Congressman John Boehner Radio Address
March 30, 2007

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Transcript:

Hello, I’m John Boehner, Republican Leader and Representative for Ohio’s 8th district.

As the Republican Leader, I pledged that Republicans would work with Democrats when it was in the best interests of the American people, and that we would uphold our Constitutional duty as the minority party to hold Democrats accountable for their agenda.

We have done just that. Unfortunately, Democrats are leaving Washington today without having sent the President any significant bills to move America forward. Democrats have failed to provide a clean bill that provides America’s troops the resources they need to succeed in the Global War on Terror. And they’ve failed to pass a budget that doesn’t raise taxes on working Americans.

Rather than putting forward a clean bill that fully-funds American troops in harm’s way, Democrats spent two months - and billions in unrelated pork-barrel spending - to craft a proposal that undermines our generals and hamstrings our troops. By telegraphing arbitrary timelines for withdrawal to our enemy, Democrats are effectively mandating American failure, rather than supporting our common goal of victory in the Global War on Terror. House Republicans were unified in our opposition to this dangerous proposal.

We were also unified in opposition to the Democrats’ budget proposal, which includes the largest tax hike in American history. They may just be lines on a page to House Democrats, but these tax hikes mean real dollars and cents to American families and small businesses. The Democrats’ budget would raise the tax bill for every working American. In my state of Ohio for example, middle-class families face an average tax hike of $2,716.

As President Ronald Reagan used to say, Washington does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. That’s why Republicans put forward a proposal that would balance the budget in five years WITHOUT raising taxes on working families. By harnessing the power of economic growth and reining-in runaway entitled spending, we can balance the federal budget without raiding the family budget.

Over the next two weeks, lawmakers will be home in their districts, attending local events. Republicans will spend that time talking to constituents about the need to keep taxes low, and the unspeakable consequences of failure that make victory our only true option in the Global War on Terror. Because when Congress returns in two weeks, this is what is at stake.

Thank you for listening.