AirCongress The Online Voice Of Capitol Hill

ST. PAUL — House Minority Leader John Boehner today used his time at the podium of the Republican convention to critique the track record of the Democratic-led Congress over the past two years. He didn’t paint a pretty picture.

Here is an excerpt from the Ohio Republican’s speech:

Across America, families and small businesses today are struggling. Sky-high gas prices and soaring health costs are squeezing them from both ends. We’re dangerously dependent on foreign oil, while radical jihadists lurk in the shadows, seeking our destruction. At this time of anxiety, Americans are looking for solutions.

But when they look at the Democratic Congress, they see politicians more interested in taking care of themselves. They see Congress adjourning for the summer without a vote on comprehensive energy reforms. They see Congress squandering their tax dollars on pork. They see Democrats peddling the same old policies, destroying jobs and driving health costs through the roof: more lawsuits, more government, higher taxes. Washington today is broken. The Democratic Congress has become its symbol.

Categories: Ohio, Politics, John Boehner, Republican Convention

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The House today passed a bill that would funnel $146 billion worth of tax cuts and other proposals in an effort to stimulate an economy hindered by mortgage woes, high gas prices and other problems. The vote was 385-35.

Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the bill isn’t perfect but praised the “generous spirit” of Republicans and Democrats who rallied around it. “If we do nothing, we’re just asking for our economy to slow even further,” he said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., added: “This is a middle-class tax rebate bill. … It targets the middle class and those who aspire to it.”

Categories: California, Ohio, Producer's Picks, Nancy Pelosi, Taxes, Economy, John Boehner

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The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is the campaign arm of House Republicans, has produced a series of videos that features GOP lawmakers making the case for putting them in charge of Congress again.

The last of the series, titled “Rediscovering Your Party,” went online Friday. “We’re returning to our roots of fiscal discipline, traditional values, reform, and defense and homeland security,” says Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana.

Other participants in the series were: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri; Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio; NRCC Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma; Jeb Hensarling of Texas; Kevin McCarthy of California; Patrick McHenry of North Carolina; and Candice Miller of Michigan.

The earlier videos covered topics like: earmarks in spending bills; accountability and transparency for federal spending; opposition to the “fairness doctrine” that once required equal time for competing viewpoints on the airwaves; and the Republicans’ prospects for regaining the House majority in 2008.

Categories: Military, House, California, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Politics, Kevin McCarthy, Terrorism, Budget, Economy, Roy Blunt, John Boehner, Social Policy, Marsha Blackburn, Patrick McHenry, Candice Miller, Tom Cole, Jeb Hensarling

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House Democrats today resurrected the debate over legislation to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as S-CHIP. The chamber passed the bill, dubbed “S-CHIP 2.O,” by a vote of 265-142.

President Bush vetoed an earlier bill on the subject and the House failed to override his veto. House Republicans largely opposed the bill and forced numerous procedural votes to stall passage.

Here are video excerpts of the debate from: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.; and Hilda Solis, D-Calif.

Categories: New York, California, Tennessee, Texas, Producer's Picks, Health, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Vetoes, Hilda Solis, Marsha Blackburn, Louise Slaughter, Sheila Jackson Lee

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The House erupted in chaos late Thursday after a procedural vote that Republicans said they won 215-213, but Democrats said the vote ended in a loss on a 214-214 tie. More than 100 GOP members walked out of the chamber in protest.

The National Republican Congressional Committee put video of the episode online under this description: “Democrats strongarm their vulnerable members into flip-flopping on taxpayer benefits for illegal immigrants as chaos ensues.”

Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., addressed the controversy the next morning in a one-minute floor speech: “I have left the House frustrated; I have left the House encouraged; I have left the House proud; I have left the House not so proud. But I never left the House ashamed before. … The remedy for the House that would solve this problem is to let the vote stand.”

And earlier in the week, Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, accused House Democrats of imposing “martial law to further stifle the voices of those of us in the minority who represent nearly half of the American people.”

Categories: House, Missouri, Ohio, Producer's Picks, Democrats, 110th Congress, Roy Blunt, John Boehner

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