HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Jan 15 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after congressional Democrats released their economic spending proposal:

“This is the first time Republicans and the American people have seen any specifics on the proposal congressional Democrats intend to pass, and what we’re seeing is disappointing.  The plan released this morning by congressional Democrats was developed with no Republican input and appears to be grounded in the flawed notion that we can simply borrow and spend our way back to prosperity.  It calls for more than half a trillion dollars in questionable new government spending on programs and projects, while providing less tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses than President-elect Obama has proposed. 

“Today, in response to President-elect Obama’s request for input, a House Republican working group heard from economic experts on what needs to be done to put our economy back on track and create jobs.  With the release of the congressional Democrats’ economic plan, we look forward to the important debate to come in the weeks ahead as Congress considers the next steps in our economic recovery.”

NOTE: An early analysis of the congressional Democrats’ “stimulus” plan has identified the following spending on programs and projects:

- $600 million for new cars for the federal government
- $1 billion “to minimize undercounting of minority groups” in the 2010 census
- $400 million for NASA for global warming
- $400 million for “National Treasures”
- $6 billion for colleges/universities, many of which have massive billion dollar endowments
- $166 billion in direct aid to states, many of which have failed to budget wisely
- $650 million more for digital television conversion coupons

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