Democrats: All Talk on Cutting Spending, No Action on Creating Jobs

January 31, 2011

In the wake of the midterm elections, President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been vocal about their supposed commitment to cutting government spending to create jobs:

OBAMA: “President Obama pledged Monday to cut the nation’s $1.3 trillion deficit in half by the end of his first term….

“‘I refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay,’ he said in remarks opening the one-day summit at the White House. ‘We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end. … We cannot simply spend as we please.’” (“Obama Pledges To Cut Deficit In Half At Fiscal Summit,” CNN, 2/23/2009)

PELOSI: “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us.” (“Speaker Pelosi Leaves With a Whopper,” Fox News, 1/4/2011)

PELOSI: “Democrats will strive to work with the new Republican majority to create jobs, strengthen the middle class and reduce the deficit.” (Nancy Pelosi, “After ‘Productive’ Congress, Fight For Jobs Goes On,” USA Today, 11/9/2010)

But Democrats’ sudden enthusiasm for cutting wasteful government spending is all talk and no action. Republicans have already presented Democrats with multiple opportunities to demonstrate their so-called commitment to fiscal responsibility, yet most Democrats have voted against these efforts:

Number of Democrats Voting Against Efforts to Cut Job-Destroying Government Spending

Eliminate Public Funding of Presidential Elections (Vote 25)	Cut Non-Security Spending to FY2008 Levels (Vote 20)	Repeal ObamaCare (Vote 14)
159	165	189

(“House Roll Call Votes,” Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, Accessed 1/31/2011)

For months, employers have expressed concern over how big government policies and excessive spending are stifling economic growth:

GENERAL ELECTRIC CEO JEFFREY IMMELT: “Mr Immelt also had harsh words for Barack Obama, US president, lamenting what he called a “terrible” national mood and expressing concern that over-regulation in response to the global financial crisis would damp a “tepid” US economic recovery. Business did not like the US president, and the president did not like business, he said….

“People are in a really bad mood [in the US],” Mr Immelt said. “We [the US] are a pathetic exporter…we have to become an industrial powerhouse again but you don’t do this when government and entrepreneurs are not in synch.” (Guy Dinmore and Geoff Dyer, “Immelt hits out at China and Obama,” The Financial Times, 7/1/2010)

“At a recent conference sponsored by the nonprofit Milken Institute in Los Angeles, dozens of executives, financiers, economists, and entrepreneurs expressed deep skepticism about a recovery built largely on government spending and companies doing more with less.” (Rick Newman, “Why Business Leaders Remain Gloomy,” U.S. News and World Report, 4/30/2010)

The Democratic caucus must be taking its cues on spending from the their colleagues who are tasked with getting them re-elected. The House Democrats running the DCCC have a long record of supporting big government and wasteful spending:

	National Taxpayer’s Union 2009 Rating	Citizens Against Government Waste Lifetime Rating
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)	F (2006 Rating)	6%
Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)	F (2%)	12%
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL)	F (2%)	2%
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)	F (4%)	2%
Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)	F (2%)	7%
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)	F (3%)	3%

(“NTU rates Congress,” National Taxpayer’s Union, Accessed 1/31/2011)
(“CCAGW 2009 Congressional Ratings,” Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Accessed 1/31/2011)