June 11, 2010 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) | Permalink

No worries, it’s just “inside baseball,” one House Democrat said dismissively last month regarding his party’s inability to produce an annual budget.  After a relentless, weeks-long Republican offensive, however, Democrats’ budget meltdown has  become the focal point of taxpayers’ backlash against Washington’s job-killing spending spree.  Nearly two-thirds of Americans now say Congress’s failure to pass a budget means that it is “missing an opportunity to rein in government spending and provide fiscal discipline that economists say is needed to create jobs and grow the economy.”  

This week, Republicans delivered taxpayers’ concerns directly to President Obama, presenting him with a statement signed by more than 100 economists expressing the need for immediate, decisive action to cut spending now to create jobs and boost our economy.  Republicans also brought another specific spending cut proposal to the House floor recommended by the American people through YouCut.  And House Budget Committee Republicans led by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) quizzed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who called on Congress to come up with a fiscal “exit strategy.”  Free-spenders at heart, Democrats are now suffering from “budget anxieties” while small businesses continue to struggle under the weight of job-killing policies and a faltering economy. 

Republicans’ budget offensive has rattled Washington Democrats eager to continue their out-of-control spending spree: 

“Republicans press Obama to budge on tighter budget.  Republicans on Thursday poked congressional Democrats for their failure to pass a budget -- already two months overdue -- and used a meeting at the White House to pressure President Obama and his allies to focus on cutting spending this year. ‘The failure of the Democrats in Congress to move a budget really misses a significant opportunity to cut spending now,’ House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said after the meeting, which touched on a wide range of topics.  The debate over spending has become a hot-button issue as the country's debt tops $13 trillion and neither the full House nor Senate has voted on a budget to lay out plans for the 2011 spending bills.” (The Washington Times, 6/11/10)

“U.S debt to rise to $19.6 trillion by 2015.  The report that was sent to lawmakers Friday night with no fanfare said the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product would rise to 102 percent by 2015 from 93 percent this year.  ‘The president's economic experts say a 1 percent increase in GDP can create almost 1 million jobs, and that 1 percent is what experts think we are losing because of the debt's massive drag on our economy,’ said Republican Representative Dave Camp, who publicized the report.   He was referring to recent testimony by University of Maryland Professor Carmen Reinhart to the bipartisan fiscal commission, which was created by President Barack Obama to recommend ways to reduce the deficit, which said debt topping 90 percent of GDP could slow economic growth.” (Reuters, 6/8/10)

“Economists: Stimulus Not Working, Obama Must Rein in Spending.  Nearly 100 prominent U.S. economists including former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ohio University’s Richard Vedder, and James C. Miller, III, who headed up the White House Office of Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan, are telling President Barack Obama that his economic stimulus has failed and that ‘immediate action is needed to rein in federal spending.’  … Obama is not alone in being singled out for criticism of his handling of the economy.  The letter also references Congress’s failure to propose a budget for ‘the first time in modern history.’” (Peter Roff, US News & World Report’s Thomas Jefferson Street blog, 6/10/10)

“Inaction On Budget Leaves GOP Opening.  During his weekly meeting with reporters, [Majority Leader Steny] Hoyer (D-MD) continued to stop short of saying a decision by House Democrats has been made not to do a budget resolution this year.  He also said there is no deadline for that decision.  …House Minority Leader Boehner exhorted rank-and-file Republicans to tie the lack of a budget to the national debt and sputtering economy.  ‘Every American family knows that in tough times, a budget is even more important, not less important.  A $13 trillion national debt is an alarm bell and a wake-up call,’ Boehner told Republicans.” (CongressDaily, 6/9/10)

“Boehner presents Obama with letter from economists underscoring GOP points.  House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) brought along a statement signed by 100 economists underscoring GOP policies to a meeting with President Barack Obama Thursday morning.  Boehner presented Obama with a letter from himself, accompanied by a statement signed by more than 100 American economists calling for immediate action to rein in federal spending to boost the economy and create more private sector jobs.   In his letter to the president, Boehner said that ‘failing to pass such legislation — and failing to pass a budget in the House this year for first time since at least 1974 — means squandering an opportunity to begin to provide the discipline economists say is needed.’” (The Hill, 6/10/10)

Waiting and hoping for the best is no longer an option: we need to start cutting spending now.  That’s why House Budget Committee Republicans have unveiled a series of specific spending cuts and budget reforms to help create small business jobs and get Washington’s fiscal house in order.  Republicans are also giving Americans the opportunity to contribute their ideas for cutting wasteful Washington spending on America Speaking Out and make the tough choices that House Democrats won’t on YouCut.