Will the Democrats' "Stimulus Package" Include Higher Taxes, Bigger Government, and More Job-Killing Mandates?
History Shows that the Democratic Congress has Placed Millions of Jobs at Risk with Its Tax-and-Spend, Big Government Agenda
Washington,
Jan 9, 2008 -
House Republicans have made clear that Congress should work in a bipartisan way to help middle-class families dealing with the rising cost of living, but they’ve also warned that asking already-beleaguered taxpayers to pay for even more wasteful Washington spending is not the answer. As House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) told CongressDaily today: “Those anxieties will only be made worse by the higher taxes, irresponsible spending, and bigger government proposed by this Democratic Congress.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) yesterday pledged “early action to stimulate and strengthen the economy” when Congress returns to Washington. And while her pledge may sound like welcome news, if you take a close look at the Democrats’ record to date, you’ll find that it’s one filled with endless – and fortunately, failed – votes to increase taxes on families and small businesses. In other words: Taxpayers, don’t get your hopes up.
As CongressDaily notes this afternoon, congressional Republicans are prepared to work with their Democratic counterparts in securing bipartisan victories on behalf of all American families and small businesses, but they also are prepared to strongly oppose any tax hike the Majority intends to pay for their Big Government-focused “stimulus” package:
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“House Budget ranking member Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the most important immediate step would be to block any potential Democratic plans for tax or spending increases. ‘Most important of all for the markets and economic growth is tax certainty and good fiscal policy. My concern is that Democrats are banking on enormous tax increases,’ Ryan said. ‘I think the first order of business for good economic growth is ‘Do no harm.’”
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Why is Rep. Ryan’s “Do no harm” warning particularly important? Quite simply, in 2007, Congress considered a slate of harmful legislation that would have made matters even worse for families and small businesses alike, had congressional Republicans not blocked action it. That irresponsible agenda – an agenda that amounts to a massive, undeclared War on American Jobs – included:
HIGHER TAXES
In just the first 12 months of this Congress, the Majority passed bills raising taxes by $250 billion and proposed tax hikes that threaten more than 16 million jobs. Waiting in the weeds are even more costly tax increases, including bizarrely-timed gas tax hikes and the Pelosi-Rangel Mother of All Tax Hikes – a trillion dollar monstrosity that would raise taxes 90 percent of taxpayers, including tens of millions in the middle class alone. These harmful policies are hardly what American families are asking for at a time when their costs of living are skyrocketing.
MORE WASTEFUL SPENDING
Last year, the Majority asked taxpayers and small businesses to bankroll nearly $180 billion in new entitlement spending and pork-barrel projects like a hippie museum in Woodstock, New York. To the Majority, “economic stimulus” is just a high-brow way of saying “more federal spending.” So as they craft their “stimulus” plan, it’s highly likely that it will contain just as much egregious, pork-barrel spending – and then some. And don’t forget: To pay for its agenda of bigger government and pork-barrel spending, the Democratic Majority needs to raise taxes – not just on families and workers, but on small businesses, the principal engine of job creation in the United States economy.
JOB-KILLING LITIGATION
As a political payoff to trial lawyers since taking the Majority, congressional Democrats have focused on opening new avenues for litigation and lawsuits on their behalf. But the consequences of frivolous litigation on the economy are ominous. Lawsuits run amok hamstring employers and small business owners, stifling innovation and forcing employers to withdraw products, compelling innocent small businesses to pay exorbitant costs to combat frivolous claims, and ultimately endangering American jobs.
COSTLY WASHINGTON MANDATES
The Majority has repeatedly advanced bills that tighten Washington regulations and mandates on small businesses and other key job providers – regulations that strangle the American economy and kill jobs in the process. If these new job-killing mandates are coupled with the tax increases and excessive litigation being threatened by the Democratic Congress, millions of additional American jobs will be jeopardized.
Indeed, with costs of energy, health care, college, retirement, housing, and taxes spiraling out of control, American families and business owners are feeling the strain. But, this Congress has only worked to compound their concerns through a reckless, tax-and-spend agenda. In the New Year, will the Majority finally resolve to work with Republicans to, in the Speaker’s own words, “stimulate and strengthen the economy?” Or will it continue its War on American Jobs by advancing the same tax-and-spend, mandate-and-regulate agenda that puts politics before the country?
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