HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Oct 20, 2008 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement in response to testimony this morning by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the House Budget Committee: 

“House Republicans agree with Chairman Bernanke that action to strengthen our economy is needed, and it should come in the form of pro-growth policies that create new jobs, lower energy costs, and protect taxpayers – not hundreds of billions in new government spending masquerading as ‘economic stimulus.’  I’m particularly pleased that Chairman Bernanke today repeated his past warnings that tax increases are the wrong approach during times of economic uncertainty.  I call on Speaker Pelosi to work with House Republicans to stop the massive tax hike Democrats have set in motion and enact pro-growth reforms that allow Americans to keep more of their own paychecks and will help get our economy back on track.”

NOTE:  During today’s hearing, Chairman Bernanke said, “[Y]ou would not want to have a net tax increase in the middle of a slowdown.”  Yet Democrats have passed two federal budgets containing the largest tax increase in American history.  A detailed summary of exactly how American families will be impacted by the Democrats’ massive tax hike can be found here.   

Last week, Boehner outlined House GOP pro-growth, pro-jobs proposals in a letter to Speaker Pelosi.  Instead of passing the Democrats’ $300 billion spending scheme, Boehner said, Congress should take immediate steps to help America “turn the corner toward real economic growth” through action on a series of GOP-backed reforms, including enactment of a comprehensive, job-creating “all of the above” energy plan; tax relief and reforms to bring American jobs back home and encourage home purchases; suspension of the capital gains tax to encourage investment; and suspending minimum withdrawal rules to spare investors from being forced to sell their stocks at just the time when the market is hurting the most; and other reforms. 

#####