HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Feb 4, 2009 - The congressional Democrats’ trillion-dollar spending bill continues to lose ground in the debate on Capitol Hill, with public opinion of the massive plan sagging – including a new Rasmussen poll showing that barely a third of Americans support the legislation.  Why?  Because Americans know the plan simply won’t lead to the kind of job creation and economic growth that families and small businesses need during the downturn.  In an attempt to put this process back on track, yesterday President Obama attempted to provide cover to House Democrats, who infamously have loaded the legislation with unfocused spending that has nothing to do with “stimulating” the economy or creating jobs.  Here’s what the President said last night on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360:

“Remarkably disciplined?”  “Less than one percent of the total package?”

To his credit, President Obama set an important standard at the start of this process: crafting a bipartisan bill to create jobs and get the economy moving again.  Unfortunately, congressional Democrats have taken the President’s vision and turned it upside down, cobbling together a trillion-dollar package that would only create half the jobs as the House GOP’s economic recovery plan – and at double the cost.  Here’s just a sampling of spending in the Democrats’ bill that – while potentially worthy of consideration down the road – has nothing to do with immediate job creation and economic growth:

• $726 million for after-school snack programs
• $44 million for repairs to the Agriculture Department
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census
• $650 million for digital TV coupons
• $1 billion for climate satellite and habitat restoration programs
• $400 million for state and local governments to acquire new vehicles
• $600 million to replace a portion of the federal government vehicle fleet
• $462 million to replace Centers for Disease Control facilities
• $7.7 billion for construction and repairs of federal buildings
• $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start programs
• $13 billion for special education state grants
• $15.6 billion for Pell grants
• $50 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts

Again, some or all of this spending may be worthy of debate on Capitol Hill, but to say it will lead to immediate job creation – the goal of the legislation, after all – is a stretch, to say the least.  So, if House Democrats were “remarkably disciplined,” as the President suggested last night, just what would this bill look like if they weren’t?

House Republicans have offered a better solution to improve our ailing economy.  The GOP plan would let middle-class families, small businesses, job-seekers, and home-buyers keep more of what they earn to create 6.2 million new jobs – more than twice the jobs as the congressional Democrats’ plan – at half the cost.  And it would ensure that the legislation stays focused on President Obama’s standard of creating jobs and strengthening the economy – without sending hundreds of billions to projects and programs that, while potentially worthy, just don’t belong in a bill meant to spur a rapid economic recovery.