Boehner: 'Era of big government' is back

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) declared a return to "the era of big government" the day after President Obama's first formal address to Congress.

"From everything I've seen, it looks like the era of big government spending is back," he told reporters at a lunch convened by the Christian Science Monitor. "My question to my Democratic friends is how are you going to pay for it?"

The top Republican leader in the House praised President Obama for making a "compelling" case that the nation can overcome its economic challenges and pledged to work with him when he reaches across the aisle.

He later clarified that Republicans will work with Obama on areas of agreement but would maintain their ideological differences and fight for them. Despite several personal entreaties from Obama to support the stimulus bill, House Republicans illustrated their solid opposition when not one Republican crossed the aisle to support it last week.

Boehner also implied that Obama's speech attempted to cast his policies as more conservative than they really are, even as government spending skyrockets with the last week's $787 billion stimulus bill and a $410 billion omnibus appropriations measure, which the House is considering Wednesday.

"With few exceptions, it was a speech I could have given – it was a very conservative speech," Boehner said. "But actions speak louder than words."

"As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets," Obama said in his Tuesday night address. "Not because I believe in bigger government – I don't."

He criticized Obama's claim that the stimulus bill contained no earmarks, arguing that it was simply a semantic issue on how Democrats were defining the term and was actually chock full of them. In the same vein, he said the omnibus is so full of earmarks that it doesn't "pass the straight-face test," although he acknowledged that Republicans are guilty of requesting a good portion of the pet projects in the massive spending measure.

With diminished numbers after the November election, Boehner said Republicans are not in the "legislative business" and will be more effective voicing "better solutions" and communicating them to the American people rather than producing a specific legislative agenda.

Republicans also will be closely monitoring exactly how the stimulus money is spent over the next 18 months and will hammer away at any program or funding they regard as wasteful, Boehner pledged. While Obama is popular, the stimulus bill he championed is not, Boehner stressed, pointing to a new Rasmussen poll showing that 58 percent of Americans believe it will hurt the economy or have little impact. The chances of passing another hefty spending bill aimed at boosting the economy are slim, he predicted, because Americans have "bailout fatigue."

"Without a compelling case, that's going to be a tough sell," he said.

Boehner said he's "not happy" that business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, which are usually aligned with Republicans, supported the stimulus measure, but he chocked it up to the influential industries just "being their pragmatic selves" and doing "what they had to do."

Democrats' new bill aimed at propping up the housing market by empowering bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages is the "worst idea in the world," in his view.

"When we need to bring more certainty to lenders and more liquidity to the market, this cram-down bill is very bad policy," he said.

Boehner also laid down a hard line Republicans plan to take on any Democratic health care or insurance-coverage proposal.

"I think government running the biggest health care company in the world is preposterous," he said.

http://mobile.thehill.com/leading-the-news...2009-02-25.html

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Boehner needs a reality check. The man is being ironic and doesn't even know it.

[I'm Gone 60]

I'm not happy with what Obama is doing or plans to do, but Boehner must have Alzheimer's if he can't remember all the spending bills that were passed when the Republican controlled the House and Senate, i.e. Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, Iraq. I don't think Bush vetoed a spending bill until his last year in office.

The worst thing that can happen is when one party controls Congress and the presidency. Need to split them up or there is no control on spending. If it wasn't for the Republicans, Clinton never would of had balanced budgets.

[dalegg 143]

The worst thing that can happen is when one party controls Congress and the presidency. Need to split them up or there is no control on spending. If it wasn't for the Republicans, Clinton never would of had balanced budgets.

Thank you!

[Jasman0717 9]

It would be nice to see the government have a balanced budget again....but I think that is now a pipe dream

[I'm Gone 60]

It would be nice to see the government have a balanced budget again....but I think that is now a pipe dream

Didn't you hear Obama says he's going to cut the deficit in half. ROTFLMAO

President Barack Obama has vowed to cut the country's budget deficit in half by the end of his first term.

President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion.

That's a good start. LOL

[Dan J 277]

I'm not happy with what Obama is doing or plans to do, but Boehner must have Alzheimer's if he can't remember all the spending bills that were passed when the Republican controlled the House and Senate, i.e. Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, Iraq. I don't think Bush vetoed a spending bill until his last year in office.

The worst thing that can happen is when one party controls Congress and the presidency. Need to split them up or there is no control on spending. If it wasn't for the Republicans, Clinton never would of had balanced budgets.

Ironically, if you do that, you have people complaining that the government can't get anything done.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I'm not happy with what Obama is doing or plans to do, but Boehner must have Alzheimer's if he can't remember all the spending bills that were passed when the Republican controlled the House and Senate, i.e. Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, Iraq. I don't think Bush vetoed a spending bill until his last year in office.

The worst thing that can happen is when one party controls Congress and the presidency. Need to split them up or there is no control on spending. If it wasn't for the Republicans, Clinton never would of had balanced budgets.

Ironically, if you do that, you have people complaining that the government can't get anything done.

It doesn't matter what gets done, somebodys going to ###### about it no matter what. You can't please everybody.

[HAL 9000 96]

I suspect we have yet to see more whining as these prolonged cases of political oppositional defiant disorder season into full fledged who knows what. (Actually, its not really unpredictable but for simplicity we can pretend that Republicans are interested in moving the country out of the mess they pitched so hard to get us into in the recent past).

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Didn't you hear Obama says he's going to cut the deficit in half. ROTFLMAO

President Barack Obama has vowed to cut the country's budget deficit in half by the end of his first term.

President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion.

That's a good start. LOL

So laugh about it if it doesn't happen. Hold him accountable for his words four years from now. We have no idea what he can do, he just started a month ago. Relax.

[Scott & Lai 12]

I'm not happy with what Obama is doing or plans to do, but Boehner must have Alzheimer's if he can't remember all the spending bills that were passed when the Republican controlled the House and Senate, i.e. Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, Iraq. I don't think Bush vetoed a spending bill until his last year in office.

The worst thing that can happen is when one party controls Congress and the presidency. Need to split them up or there is no control on spending. If it wasn't for the Republicans, Clinton never would of had balanced budgets.

Ironically, if you do that, you have people complaining that the government can't get anything done.

Not always a bad thing

[Saddle Bronc 124]

"Is back"? Could anyone please point out when, between 1930 and 2009, the US did not have big-government?

[HAL 9000 96]

Why go far back to 1930?

Government got quite big in fall 2001.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Why go far back to 1930?

Government got quite big in fall 2001.

(since you missed the point of my post which was asking when, since that year, the US has had a small government)

[HAL 9000 96]

Why go far back to 1930?

Government got quite big in fall 2001.

(since you missed the point of my post which was asking when, since that year, the US has had a small government)

I think the writing is quite clear enough. Usually when you go back continuously... it means that there hasn't been any shrinkage. And even with that... it got even larger in 2001. Since you apparently missed that point of sentence structure.