House GOP to Force Vote on Federal Government Spending Freeze TODAY

Today’s jobs report is yet another reminder of how much families and small businesses are hurting. Their savings are evaporating, their job prospects are weakening, and their costs of living are rising. Consequently, they are being forced to make difficult budget decisions each and every day.

Isn’t it time for Washington to make some tough budget choices as well?

For the last several weeks, as the $410 billion “omnibus” spending bill has made its way through Congress, House Republicans have been calling for a spending freeze for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in September. After all, if American families are making difficult choices about how to cut their family budgets, shouldn’t Congress and the Administration do the same?

During today’s debate on a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running until early next week – a resolution that’s necessary while congressional Democrats determine exactly how they plan to enact the $410 billion monstrosity – House Republicans will offer a simple, straightforward federal spending freeze as a motion to recommit proposal.

What does the spending freeze mean? For starters, it means taxpayers won’t be forced to bankroll the some 9,000 unscrutinized earmarks loaded into the omnibus spending bill. It also means Americans won’t have to shoulder the financial burden of the largest discretionary spending hike since the Carter Administration (save for a brief increase after the September 11 terrorist attacks). It would simply keep the federal government running for the rest of the fiscal year without the massive spending increases Washington Democrats are seeking....
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=113593

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Boehner: White House Politicization of Census Will Taint Results, Open Door to Massive Waste of Taxpayer Funds

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) joined other House Republicans today at a press conference to urge President Barack Obama to reconsider an unprecedented plan by the White House to move control of the Census Bureau and the 2010 Census from the Commerce Department to political operatives on the White House staff. Boehner issued the following statement after the press conference:

“Yesterday, led by Ranking Member Issa, we wrote to President Obama urging him to reconsider a plan to hand over control of the 2010 Census to political operatives in the White House. This unprecedented move would undermine the goal of a fair and accurate Census count. And it would open the door to massive waste and abuse of taxpayer funds.

“The American people expect the Census to be fair, impartial, and free of politics. And they expect us to protect the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars the government distributes each year based on Census data. If this process is controlled by political operatives at the White House, instead of experts and statisticians at the Census Bureau, Americans are right to lose confidence in it.

“This is a time when we should be working together to eliminate government waste and protect every single taxpayer dollar. Politicizing the Census makes this impossible. The American people deserve better.”

NOTE: Yesterday, Boehner and other House Republican leaders sent a letter to President Obama saying that politicization of the Census will “undermine the goal of a fair and accurate Census count” and “open the door to massive waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer funds.” An estimated $300 billion in federal funds are distributed annually on the basis of U.S. Census data, according to Census officials.

The letter was signed by Boehner and the entire House GOP elected leadership team, Oversight & Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrel Issa (R-CA), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Administration Ranking Member Dan Lungren (R-CA), Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC), and Census Task Force Chairman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).

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House GOP Leaders Call for Democrats to Post Massive Omnibus Spending Bill Online

In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Republican leaders yesterday formally asked that the massive FY 2009 omnibus spending bill be posted online immediately. Posting the massive bill online would allow the American people to study the contents of the bill between now and the week after President’s Day, when the $500 billion legislation is scheduled to be brought to a vote, and would be consistent with President Obama’s call for greater transparency in government, Republican leaders noted.

“In the face of the highest deficit in our Nation’s history, the Majority has asked the American taxpayers to fund nearly $1.5 trillion in new government spending in just four short weeks. And yet now the Majority plans to spend hundreds of billions more without yet sharing the content of the bill with Republican Members or the public,” GOP leaders wrote. “In the midst of a severe recession, taxpayers have a right to see each provision of this legislation and evaluate the merit of each dollar of government spending their children and grandchildren are being required to fund.”

NOTE: The letter was signed by Reps. John Boehner (R-OH), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), John Carter (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Roy Blunt (R-MO), David Dreier (R-CA), and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

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Boehner Taps Blunt to Chair House GOP Health Care Task Force

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today announced that Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) will chair a Health Care Task Force, which is charged by Leader Boehner with crafting Republican solutions to increase Americans’ access to quality, affordable health care and highlighting the consequences that a government-run health care system would have for American families. The Task Force will begin meeting this week.

“Health care costs are too high, access is too limited, and American families and small businesses are looking to their leaders in Washington for free-market solutions, not a government-dominated health care bureaucracy,” said Boehner. “House Republicans will not be content to be ‘the party of no.’ Instead, we will be the party of better solutions, and few issues demand more positive solutions than our nation’s health care crisis. Roy Blunt is uniquely qualified to chair this Task Force, which will help shape innovative House Republican health care solutions at a time when the American people need them most.”

Blunt said, “Republicans are committed to making health care more affordable, more accessible and offer more options to American families. Unfortunately, the only options we’ve seen so far from this Congress would push us to a one-size-fits-all government-run system. Through this working group, Republicans will develop real solutions to improve our health care system by putting patients before paperwork and frivolous lawsuits. I am honored that the Republican Leader has asked me to lead a group of talented members who I know will be active participants in this important debate.”

NOTE: Members of the House GOP Health Care Task Force are:

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Chairman
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA)
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)

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House Republicans Press Treasury Secretary Geithner for TARP “Exit Strategy”

House Republican leaders today wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, inquiring about the Obama Administration’s “exit strategy” from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). The letter comes as Geithner and other Administration officials are determining how to use the second $350 billion installment of TARP funds President Obama requested last month and whether to request additional taxpayer funds beyond the initial $700 billion authorized last year.

“Because the Administration has committed itself to assisting the auto industry, satisfying commitments made by the previous Administration, and devoting up to $100 billion to mitigate mortgage foreclosures, it has been reported that President Obama might need more than the $700 billion authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (‘EESA’) to fund a ‘bad bank’ to absorb hard-to-value toxic assets,” wrote the leaders. “In light of these commitments – which come at a time when the Federal Reserve is flooding the financial system with trillions of dollars and the Congress is finalizing a fiscal stimulus that is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1.1 trillion – it is not surprising that the American people are asking where it all ends, and whether anyone in Washington is looking out for their wallets.”

Specifically, the leaders asked Secretary Geithner to provide answers to six questions before the Administration determines the next steps for the TARP program, including:

1. How does the Administration plan to maximize taxpayer value and guarantee the most effective distribution of the remaining $350 billion of TARP funds?

2. How is the Administration lending, assessing risk, selecting institutions for assistance, and determining expectations for repayment?

3. Will the Administration opt for a complex “bad bank” rescue plan? How can the “bad bank” efficiently price assets and minimize taxpayer risk? Will financial institutions be required to give substantial ownership stakes to the Federal government to participate in the program?

4. Is a “bad bank” plan an intermediate step that leads to nationalizing America’s banks?

5. Can you elaborate on your plans for the use of an insurance program for toxic assets? Specifically, will you seek to price insurance programs to ensure that taxpayer interests are protected? If so, how will you do so?

6. What is the exit strategy for the government’s sweeping involvement in the financial markets?

“Indeed, a bipartisan majority of the House – 171 Republicans and 99 Democrats – recently expressed the same concerns, voting to disapprove releasing the final $350 billion from the TARP,” the leaders concluded. “As we noted in our December 2, 2008 letter to then-Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, we realize that changing conditions require agility in developing responses. However, the seemingly ad hoc implementation of TARP has led many to wonder if uncertainty is being added to markets at precisely the time when they are desperately seeking a sense of direction.”

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