House Republican Leaders Outline $375 Billion in Federal Savings in Proposal for President Obama

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today sent a proposal to President Obama outlining $375 billion in taxpayer savings over the next five years. The savings proposal comes after a White House meeting in which the GOP leaders pledged to deliver to the President a plan that expands upon his initial proposal to trim the federal budget. Boehner issued the following statement on the leaders’ proposal:

“We hope the President will work with us to make the reforms outlined in this proposal as the first step in a serious bipartisan effort to crack down on unnecessary and duplicative spending by the federal government. The federal government is too big and wastes much of the money it takes from middle-class families and small businesses. In today’s tough economy, we owe it to taxpayers to get serious about changing the way in which Washington spends their hard-earned money. I commend Rep. Cantor and Members of the House GOP’s Economic Recovery Solutions Group for their work in crafting this proposal and for their ongoing effort to control spending, create jobs, and curb the debt.”


June 4, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

Per our last bipartisan leadership meeting on April 23rd, enclosed please find a list of proposals that we believe could generate significant savings for American taxpayers.

As we have expressed to you, we are greatly troubled by the spending and deficit levels adopted in the recent budget. We believe this level of spending and borrowing is not only unsustainable, but unfair towards hard-working American families who will see increased mortgage costs as a result of our reckless borrowing and to future generations who will be required to pay for this profligate spending.

In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke raised similar concerns stating, “Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth."

Of course, reducing spending is never easy. In 2005 when Congressional Republicans enacted the Deficit Reduction Act, which saved taxpayers $40 billion over five years, not one single Democrat in the House or Senate supported the bill. The proposed terminations and reductions your Administration released last month garnered immediate opposition from many Democrats. Likewise, the proposals we have put forward here will not be supported by all Republicans. However, if we work together, we are confident that we can come up with a common-sense package of entitlement reforms, program terminations, and spending reductions that will generate significant savings for the American taxpayer and reduce our current deficit. For example, enactment of the proposals we have outlined in the enclosed document could save taxpayers in excess of $375 billion.

We will continue to work with our Members to identify other potential areas for savings. We firmly believe that given the gravity of the current fiscal situation both parties must dedicate themselves to a sustained program to root out wasteful and unnecessary spending and reforming entitlement programs.

We look forward to working with you in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

John Boehner Eric Cantor
Republican Leader Republican Whip

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