House GOP blames White House 'over-spending' for weak job growth

House Republicans pinned the blame for Friday’s disappointing jobs report squarely on the White House, saying the Obama administration’s “over-taxing, over-regulating and over-spending” has stifled economic growth.

“One look at the jobs report should be enough to show the White House it's time to get serious about cutting spending and dealing with our ailing economy,” Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said. 

Boehner spoke at a press conference timed to respond to the monthly Labor Department report, which showed a rise in the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent and the creation of just 54,000 jobs in May.

GOP leaders painted the data as part of a pattern of underwhelming economic performance by the Obama administration and used it to tout their own prescriptions for boosting private-sector job growth. Republicans last week unveiled their jobs agenda in a repackaged format, calling for reduced regulations and lower corporate tax rates, among other proposals. 

“By any historic[al] standard, this nation ought to be back to work,” GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas) said, arguing the economic recovery had paled in comparison to recoveries from previous recessions.

Boehner also pushed back on comments Friday morning from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said the U.S. should return to Clinton-era tax rates to reduce the deficit.

“I think raising taxes on job creators is exactly the wrong prescription,” Boehner said. 

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) reported “much progress” from the ongoing Biden talks on deficit reduction and lifting the debt ceiling. He said there was “a lot of movement toward coalescing around trillions of dollars in cuts.” 

Boehner reiterated, however, that he wanted to see Obama more engaged in the negotiations.

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