Weekly Republican Address 3/2/13 Cathy McMorris Rodgers Calls on President to Tackle Nation's Spending Problem VIDEO PODCAST TEXT TRANSCRIPT

WASHINGTON, DC – Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) calls on President Obama to replace his sequester – which took effect because he and the Democratic-run Senate failed to pass their own bill – with better spending cuts instead of more tax hikes. She says, “Instead of campaigning for higher taxes, the president should lead an effort to begin addressing our nation’s spending problem.
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NOTE: The Weekly Republican Address is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, March 2, 2013. The audio is accessible now, and video of the address will be available to view and download once the embargo is lifted. A full transcript follows.

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT: DOWNLOAD MP3 for PODCAST

“Hello, I’m Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington State.

“Today I’d like to give you an update on the debate we’re having in Washington about spending. This debate is about more than just numbers and politics. It’s about the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren. Do we want to hand them a mountain of debt and all the worries that go with it, or do we want them to inherit a vibrant economy and a future full of opportunity? This is the debate we’ve been having for quite a while, and it’s time we resolve it and get something done.

“Yesterday, across-the-board spending cuts known as ‘the sequester’ took effect because President Obama and Senate Democrats failed to act. These devastating across-the-board cuts, first proposed by the president, will affect the lives of so many hardworking Americans. Yet, this week, the president traveled 180 miles to Newport News, Virginia, instead of traveling one and a half miles to Senator Harry Reid’s office on Capitol Hill to negotiate a replacement of smarter spending cuts. The president failed to act, and his Senate never passed a bill to replace the sequester.

“In the last year, the House of Representatives has passed two proposals to replace the president’s sequester with smarter spending cuts. Our plans cut government waste and make long-term reforms that put us on a path to a balanced budget. In addition, we are looking at ways to close tax loopholes and clean up our tax code so we can lower rates and help create jobs. These ideas get government out of the way so we can bring jobs home and preserve the American Dream.

“The president wants to take a different route. He wants to continue singling Americans out for tax increases, even after he raised taxes just last month to avert the fiscal cliff. The American people know full well that if they give this White House more tax revenue, it will be spent – on new ‘stimulus’ projects and government programs. The president must stop using this debate as an excuse to raise taxes and start seizing this opportunity to cut spending.
“Because we can’t let Washington continue spending money it doesn’t have, especially when it’s taking that money straight from your wallets. The problem here isn’t a lack of taxes. This year alone, the federal government will take in more revenue than ever before. Spending is the problem, which means cutting spending is the solution. It’s that simple.

“In the House, we’ve done the work and shown that these choices can be made in a responsible, thoughtful way. So we urge President Obama and Senate Democrats to put country ahead of party and pass a responsible plan to replace his sequester. Instead of campaigning for higher taxes, the president should lead an effort to begin addressing our nation’s spending problem.

“This debate hasn’t always been easy, but making Washington confront its spending problem after decades of inaction was never going to be simple. We were elected to confront the hard truths, come together and do the right thing. That’s the American way, and that’s how we’ll achieve the kind of future our children and grandchildren deserve. All it will take is for the president and his party to get serious and lead.
“Thank you for listening.”

John A. Boehner | Speaker of the House | Ohio’s 8th Congressional District Representative Office of the Speaker Contact H-232 The Capitol Washington D.C. 20515 P: (202) 225-0600 F: (202) 225-5117

Tim Griffin: President Obama has done nothing to replace the sequester cuts he proposed back in 2011, but he has launched a coordinated political campaign in a desperate attempt to scare Americans

Bob Woodward Says President Obama Canceling Aircraft Carrier’s Deployment Is “a Kind of Madness.”

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s sequester scare tactics:

“President Obama has done nothing to replace the sequester cuts he proposed back in 2011—the same cuts he now claims to oppose. But he has launched a coordinated political campaign in a desperate attempt to scare Americans, belied by the fact that Washington will still spend more this year than it did last year. So far, his Administration has falsely claimed the sequester will impact an agency that doesn’t exist, wrongly said teachers will be laid off, hastily canceled the USS Harry S. Truman’s return to the Persian Gulf, and foolishly released hundreds of illegal immigrants from jail. While the President’s rhetoric is at fever-pitch, his questionable claims of catastrophe are quickly crumbling. Instead of deliberately undermining the government’s ability to provide critical services in order to score political points, President Obama should stop and consider the real people who will be forced to deal with the consequences of his irresponsible actions.”

The White House’s Questionable Claims Crumble:

1: White House Report Claims Sequestration Will Affect Federal Department That No Longer Exists. “[T]he OMB's September 2012 report says that under sequestration the National Drug Intelligence Center would lose $2 million of its $20 million budget…. [But] the National Drug Intelligence Center shuttered its doors on June 15, 2012[.]” (Reason, 2/25/13)

2: Teacher Pink Slips Claim by Duncan Not Backed by Evidence. “‘There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can’t come back this fall,’ Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Sunday on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.’ When he was pressed in a White House briefing Wednesday to come up with an example, Duncan named a single county in West Virginia and acknowledged, ‘whether it’s all sequester-related, I don’t know.’ And, as it turns out, it isn’t. Officials in Kanawha County, West Virginia say that the ‘transfer notices’ sent to at least 104 educators had more to do with a separate matter…. They don’t necessarily mean a teacher has been laid off…. [Only] about five to six teaching jobs…were likely to be cut regardless of the sequester.” (The Washington Post, 2/27/13)

3: Journalist Bob Woodward Says President Obama Canceling Aircraft Carrier’s Deployment Is “a Kind of Madness.” “The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward attacked President Barack Obama on Wednesday, saying the commander-in-chief’s decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier because of budget cuts is ‘a kind of madness.’” (Politico, 2/27/13)

4: Illegal Immigrants Released from Jail Due To Budget Cuts Yet to Occur. “The announcement that a few hundred illegal immigrants were being released was among the most significant and direct implications described so far by the Obama administration about the pending, automatic budget cuts that will take effect later this week under what is known as sequestration.” (Politico, 2/27/13)

Congressman Tim Griffin Washington, DC 1232 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2506 Fax: (202) 225-5903 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM-6:00PM Eastern Time