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Posted by
Press Office
on
December 30, 2011
When President Obama signed the ‘stimulus’ into law nearly three years ago, he did so backed by his Administration’s promise that it would keep the unemployment rate below eight percent. In the same month, he pledged to cut the deficit in half, saying he refused “to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay -- and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.” Unfortunately, President Obama and Washington Democrats have failed to live up to their promises, piling more debt on future generations, and making it harder for the economy to create jobs. Here’s a look at the Obama Administration’s real economic record:
Persistently High Unemployment & Fewer American Jobs:
More Debt & Record-Breaking Deficits:
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 23, 2011
Please take a minute to watch a special holiday message from Congressman Boehner. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 22, 2011
House Republicans are working to give the typical American family a tax cut of $1,000 by extending payroll tax relief for a full year. Senate Democrats and President Obama, on the other hand, are pushing a plan that will create more uncertainty for small business job creators and raise taxes on American families in March. Congressman Boehner has warned all year against short-term Washington gimmicks and quick fixes that create uncertainty and threaten American jobs. For example:
Job creators and tax experts alike say Senate Democrats’ short-term bill threatens jobs. Another article out today explains how the two-month Senate bill “would require extensive new record-keeping, and multiple calculations of employees’ wages,” creating more uncertainty at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work. The House-passed payroll tax relief bill is the only one that prevents a tax hike on families next year and won’t create more uncertainty for small businesses. That’s why the House voted to reject the short-term Senate bill and start immediate negotiations with Senate Democrats. Senate Democrats have a responsibility to start working with the House to get this done immediately, before the end of the year, and prevent an unnecessary tax hike on families struggling in President Obama’s economy.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 22, 2011
Congressman Boehner called in to the Michael Medved Show earlier today to discuss House efforts to extend payroll tax relief for a full year, and noted that the short-term Senate bill will create more “uncertainty for job creators at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work.” Below is several key excerpts from the interview:
Boehner: Short-Term Senate Bill Will Create More Uncertainty for Job Creators: “Listen, Americans are tired of Washington’s short-term fixes and gimmicks which create uncertainty for job creators at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work. So we agree that it needs to be extended for a full year; we did it; and I’m afraid that what the Senate wants to do is the same old ‘kick the can down the road’ ‘we’ll get around to it when we can.’
Boehner: House Republicans Have Done Exactly What President Obama Asked For: A Full-Year Extension: “Everybody in Washington wants to extend the payroll tax credit. I think it’s the right thing to do. And everyone over the last several months has committed to getting it done, and to do what the president asked for. The president asked for us to lengthen this payroll tax credit for another year. House Republicans produced a bill to do just that. The real fight here is over whether we want a two month short-term fix or whether we want to do this the right way.” Boehner: Republicans Are Here & Ready to Negotiate With Senate Democrats: “I know Christmas is coming close. I talked to the president just a little while ago and told the president: ‘Mr. President … our negotiators are here ready to resolve the differences. We can get this resolved. All we need is for you to tell Harry Reid to bring the Democrats back and let’s get to work.’ But he’s not willing to do that. … I’ve got eight people ready to negotiate. We’re ready to sit down and resolve these differences. And the sooner we do it, the better off we’ll be.” Boehner: House-Passed Bill Is Paid For While Extending & Reforming Unemployment Insurance a Full Year and Protecting Social Security: “We freeze federal pay raises for the next three years, including Members of Congress – their pay raises and their budgets. We make other changes that would reduce spending over the next several years in order to make sure that we’ve got the money to replenish the Social Security Trust Fund because this payroll tax credit – this is money that would be going into the Social Security Trust Fund – we don’t want to cause more problems there and so it’s important for us to offset this spending, and the disagreement is in the offsets, so just changing the date on the bill means that, you know, we’re adding to the deficit and it also means that we get no reforms in the unemployment Insurance fund which is also critically important.” Boehner: House Voted to Reject Senate Bill, Begin Negotiations on Full-Year Payroll Tax Cut Extension: “There was a vote on the Senate bill yesterday. When we voted, the vote was to reject the Senate bill and to ask for a formal conference with the Senate. That was the motion, that was the vote; pure and simple.” Boehner: Republicans Are the Party of Lower Taxes, & Smaller, More Accountable Government: “We are the party of lower taxes, we have been for 30 years and that’s not going to change. And I think the American people know which party it is that is out there always fighting for lower taxes, a smaller government and a more accountable government.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 22, 2011
Bipartisan legislation extending payroll tax relief for working Americans will now include a fix secured by House Republicans that ensures small businesses, already struggling in the current economy, won’t face added confusion and compliance costs. Without this fix, employers would have been hit with a costly new reporting burden that independent tax experts have warned against and employees’ tax cuts would have been in doubt at a time when millions of Americans are already out of work.
THE PROBLEM:
HOUSE GOP SOLUTION: Under the House fix, employers will be able to process and withhold payroll taxation under the same accounting structure that is currently in place. No costly payroll systems or updates will be required. While this two-month extension still falls short of providing the certainty Americans need, this solution will at minimum prevent small businesses from bearing a new administrative burden and ensure American workers will see their tax relief as soon as possible. Just as important, the Senate will now join the House in immediately appointing conferees to reach agreements in the weeks ahead on a full-year payroll tax extension.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 21, 2011
Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) met with the eight House Republican negotiatorsappointed to work with Senate Democrats on extending payroll tax relief for a full year. Boehner said Senate Democrats should appoint negotiators too and help prevent a tax hike on middle class families -- without hurting small business job creators, as the short-term Senate bill would do:
Last week, the House passed a bipartisan bill extending payroll tax relief for a full year. The bill reformed and extended unemployment insurance for a full year, protected Social Security, and would help create new jobs as well. After Senate Democrats passed a short-term two month bill, the House voted to start negotiating with the Senate now so this important matter could be resolved before the end of the year. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have so far refused to appoint negotiators. As Speaker Boehner wrote this morning in USA Today, “We hope the president, who has repeatedly said he won't go on vacation until this matter is resolved, will urge Senate Democrats to change their minds.”
