On the recordJune 15, 2011
Earlier this week, President Obama made a joke about his so-called stimulus package. Remember those shovel-ready projects we heard so much about? They were one of the major selling points for the package. Well, the President now says they ``were not as shovel-ready as we expected.'' I am sure some got a good chuckle out of that line, but there is nothing funny about a $1 trillion failure. The economic policies this administration has pursued have failed to create jobs, and they have made matters worse for our economy. In many of our home States, the economic situation is bleaker than the national picture. In my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, our unemployment rate is higher than the national average, and we have lost thousands of manufacturing and retail jobs over the last 2 years. We also have a housing market that has collapsed. Mr. Speaker, we will never get our economy growing again unless we see drastic improvements in unemployment and our housing sector. Our country is at our best when we unleash the ingenuity of the American people. The Republican Conference has a real and actionable jobs plan that will put America back to work, that will give our entrepreneurs and innovators freedom from the regulatory burdens and high taxes that are holding them back. We must take action to get this economy going again, and that is what our plan does. President Obama's speeches, policies, and council meetings are not enough. ____________________
