House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today held a press briefing in advance of President Obama’s news conference scheduled for this evening. At the briefing, Boehner challenged the President’s assertions about Republicans and noted that the GOP has presented alternative ideas directly to the President on every major issue where there has been disagreement this year – and will offer a better budget solution later this week.
“I think a lot of Americans believe that our economy is in a crisis. Americans are looking to Washington for solutions. The President has offered a budget that will, in my opinion, hurt our economy and destroy the very jobs that we’re trying to save and to try to create. And I believe Republicans were offering better ideas to the President in hopes of building a better budget.
“This is today’s front page the Louisville Courier-Journal. If you read it you probably won’t be surprised that the President will probably say this again tonight in his press conference. With all due respect, Mr. President, the statement is not true, plain and simple. Your budget spends too much, it taxes too much and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids, and I believe Republicans are offering a better solution.
“Last week, I released a video — a YouTube video outlining our budget principles and laying the groundwork for the alternative budget that we will release later this week. Our alternative will create jobs by allowing American families and small businesses to keep more of what they earn, ensure that the federal budget doesn’t grow faster than the family budget, expand access to health care while preserving Social Security and Medicare, end the bailouts to protect taxpayers and reform the financial system, encourage an all-of-the-above energy strategy to make us energy independent, and to fight inflation so the prices of goods and services that American depend upon will remain stable.
“Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve offered better solutions, and the President knows that. Eric Cantor and I personally delivered to the President our stimulus proposal at the White House in January. Our plan would create twice as many jobs at half the cost as the President’s plan, and that’s even according to an economic analysis by his chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. And what was the response? The White House pretended they never even saw it.
“At a time when our economy is in serious recession, I think Americans deserve better. They need solutions, not distortions. The fact is the President’s budget spends too much, taxes too much and it borrows too much. It raises taxes on every American family and small business. It includes irresponsible levels of spending, reaching $5.1 trillion 10 years out. And if you look at the spending in this budget, you can begin to see how out of control this spending cycle is, and it doubles the debt on our kids and grandkids over the next six years. If you look at these debt figures, you can see this. This is all of the debt through 2008 that’s been accumulated in our country by 43 Presidents in 220 years in our history, and the President’s budget will double that over the next six years.
“I just think that this may be the most irresponsible piece of legislation I’ve seen in my legislative career. It’s an irresponsible plan that only makes the crisis we’re in worse. But when it’s all said and done, I think it’s time for a do-over. We need to start this budget process all over again. And I will hope that the President will work with us to build a responsible budget that will help strengthen our economy and put Americans back to work again.”
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