GOP Leader Cites Evidence Trillion-Dollar 'Stimulus' Isn't Working, Says GOP Has Better Solutions to Help Small Businesses Create Jobs

Contact: Republican Leader Press Office,  Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), 202-225-4000

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 /Standard Newswire/ -- House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) appeared on FOX News' America's Newsroom this morning to talk about the need for swift, bipartisan action to combat high unemployment and help small businesses create jobs.  With American workers and their families asking "where are the jobs?," Boehner pointed to increasing evidence that the trillion-dollar 'stimulus' isn't working and noted that Republicans proposed an alternative economic package that, according to a formula used by one of President Obama's senior economic advisers, would have created twice the jobs at half the cost.  Boehner added that House Republicans reiterated some of their ideas last week in letters to President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.)  A former small business owner, Boehner also talked about how Democrats' pursuit of a costly, job-killing agenda is discouraging entrepreneurs from making investments that would spur job creation.  Following are the full video and excerpts from the interview:

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BOEHNER ON THE QUESTION AMERICAN WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE ASKING: "WHERE ARE THE JOBS?"

"I've been asking the question over the past three or four months, 'where are the jobs?' The President promised if we passed the trillion dollars stimulus plan back in February that unemployment would not exceed eight percent and here we are almost at ten percent. Three million Americans have lost their jobs since this trillion dollar stimulus bill was signed into law. And when you look at their bill it was all about growing the size of government, it wasn't about creating jobs in America. But it has created 25,000 new jobs in the federal government, mostly here in Washington. That's just not helping the American people."

BOEHNER ON REPUBLICANS' BETTER SOLUTIONS TO GET OUR ECONOMY MOVING AGAIN:

"When you begin to look at those who have given up looking for work, they real unemployment rate is probably 13 or 14 percent. Then you've got the other 85 percent of Americans worried about, 'Am I next?' Instead of growing the size of government, Republicans had a plan, last February, that costs half as much as the Democrats, but would have created twice as many jobs, according to analysis from the President's own chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. And our plan would say, 'let's give the American people -- American families and small business -- let give them keep more of what they earn.' Because at the end of the day, until they have more money in their pockets, we are not going to see the economy grow, and we are not going to see these unemployment numbers come down.

"Well, we sent a letter to the President last week, outlining some of our ideas about how to help small businesses and how to get our economy growing. We got a nice, polite letter back--rather dismissive -- from Larry Summers, but they did admit that some of these ideas were under review. And so, I do not know what the White House is going to suggest, but if it's another stimulus plan that looked like the one they did back in February, I don't think it's going to work."

BOEHNER ON HOW DEMOCRATS' COSTLY, JOB-KILLING AGENDA IS DISCOURAGING SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH:

"The American people are speaking loudly. I used to run a small business. I know what it takes to meet payroll. All of the uncertainty in the economy, or around their national energy tax, uncertainty over the government takeover of health care, is causing employers to sit on their hands because they do not know what is going to happen next. Not only are we not doing anything to help small business create jobs, we are creating this uncertainty about what the future will look like."