Washington
(May 6)
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after the House voted, 346 to 68, to adopt a Republican “motion to recommit” that helps keep the Democrats’ “cash for caulkers” weatherization bill from adding to the deficit or further wasting taxpayers’ money:
“On the House floor today, we saw a rare, small victory for common sense.
“With unemployment near double-digits, the House Democratic Leadership brought up only one bill of consequence this week, the ‘cash for caulkers’ weatherization bill. Even though the ‘stimulus’ last year included $15 billion for weatherization - which is largely unspent - they decided to add another $6.6 billion for caulk to our deficit, at time when the American people are already scared to death by Washington Democrats’ out-of-control spending spree.
“This afternoon, House Democratic Members finally said ‘enough is enough.’ They defied their Leadership by voting to gut the ‘cash for caulkers’ bill. The Republican motion to recommit ensures that ‘cash for caulkers’ spending cannot add to our federal deficit. It further requires that this money not be used to pay for swimming pool heaters, or go to wealthy families or for bureaucrats’ junkets to casinos, or to pay for advertisements touting the 'cash for caulkers' program.
“What’s remarkable isn’t that the Republican motion passed, but that it was necessary in the first place. Why were these ridiculous wastes of money possible under the bill? Why, when the American people are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ are we wasting time debating more ‘cash for caulkers’? How out-of-touch can Washington Democrats get?”
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