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Boehner: A Republican majority would propose spending cuts weekly
Should they take control of the House in the midterm elections, House Republicans would propose a spending cut every week, their leader said Monday.
According to the Palm Beach Post, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told an audience at an event for South Florida GOP congressional candidate Allen West that if they win a majority, "you’ll see us every single week move bills that will cut spending."
In the pledge, Republicans propose cutting spending by repealing the Democrats' healthcare law, instituting budget caps, reforming government-controlled housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cutting non-discretionary spending to 2008 levels and canceling "all future TARP payments."
Republicans have made government spending a key issue on the campaign trail, where they are hoping to regain control of the House after they lost it in 2006 and experienced further losses in 2008. They argue that spending levels have skyrocketed under President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress, causing the federal budget deficit and national debt to reach dangerous levels.
Democrats have hit Republicans over spending on the campaign trail, saying that their pledges should ring hollow to voters because spending went up during the Bush administration, when the GOP controlled the House for six years. Democrats have also challenged Republicans to name specific cuts they would enact.
Tea Party activists and some Republican candidates, including Rep. Ron Klein's (D-Fla.) opponent West, have also said they will hold GOP leaders accountable for their spending pledges.
Boehner told the audience that Republicans will change their ways if they have a majority in Congress again.
“I think Republicans learned their lesson," he said. "They understood that we were spending too much, government was growing too much."
This post was corrected at 5:00 p.m.
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