The House Republicans' "Irresponsible" Record

House Republican Leader John Boehner said Sunday that not voting on taxes before election day is the "most irresponsible thing that I have seen since I have been in Washington, D.C…And I've been here a while."

President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been clear: all of the middle-class tax cuts will be extended this year. Under the Democrats' plan, middle-class Americans will not have their taxes increased by one penny. What's actually "irresponsible" is this:

Mr. Boehner and his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate are pledging to hold the middle-class tax cuts hostage for 98 percent of Americans and at least 97 percent of America's small businesses in an effort to secure a taxpayer-funded bailout for millionaires and billionaires.

In fact, here are highlights of the 'irresponsible' GOP record when Republicans were in charge:

the national debt nearly doubled,

our foreign-held debt more than doubled, and

the number of earmarks quadrupled.

American workers, their families and small businesses can't afford a return to the "exact same" disastrous economic policies that nearly wrecked our economy, which is what Congressional Republicans have done in their so-called 'Pledge to America.'