimulus” bill into law.
“The stimulus is a stark reminder of how the president got the policies he wanted, and how those policies have failed the American people and are making things worse.
“The president told us that if the government spent more money, unemployment would be at six percent today. He got the trillions of dollars of spending he asked for, but the American people didn’t get the jobs they were promised.
“The president promised by the end of his first term he would cut the deficit in half. Instead, it’s more than doubled and we’re hitting our fourth year of trillion-dollar deficits.
“Unemployment has now been above 8 percent for 36 straight months – the longest period of sustained high unemployment since the Great Depression. The number of Americans on food stamps is at an all-time high, while the number of new business start-ups is at a 17-year low. Nearly half of our fellow citizens are now classified as living in either low income or poverty.
“If nothing else, the president’s failures help prove that we cannot tax, spend, borrow, or bail out our way to economic prosperity. But instead of learning the mistakes of the past, the president is intent on repeating them by offering another budget that includes the largest tax increase in American history.
“Because the president is unable to tout his failed policies, he has turned to the politics of division and envy, calling for more tax hikes on job creators at a time when we can least afford it. There is nothing fair about continuing to borrow nearly 40 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and sending the bill to our children and grandchildren. There is nothing fair about spending more money we don’t have for economic growth that never comes.
“President Obama’s major policies—such as the ‘stimulus’—were tried and failed. It’s time to consider new ideas, such as the nearly-30 bipartisan jobs bills already passed under the House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators awaiting the Democrat-run Senate’s approval. It is time for the president and his party to give our ideas the support they need so that the American people can get the jobs and economic recovery they deserve.”
###
For additional information, contact:
House Republican Conference Press Office (conferencepress@mail.house.gov)
