HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Feb 12, 2009 - While there are still plenty of unanswered questions as Congress prepares to vote on the Democrats’ trillion-dollar spending bill, here’s what we do know: the legislation is loaded up with plenty of unfocused and wasteful Washington spending – a price to be paid by small businesses, which apparently will see very little tax relief under the as-yet-unseen House-Senate “deal.”  In fact, it appears the amount of direct small business tax relief in the legislation amounts to about one-third of one percent of the total bill, just $3 billion in tax relief out of a $789.5 billion bill.  So, what’s getting funded at the expense of small business owners and workers across the country?  Here are just a few examples:

• $2 billion for “Neighborhood Stabilization,” money which will be available to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an organization accused of perpetrating voter registration fraud numerous times in the last several elections and reportedly under federal investigation;
• $1 billion for a new “Prevention and Wellness Fund,” which would be available for education programs on sexually-transmitted diseases; and
• Millions for the federal government to buy plug-in cars.

President Obama set an important goal at the beginning of this process: a bipartisan bill that will create more jobs, more quickly.  Which begs the question: How will any of this spending create new jobs?  And, since small businesses are the engine of job creation in this country, why are these programs and projects being funded at the expense of those who own and are employed by small businesses?

In an Associated Press story, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) summed up what has happened in the past couple of days, as the Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill crafted the final trillion-dollar spending bill behind closed doors:

The fact is, the $789.5 billion final agreement reportedly slated for a House vote tomorrow will exceed more than $1 trillion when adding in the interest due over the next decade.  In short, it’s the trillion-dollar spending bill that stressed-out taxpayers feared it would be, shortchanging families and small businesses critical tax relief now – and costing each and every household more than $6,000 in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren.

Amazingly, this breathtaking example of generational theft is not enough to satisfy many Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill.  According to this morning’s Washington Post, many Members of the Majority party are demanding even more – more unfocused Washington spending, more debt for our children and grandchildren, and more programs and projects at the expense of families and small businesses who need to keep more of what they earn during this time of economic crisis:

House Republicans want more too – but just in a different way.  They want to create more jobs by letting middle-class families, small businesses, job-seekers, and home-buyers keep more of what they earn.  That’s why – at President Obama’s request – the House GOP has offered an economic recovery plan that will create twice as many jobs as the Democrats’ proposal – 6.2 million jobs total – at half the cost.  Unfortunately, however, Democratic leaders barreled ahead with their trillion-dollar spending plan and seem to have put the finishing touches on the legislation behind closed doors, without even giving the American people 48 hours to review it online, as House Democrats promised they would earlier this week.

The trillion-dollar spending bill produced by congressional Democrats falls well short of President Obama’s standard for this legislation, and by slashing tax relief for families and small businesses even further, the Democrats calling the shots on Capitol Hill have managed to make a bad bill even worse.