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 20, 2011
Today the House of Representatives will seek to extend payroll tax relief for a full year to help families and job creators by moving to a formal conference committee that can resolve the differences between the House and Senate-passed bills.
Early last week, the House passed a reasonable, responsible bill that extends payroll tax relief for a full year, reforms and extends unemployment insurance, and includes a two-year “doc fix” while also advancing bipartisan measures that support private-sector job creation – “exactly what the president asked us to do,” noted Congressman Boehner. Senate Democrats, on the other hand, proposed a short-term two-month payroll tax cut extension that non-partisan tax experts call “unworkable” and say could “create substantial problems, confusion, and costs” for job creators.That’s why the House will vote today to reject the short-term Senate proposal and appoint conferees to hammer out an agreement between the House and the Senate. This chart from the House Ways & Means Committee compares the House and Senate-passed bills:
President Obama says he won’t go on vacation until the payroll tax bill is done and says Congress shouldn’t either. Even Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) said on December 7, “We’re not going to leave town until [the payroll tax cut is] complete…” House Republicans agree. “[T]he best way to resolve the difference between the two-month extension and the full-year bill,” says Speaker Boehner, “is to follow the regular order here in Congress. When there’s a disagreement between the two chambers we sit down in a conference and resolve those differences.” By appointing conferees to a formal conference committee now, the House will have taken an important step toward finishing this important payroll tax relief and jobs measure before the end of the year. After today, Senate Democratic leaders have two choices: 1) stay on vacation and watch as their refusal to negotiate leads to tax increases on middle-class families. Or 2) return to Washington and do the jobs their constituents sent them here to do. The House is here and ready to work. We hope Senate Democrats will join us.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 19, 2011
Today, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that Senate Democrats would not interrupt their vacation to return to Washington and work with Republicans to ensure American families and small businesses are not hit with a job-crushing tax hike in 12 days. But Republicans are not the only ones saying the full-year payroll tax cut extension must be done before Congress goes on vacation – President Obama has made that clear many times:
Like President Obama and several other Democrats, Republicans believe the American people “can’t wait” for Congress to act on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut. The Senate-passed measure – which extends the payroll tax cut for only two months – “creates uncertainty and will cause problems for people who are trying to create jobs in the private sector,” Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) said today. Speaker Boehner also announced that Republicans will hold a vote this evening on legislation requesting a formal conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the payroll tax cut extension. Sen. Reid should honor President Obama’s request, and work with Republicans to extend the payroll tax break for the American people - instead of worrying about a holiday break for Senate Democrats. The clock is ticking.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 19, 2011
Americans are tired of Washington’s short-term fixes and gimmicks, which are piling uncertainty on job creators at a time when millions are already out of work. Democrats and Republicans agree the payroll tax cut needs to be extended for a full year to provide relief for Americans struggling in President Obama's economy. Congressman Boehner, who used to run a small business in the private sector, where he met a payroll, and hired workers, reiterated this morning that a mere two-month extension of the payroll tax cut creates further uncertainty:
“Boehner Builds Case for Longer Tax Cut Extension. A two-month extension, by contrast, ‘causes uncertainty for job creators,’ he said. That will dilute its economic impact. ‘The idea that tax policy can be done two months at a time is the kind of activity that we see here in Washington that has really put our economy off its tracks,” Boehner said.” (Portfolio.com, 12/19/11) “House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Monday morning that the House is poised to defeat a Senate-passed bill to extend the payroll tax cut for two months and instead will send the bill to a bicameral conference committee, because, Boehner said, the Senate bill “creates uncertainty” for the U.S. economy.” (The Washington Post, 12/19/11) “The House intends to vote down a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that cleared the Senate late last week, Speaker John Boehner said Monday, and request immediate negotiations on a full-year renewal that can provide ‘certainty for people who are trying to create jobs.’” (Associated Press, 12/19/11) “A two-month extension ‘causes uncertainty for job creators,’ Boehner told reporters, adding that House and Senate lawmakers should sit down and ‘do our work.’” (USA TODAY, 12/19/11) “House Speaker John A. Boehner said Monday the House will insist on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut… He said that doing tax cuts in two-month increments doesn’t give the economy certainty.” (The Washington Times, 12/19/11) “Boehner repeated that he believes the two-month deal ‘creates uncertainty for job creators.’ ‘Americans are tired of Washington's short-term fixes and gimmicks,’ he said.” (Los Angeles Times, 12/19/11) “Boehner said on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday that a two-month extension would create uncertainty for workers and employers at a critical time for the economy.” (Reuters, 12/19/11) Tonight the House is expected to officially decline the Senate proposal and instead vote to formally move to a conference committee – the formal process in which the House & Senate can resolve differences between two bills. At the same time, the House is set to take up a measure that reinforces the need to extend the payroll tax relief for one year to provide certainty to job creators.
Posted by
Press Office
on
December 19, 2011
Earlier today, the House approved H. Res. 497, a resolution sponsored by Congressman Boehner to provide for the placement of a bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the Capitol. Next week marks 70 years since Churchill addressed a joint meeting of Congress in the Senate chamber. Churchill holds the record for most appearances by a foreign leader before Congress.
Congressman Boehner appeared on the floor to express support for the resolution: December 26, 2011 marks the 70th Anniversary of Winston Churchill’s address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. Less than three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill arrived in Washington to begin coordinating military strategy with the president and leaders of Congress. |