Chairman Miller Responds to Boehner Economic Speech

“This morning Leader John Boehner gave a campaign speech advocating a return to the failed, Bush-era domestic agenda that ran our economy into a ditch and left us in the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

“With Mr. Boehner’s assistance, House Republicans stalled a minimum wage increase for more than ten years, denying hardworking American families $230 billion, or $4,200 per worker, per year. While lower-income wages were frozen, CEO salaries multiplied exponentially, creating the greatest income disparity in modern history. More recently, Leader Boehner and his Republican colleagues tried to undermine the Workforce Investment Act by voucherizing the job training system, and repeatedly voted to deny unemployment insurance benefit extensions for hardworking Americans who are desperate to rejoin the workforce.

“Mr. Boehner rails against regulations as ‘government run amok,’ including many regulations that protect American students, consumers and workers. The FDA regulations Mr. Boehner criticizes have allowed the recall of over half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs, and OSHA regulations are reducing injuries in the workplace. These regulations are also protecting American consumers from Wall Street financial institutions, something Mr. Boehner has promised to repeal.

“Mr. Boehner’s economic road map is full of scare tactics, with no new ideas. It’s just a U-turn straight back to the failed policies of the Bush administration, a period that American families can’t afford to revisit.”