Hoyer: GOP Doesn't Want Obama To Succeed On Jobs

By Adrianna McGinley

House Republicans are jeopardizing the nation’s economic success and reputation for political purposes, said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday.

Hoyer told reporters that he is confident in Congress’s ability to put aside political differences and pass jobs legislation, but warned against the “defeat Obama” attitude coming from some GOP members.

“I call your attention to the stark contrast between Democrats’ response to George Bush at the beginning of this crisis and Republicans’ responses to Barack Obama,” Hoyer said. “The leader in the Senate says his principle objective is to defeat Barrack Obama, what follows is that America needs to fail over the next 14 months, because if America succeeds, if jobs are created, if the economy starts growing, then some will believe that it will be to the political benefit of Barack Obama and the Democrats.”

Hoyer said he supports President Obama’s call for a return to Clinton-era tax rates for the wealthy, and said that everything should be on the table when it comes to job creation and debt reduction.

“No one,” Hoyer said, “if they’re going to be responsible, should preclude any item from being on the table. The magnitude of the challenge that confronts us is great, the consequences of failure are substantial.”

Hoyer said he was extremely pleased that the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was officially ended today, but said that if Congress cannot pass comprehensive jobs legislation, America’s reputation will suffer in the eyes of its people and the international community.

“America believes that Congress can’t work, that its partisan gridlock undermines its ability to get the job done for the American people,” Hoyer said. “If we do not come to agreement and Americans and the international community see this Congress and this president unable to act effectively in meeting the challenges that confront us, then I think the confidence level at home and abroad will be further diminished.”

Romney Blasts Obama's Approach To Fiscal Stability

President Barack Obama’s approach to solving the nation’s financial emergency has been nothing more than “one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history,” according to potential Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

In an Op-Ed for the New Hampshire Union Leader, the former Massachusetts governor blasted the president and the administration for failing to lead the country out of the fiscal mess it’s currently stuck in. 

“The administration has massed the debt worse, hindered economic recovery and needlessly cost American workers countless jobs,” Romney wrote. “We are not on a sustainable course… The only way to avert [a fiscal crisis] is to take action that is rooted in the need to reduce spending.”

Romney has been a clear front-runner among the extensive line-up of Republican 2012 potentials, according to recent polls. In a McClatchy/Marist poll, Romney led all Republican candidates with 18 percent support from likely voters and fell by just one percentage point to Obama, raking in 45 percent support versus Obama’s 46 percent, the smallest margin by any GOP presidential hopeful. 

“The Obama administration may not be serious about addressing the problems that have caused the S&P downgrade, but in less than two years the voters will reel us whether the will issue a decisive downgrade of their own,” Romney said.