Blog Post

Today, in the name of fiscal responsibility, House Republican Leader John Boehner offer a proposal he called "CutGo"—a rule to end existing government programs and spending items when creating new ones.

Seriously? Republicans got rid of PAYGO when they were in charge, opposed reinstating it, and voted against making it the law of the land. Here are the facts:

China's currency manipulation has reduced American exports, caused the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, and significantly contributed to our large trade deficit with China. The Chinese government has intervened in world markets, causing its currency to be undervalued by as much as 25% to 40%. This unfair trade practice translates into a significant subsidy, artificially making Chinese imports into the United States much cheaper and U.S. exports to China much more expensive, jeopardizing efforts to create and preserve manufacturing jobs in America.

This afternoon, Speaker Pelosi held a brief press availability with Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prior to their meeting in the Capitol:

House Republicans are going out of their way to pull a fast one on the American people. Today they are calling for a vote to end TARP early – but Democrats in the House already enacted Wall Street Reform legislation that killed TARP. The Wall Street Reform Act banned all new TARP programs, as of June 25, and requires that all repayments to TARP may only be used to reduce the debt – which saves U.S. taxpayers $11 billion.

Last week, House Republicans rolled out their 'Pledge to America'–a plan that will add nearly $4 trillion to the deficit, give tax cuts to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, and repeal patients' rights for every American.

In a column in the Wall Street Journal this morning, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sets the record straight about some health insurance companies blaming unreasonable rate increases on health insurance reform—outlining the strong oversight and accountability of health insurance companies finally possible under the Affordable Care Act.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy, creating two-thirds of new jobs over the last 15 years. America's 27 million small businesses continue to face a lack of credit and tight lending standards, with the number of small business loans down nearly 5 million since the Bush Recession started in 2008. That is why the Democratic-led Congress has put small business at the center of our economic recovery, improving access to credit and enacting 16 tax cuts in the last two years—despite continued Republican efforts to block and delay action.

Congressional Republicans are pledging to take away guaranteed protections for millions of patients—putting insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions and adding to the deficit.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll reports that by a 9-point margin, more Americans hold favorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act.