McConnell: Let’s Try Something That Might Actually Work
For Immediate Release, Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Let’s Try Something That Might Actually Work
‘The American people didn’t send us here to kick our problems down the road. And they certainly didn’t send us here to repeat the same mistakes over and over again — and then stick them and their children with the tab. That might be how you maintain a sense of urgency, by failing to solve the problem the first two times around. But it isn’t how you solve a jobs crisis. The American people deserve better than this.’
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the President’s failed stimulus and the need for a new approach to solve the jobs crisis:
“It’s no secret that the vast majority of Americans aren’t happy with Washington right now. They say that 13 percent of the public approve of Congress, but I for one haven’t met many of them.
“It’s also no secret that the President of the United States is trying to use this displeasure with Washington for political gain. And I think that’s a pretty sad commentary on the state of affairs over at the White House these days.
“As the only person elected to represent every American, the President should speak for all Americans, especially in times of crisis, not divide them for short-term partisan political gain.
“But it’s perfectly obvious why the President would find the path of division appealing — because on the number one issue we face, jobs and the economy, the President’s policies haven’t worked as advertised.
“After nearly three years in office, he’s failed to make good on his promises to turn the jobs crisis around. And I think you can pretty much sum up that failure with a single number: 1.5 million. That’s how many fewer jobs there are right now in America since the President signed his first stimulus, according to the Obama administration’s own Labor Department: 1.5 million.
“So he’s trying to change the topic.
“He wants to deflect attention from that record.
“He wants people to think that the problem isn’t his policies. It’s those mean Republicans in Congress who oppose them.
“But the President leaves a few things out of the reelection script that he brought along on his bus tour.
“First of all, it wasn’t just the Republicans who defeated his latest stimulus bill last week.
“The only reason a majority of Democrats voted to debate it is they knew they wouldn’t have to vote for it.
“That’s why the Majority Leader repeatedly moved to block a vote on the measure itself.
“Second: we’re now living under economic policies that President Obama himself put in place.
“This isn’t something you’ll hear on the bus tour, but let’s be clear: the President got everything he wanted from a Democrat-controlled Congress during the first two years of his Presidency.
“Now we’re living with the hard reality that those policies have brought to bear on the American worker.
“So at this point, anytime the President says ‘pass this bill,’ people have very good reason to be skeptical.
“Because this isn’t the first time President Obama’s demanded that Congresses pass what he calls a ‘jobs bill.’
“But if this one were to pass, and it worked as advertised, then it would be the first one that did.
“Again and again, the President’s response to America’s ongoing jobs crisis has been to insist that Congress pass some urgent piece of legislation right away, or an even worse calamity would result. Those bills were supposed to create jobs and prevent layoffs too. But he keeps coming back for more.
“I guess the President is counting on the American people to forget that part. He’s counting on us to forget about the other stimulus legislation he’s already signed into law, and that it’s failed to live up to the hype every time.
“Again and again, the President has demanded that Congress do something to create jobs — and the only thing we seem to end up with at the end of the day is more debt, more government, and fewer jobs.
“Let’s just review the record for a second.
“Two and a half years ago, President Obama went down to Florida and said the first stimulus — the nearly one trillion dollar government spending bill he signed shortly after taking office — would save or create millions of jobs, including jobs for firefighters, nurses, police officers, and teachers.
“What happened?
“Well, the states got their bailout, the national unemployment rate didn’t budge, and a year and a half later, the President was back asking for another one.
“That’s right, a year and a half after the first stimulus, the White House was back last August, saying they needed another $26 billion right away or else 160,000 teachers would get pink slips, and police and firefighters across the country would be off the job. And what happened then?
“Well, the states got another bailout, the unemployment rate didn’t budge, and now the President’s riding around on a bus saying that if they don’t get another one, teachers, police and firefighters will lose their jobs. Again.
“Anybody notice a pattern here?
“We’ve been doing this for nearly three years now. It doesn’t work as advertised.
“Bailouts don’t solve the problem. They perpetuate it.
“Yet all we get from the President and Democrats in Congress is ‘Do it again — or else!’
“We’ve been mired in a jobs crisis for three years now, and all Democrats ever want to do is throw more taxpayer money at it.
“It never works the way they claim it will.
“And yet they want to keep doing it with other people’s money.
“Just throw another bailout together, slap the word ‘jobs’ on the cover page, and dare people to vote against it.
“That’s the Democrats’ governing philosophy — three years into this jobs crisis.
“It wouldn’t be irresponsible to oppose an approach like this; it would be irresponsible to consider it.
“It didn’t work the first time. It didn’t work the second time.
“The third time won’t be the charm.
“And that’s why Republicans, and a growing number of our Democrat friends, want a different approach.
“There is growing bipartisan opposition to trying the same failed policies again.
“And there’s bipartisan opposition to raising taxes, especially at a time when 14 million Americans are out of work.
“I mean, if there’s one thing we should agree on right now it’s that we should be making it easier for businesses to hire, not harder.
“So, the President should drop his obsession with raising taxes.
“And if he really wants to create jobs, maybe he should consider doing something different.
“They’ve tried the bailout approach.
“They’ve tried more regulations, more debt and more taxes.
“Let’s try a new idea for a change.
“One that has bipartisan support.
“One that isn’t a two-time proven failure.
“Let’s try something that might actually work.
“Because the American people didn’t send us here to kick our problems down the road. And they certainly didn’t send us here to repeat the same mistakes over and over again — and then stick them and their children with the tab. That might be how you maintain a sense of urgency, by failing to solve the problem the first two times around. But it isn’t how you solve a jobs crisis.
“The American people deserve better than this.
“They deserve better than false promises they’re getting.
“The President got everything he wanted from a Democrat-led Congress for two years.
“A health care law that was designed to take over of one-sixth of the entire U.S. economy.
“A financial reform bill that punishes businesses that had nothing to do with the financial crisis.
“Out-of-control regulations that are forcing otherwise healthy businesses to shut down — businesses like Smart Papers in Hamilton Ohio, a paper mill that said last week it’s shutting down because of onerous new federal regulations that make it too costly to do business.
“And a trillion dollar stimulus that was supposed to solve this jobs crisis two and half years ago.
“For two years, when he said ‘Pass this bill right away,’ Democrats acted. And here’s what we got despite all that: trillions in debt and more than a million and a half fewer jobs.
“We don’t need more of that. We can’t afford more of the same.”
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