RNC Women

With nearly 15 million Americans still unemployed, and with taxes set to go up for every tax bracket at the end of December if Congress fails to renew the Bush tax cuts, Democrat leaders in Congress today closed up shop until after the November elections and sent their members home to campaign. 

The most basic function of Congress is to approve a budget and the annual appropriations bills that fund the government.  This year, the U.S. House under the regime of Nancy Pelosi approved only two of the dozen annual appropriations bills required of Congress.  Harry Reid’s Senate fared even worse, failing to pass a single appropriations bill. 

Even worse, the Democrat leaders chose to delay any action on extending the Bush tax cuts until after the November elections.  This means at least two more months of uncertainty for job creators who are waiting to invest until they know how large their tax burden will be next year.  With unemployment lingering near 10 percent for 16 consecutive months, America’s working families deserve prompt action from their Congressional representatives – not another abdication of responsibility from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  

When our nation’s economic downturn demanded a smart stimulus package that included incentives for job creation and responsible reductions in government spending, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid instead delivered a federal stimulus package long on debt but short on new jobs. 

When unemployment continued to stagnate throughout the past year and a half, Congress should have focused on boosting small business and putting more money back in the hands of the taxpayers.  Instead, they spent much of the past year working to force a takeover of health care into law despite the objections of the American people. 

Now, with millions of Americans still out of work, Congress had the opportunity to extend the tax cuts and prime the pump for small businesses to create jobs.  Instead, afraid of making the tough decisions leadership requires, Democrat leaders have shut Congress down until after the elections.  This final failure is just more of the same from the Democrat Congress, and the clearest illustration yet that the time has come for a new Republican majority.