Jul 18, 2012
Speaker Boehner: Look into the Mirror
Today, Speaker John Boehner said President Obama “doesn’t give a damn about middle class Americans who are out there looking for work.” Speaker Boehner doesn’t want to admit that it is his Republican Majority that has been hostile to middle class families and job creation with repeated votes to protect tax breaks for millionaires, Big Oil, and companies shipping jobs overseas, an agenda they have focused on instead of creating jobs, protecting Medicare and strengthening the middle class. In fact, it was even Speaker Boehner himself who said “so be it” when it came to job losses.
“If Speaker John Boehner wants to know who doesn’t give a damn about the middle class, he should look into the mirror or out in the audience at his House Republican Caucus meetings,” said Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “This Republican Majority has been relentlessly and recklessly hostile to the middle class — giving more tax breaks to millionaires, Big Oil, and companies shipping jobs overseas, at the expense of Medicare and job creation for the middle class. Now, House Republicans are holding hostage tax cuts for 98% of Americans just so they can try to give the ultra wealthy another tax break.”
Background
House Republicans Voted For a Bill That Would Have Cost Us 700,000 Jobs. On February 19, 2011, House Republicans voted for a bill meant to fund the federal government through the end fiscal year 2011. According to Mark Zandi, the chief economist from Moody’s Analytics and a one of John McCain’s presidential campaign advisors, “The House Republicans' proposal would reduce 2011 real GDP growth by 0.5% and 2012 growth by 0.2 percentage points. This would mean some 400,000 fewer jobs created by the end of 2011 and 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2012.” [HR 1, Vote #147, 2/19/11; Economy.com, 2/28/11]
John Boehner: If Federal Jobs are Lost, ‘So Be It.’ “Over the last two years since President Obama has taken office, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs,” Boehner said. “And if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it. We're broke. It's time for us to get serious about how we're spending the nation's money.” [Washington Post, 2/15/11]
House Republican Voted for Budget That Would Cost 2 to 3 Million Jobs Over 5 Years. On April 15, 2011, House Republicans voted in support of a budget, which according to the Wall Street Journal, “would essentially end Medicare.” Using a standard macroeconomic model that is consistent with private- and public-sector forecasters, The Economic Policy Institute found that the $207 billion cut would result in a loss of 2.1 million jobs over the next five years, or 2.9 million full-time equivalent jobs. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11; Economy.com, 4/14/11]
House Republicans Voted Against Adding the Currency Reform; Potentially Costing Us 1.6 Million Jobs. On October 12, 2011, House Republicans voted against adding the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act to the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act. The move would have allowed the U.S. Government to impose tariffs on goods produced in countries that “fundamentally” undervalue their currencies. If only China revalued by 28.5%, the growth in U.S. GDP would support 1,631,000 U.S. jobs. [HR 3078, Vote #780, 10/12/11; CQ Floor Votes; Congressional Record, p. H6836, 10/12/11; Economic Policy Institute, 6/17/11]
House Republicans Voted for “Cut, Cap, and Balance,” Which Would Eliminate 700,000 Jobs. On July 19, 2011, House Republicans voted for “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act,” a bill whose goal is to limit federal outlays to 18 percent of gross domestic product. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “these cuts would equal 0.7 percent of the projected Gross Domestic Product in fiscal year 2012 and would thus cause the loss of roughly 700,000 jobs in the current weak economy, relative to what the number of jobs otherwise would be.” Similarly, Scripps Howard News Service described the proposal as “both simplistic and economically destructive.” [HR 2560, Vote #606, 7/19/11; HR 2560, 7/19/11; HR Res 1, Report No. 112-117, 6/23/11; SJ Res 10; 3/31/11; HJ Res 56; 4/7/11; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/16/11; Scripps Howard News Service Editorial, 7/5/11]
New York Times: House Republicans Used Disaster Aid to Hold Country Hostage. On September 27, 2011, the New York Times wrote that battle over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget was a “phony fight” and “the latest excuse for House Republicans to slash domestic programs they don’t like and momentarily defuses their threat to shut down the entire government to get their way.” [New York Times Editorial, 9/27/11]
Speaker Boehner Called Plan Extending the Payroll Tax Break “Chicken-S---”. According to people attending a closed-door with Republican House leadership, Speaker Boehner claimed his plan to add a “slew” of Republican policies to an payroll tax break extension, was a of turning “chicken-sh—into chicken salad.” [Politico, 12/2/11]
House Republicans’ Proposed Plan to Destroy 4.1 Million Jobs. On March 29, 2012, House Republicans voted for a budget that “aggressively” slows job growth. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the House Republican plan would cut discretionary programs by about $120 billion over the next two years and mandatory programs by $284 billion, “sucking demand out of the economy when it most needs it and leading to job loss.” Using a standard macroeconomic model, the shock to aggregate demand from near-term spending cuts would result in roughly 1.3 million jobs lost in 2013 and 2.8 million jobs lost in 2014, or 4.1 million jobs through 2014.” [H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; Economic Policy Institute, 3/21/12]
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