Today, I delivered the weekly Republican radio address. As unemployment in both Ohio and our nation continues to rise, Washington Democrats are pursuing policies on the economy, health care, energy and the environment that will destroy more American jobs and drive future generations into deeper debt. Click the photo below to watch me deliver the address; the transcript follows.
“I’m John Boehner, House Republican Leader. When I’m home in Ohio, I get an earful about the crushing debt Washington Democrats are running up. The President and Democrats in Congress claim this spending binge is necessary to put Americans back to work. They promised unemployment would not rise above eight percent if their trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ was passed. But our nation has lost nearly three million jobs this year. Unemployment has soared above nine percent. And now the President admits that unemployment will soon reach double-digits. After all of this spending, after all of this borrowing from China, the Middle East, our children, and our grandchildren, where are the jobs?
“It’s about to get worse for middle-class families and small businesses. Democrats are pushing a government takeover of our health care system that will cost at least a trillion dollars. The President has repeatedly claimed that Americans will be able to keep their doctors under the Democrats’ plan, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that at least 23 million Americans would lose their current health coverage and their doctors. Another independent report projects that nearly 100 million Americans may be forced onto government rolls.
“Our nation could lose an additional 4.7 million jobs under the Democrats’ health care proposal, based on analysis developed by White House chief economic advisor, Dr. Christina Romer. And one million small business jobs would be lost because of the Democrats’ costly mandates.
“Small businesses are the engine of our economy. We should help them weather the storm and create jobs. This would be a real stimulus, but Washington hasn’t tried it yet. Republicans have offered a plan that encourages investment and allows families and small businesses to keep more of what they earn to help get our economy moving again – a real stimulus plan.
“On health care, we’ve put forward a better alternative that will reduce costs, expand access, and increase the quality of care in a way Americans can afford – without new taxes, costly mandates, or a government takeover that puts bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions that should be made by doctors and patients.
“This week, the President and Democrats on Capitol Hill continued their push for Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. By imposing a tax on every American who drives a car or flips on a light switch, this plan will drive up the prices for food, gasoline, and electricity. Even President Obama has said that energy prices will – quote – ‘skyrocket,’ and its consequences will be especially severe in rural communities across our country. The Democrats’ bill will also ship millions of jobs to competitors like China and India. A recent study estimated it will cost us between 2.3 and 2.7 million jobs every year.
“We should be creating American jobs – not destroying them. That’s why House Republicans have proposed a better way: an ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy to clean up the environment, lower energy costs, and create more jobs. Our plan will increase environmentally-safe energy production; promote the use of alternative fuels, such as nuclear, clean-coal, and renewable energy technologies; and encourage increased efficiency.
“Republicans are offering common-sense solutions that will make a real difference in creating jobs, making health care more affordable, and promoting a cleaner, healthier environment, and reducing energy costs. We hope our Democrat colleagues will abandon their failed go-it-alone approach and work with us to make these reforms a reality. Thanks for listening.”
