Boehner, others say House Dems pursuing 'job-killing agenda'

Boehner, others say House Dems pursuing 'job-killing agenda'

House Republican leaders have released a report accusing Democrats of waging a "war on American jobs" with tax hikes and wasteful spending projects -- even though American voters, says one GOP leader, made it clear in the 2006 elections that they wanted Washington to change the way it does business.

Top House Republicans say American families' concerns about a vulnerable economy and their job security are justified now that Democrats have approved more than $200 billion in new taxes over the next decade. GOP lawmakers have unveiled a report that claims these and other tax increases proposed by Democrats threaten more than 16 million American jobs.

At a press conference yesterday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) noted that under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership, Democrats have passed nearly $180 billion in new entitlement spending and pork-barrel projects like a Hippie Museum in Woodstock, New York. "American families are feeling the pinch of spiking gas prices, soaring healthcare costs, and other costs of living increases," Boehner noted. "And rather than working together to address their concerns, Democrats seem to be determined to make matters worse."

Speaking at the same press conference, Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) chided Democrats for raising taxes and increasing spending at a time when the average American is projected to spend $2,000 more on their winter heating bill than they would have otherwise.

"The agenda is clear," said the Missouri lawmaker. "It's beginning to have an impact on the economy. Votes on tax increases almost every week; votes on greater liability almost every week; energy discussions that clearly are not designed to produce any new energy -- all have a negative impact on the job-created environment that we benefited from for the last six years."

Blunt stated that energy prices are affected by future speculation, and "every roadmap out there that the Democrats lay down for the future of energy is a bad one."

And Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) argued that the Democrat-led Congress has continued the same tax-and-spend policies they have promoted for decades. He accused House Democrats of "looking to the government for all the answers."

"There's $180 billion of additional pork projects that have already been authorized by the House Democrats," he pointed out, "and it is this sort of insatiable appetite for more spending that has spurred the need for these tremendous proposals involving tax hikes on the American family." Cantor says instead of imposing a higher tax burden on Americans, Congress should be trying to respond to public anxiety over soaring gas bills, home mortgages, and saving for college.

One of several examples of Democrats' pork-barrel spending listed in the GOP report is a $2 million earmark in the defense spending bill for a non-profit group researching yoga, "bioenergy," and alternative medicines.