Doubling Down on Failure: Will Larsen Champion More Job-Crushing Taxes & Wasteful Stimulus Spending?

For Immediate Release September 9, 2011

NRCC Communications Office - (202) 479-7070  Contact:  Paul Lindsay, CommunicationsDirector

President Obama’s Plan Includes Billions More in Spending and Job-Crushing Taxes

Washington --- Now that President Obama has revealed the Democrats’ new plan, his Congressional allies like Washington Democrat Rick Larsen will have to decide whether they will support billions more in failed stimulus spending, fueled by more job-destroying taxes. Even though millions of jobs have been lost under the Democrats’ leadership in D.C., will Larsen double down on these failed policies or will he recognize that pro-growth reform is needed to get Washington back to work?

“Rick Larsen's party leaders are still pushing for hundreds of billions more in failed stimulus spending that could be paid for with billions in new job-crushing taxes at the worst time possible,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Middle-class families in Washington want to know whether Larsen supports the same failed D.C. Democrat policies that destroyed millions of jobs or a change to pro-growth policies that will finally get the economy growing again.”

The Democrats’ jobs plan contains billions in new stimulus spending, despite the fact that the first stimulus failed miserably:

“The speech mostly gave us a sense of déjà vu. From the president’s language, you would never know that Congress already has acted under his watch to save jobs — the $800 billion stimulus plan passed shortly after he took office.

“‘Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs,’ Obama proclaimed in a speech to a similar joint session of Congress on Feb. 24, 2009. We’re not sure about the jobs saved part, but the country has certainly not created jobs since then — there are almost 2 million fewer jobs since he made those remarks 2 1/2 years ago. That gives a sense of the economic burden he will carry into his reelection campaign.” (Glenn Kessler, “Obama’s jobs speech: deja vu all over again?” The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker Blog, 9/9/11)

In addition, the Democrats’ new stimulus plan may not even actually be “paid for” like they claim:

“Essentially, the jobs plan is an IOU from a president and lawmakers who may not even be in office down the road when the bills come due. Today's Congress cannot bind a later one for future spending.” (Calvin Woodward and Tom Raum, “FACT CHECK: Obama's jobs plan paid for? Seems not,” Associated Press, 9/9/11)

Democrats will be pushing for more job-destroying taxes to fund their new stimulus, which would make the bad economy worse:

“Obama will call on Congress to offset the cost of the short-term jobs measures by raising tax revenue in later years.” (Albert R. Hunt, “Obama Said to Seek More Than $300 Billion Package to Boost Jobs,” Bloomberg, 9/7/11)

Rick Larsen's Democrat leaders seem intent on recycling their same failed policies when the economy can bear it the least. If Larsen supports another round of wasteful stimulus spending fueled by job-destroying taxes, middle-class families in Washington will continue to see a bad economy become worse.