Cantor: Stimulus Spending Unacceptable
Monday, September 12, 2011 at 4:20PMBy Adrianna McGinley
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said no to more stimulus spending at his weekly news briefing Monday.
Contributing to the overall sentiment of ‘no more of the same’ emanating from both sides of the aisle, Cantor said no form of stimulus spending will be accepted.
“Anything that is akin to the stimulus bill I think is not going to be acceptable to the American people. Most folks understand that the promises made around the stimulus program were not kept.”
Cantor pointed out several points on which he does agree with the president, including the need to focus on small businesses when presenting jobs legislation.
“The fact is, we don’t have the money, and we got to prioritize and right now is about getting people back to work. Right now we want to focus on small businesses and the private sector because focusing on the stimulus and the public sector has not gotten us anywhere.”
Cantor also expressed worry over the “pay fors” that will not be included in the bill that the president is expected to present this week.
“I sure hope that the president is not suggesting that we pay for his proposals with a massive tax increase at the end of 2012 on job creators that we’re actually counting on to reduce unemployment.”
On the doubt regarding whether or not Congress will be willing to work across party lines to pass jobs legislation, Cantor said, “I think all of us are here to try and do right by the people that elect us and what’s right for this country.” He added, “when there is potential for areas of agreement, we’re going to work towards accomplishing that.”
He criticized President Obama, however, for taking an “all or nothing” approach.
“I do not think that the president’s all or nothing approach is something that is constructive. We have good ideas, he’s got some ideas that we think are good, we can bring these together, but let’s not allow the things in his bill that we disagree with to get in the way of producing some results.”
Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), also present at the briefing, said, “those of us who come from strong defense districts still believe that if we’re going to have the opportunity to engage the president, we have to do so with everything on that table to improve our spending,” when the two were presented with questions regarding possible cuts to national defense.
New GOP Website “Shines Light" On Government Spending
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) unveiled a new GOP website Thursday that “shines the light on government spending.” Sunshine.gop.gov tracks stimulus project spending, earmarks, TARP programs, and transparency legislation.
“We thought it was important that taxpayers actually be able to see exactly how every dollar was being spent,” she said. “Sunshine.gop.gov will give taxpayers greater insight and ultimately hold the federal government accountable for how it spends our tax dollars.”
The site is more user-friendly and cost-effective than Recovery.gov, she said. Development of sunshine.gop.gov cost only $20,000 as opposed to the recent $18 million contract signed to update the administration’s stimulus site, Recovery.gov.
Rodgers urged both the public and the media to use the website as a tool to conduct research on government spending and pursue stories on wasteful government spending.
“We’re making a transition as far as using new media [and] the internet. It’s impacting the way we communicate as a society, but its also is impacting the way people get information,” she said. “This is a step in the right direction.”