[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Boehner) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOEHNER. I welcome my colleagues to St. Patrick's Day and I hope 
everyone has a happy one.
  Madam Speaker, we are 2 months into this Congress, and Washington has 
done nothing to ease the economic challenges facing middle class 
families and small businesses.
  We've watched the administration approve another $350 billion for 
more bailouts for the financial industry, and we've watched passage of 
a trillion-dollar ``stimulus'' bill, and then we've watched the passage 
of a $410 billion omnibus bill loaded with some 9,000 unscrutinized 
earmarks.
  Soon we are going to debate the President's budget, a budget which 
spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and 
our grandkids. This budget raises taxes on everyone, from middle class 
families to small businesses, to seniors and to schools. It even 
punishes anyone who would have the audacity to flip on a light switch 
thanks to a brand new $646 billion energy tax. This means less money in 
the family budget and more jobs being shipped overseas.
  The American people are looking for real solutions that will help 
create jobs, rebuild savings, and create more investment in our 
economy. And in spite of what some disingenuous political operatives 
are saying, Republicans are offering better solutions.
  So far this year, we've presented clear, superior alternatives to 
Washington Democrats' flawed proposals. We've asked the administration 
for an exit strategy to get the government back out of the private 
sector and get taxpayers off the hook for more billions in handouts to 
the financial sector. Our whip, Eric Cantor, and I personally delivered 
to the President an economic recovery plan that would create twice as 
many jobs as the Democrats' plan at half the cost. And we fought for a 
spending freeze as the majority fought for their bloated $410 billion 
omnibus spending bill.
  Listen, the American people are fed up with what they're seeing here 
in Washington. Don't they deserve to keep more of what they earn as we 
try to get this economy back on track? Don't they deserve better 
solutions than the spending, taxing, and borrowing that they're seeing 
out of this Congress?
  Republicans are offering better solutions, and we hope the majority 
will join us.

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