Toomey Takes on Obama
by News Release
Contact"" Nachama Soloveichik "¢ 484.809.7994 "¢ 646.528.1029
Tim Kelly "¢ 484.809.7994
For Immediate Release""December 3, 2009
ICYMI: Toomey Press Conference Video and Highlights
You can watch the video here:
On President Obama's Visit to the Lehigh Valley
"I also want to welcome President Obama to the Lehigh Valley. I'm delighted that he's coming to Pennsylvania. I'm delighted he's going to be here in the Lehigh Valley. I appreciate the fact that he is paying attention to Pennsylvania, and I appreciate the fact that he's turning his attention to jobs creation because this should be the number one priority of this government, this administration, and it's awfully important here in Pennsylvania."
On Government Spending
"I would suggest there are two huge fundamental problems that are intertwined, really they're inseparable, and we need to address both of them. First, is the fiscal crisis that has been created by the federal government in Washington. And the second is simply the lack of jobs."
"A staggering amount of spending has led to unprecedented deficits and unsustainable debts . . . Think of the litany that we have witnessed in the last year or so: $173 billion to bail out a single company, AIG; $700 billion in TARP money to bail out a whole series of failing banks; almost $800 billion in a stimulus bill that is not stimulating economic growth or job creation; $110 billion to nationalize two-thirds of the American domestic car industry; $200 billion to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and several trillion dollars worth of guarantees for assets on their balance sheets."
On the Federal Deficit
"In 2008, the federal deficit reached a level of $460 billion, and I thought that was unacceptably high. I, in fact, was very critical of some of my Republican colleagues in the House who I thought engaged in too much wasteful spending. I was critical of President Bush for his unwillingness to veto Republican spending bills. I think spending was growing too rapidly then. But what's happening now is a whole different order of magnitude . . . We went from a $460 billion deficit last year to this year - $1.4 trillion."
"In addition to this staggering amount of spending and deficits and debt, we have proposed legislation that is guaranteed to destroy millions of jobs across the country, hundreds of thousands of jobs across Pennsylvania, if it's enacted. One is this cap-and-trade idea . . . cap-and-trade would be devastating to Pennsylvania; it would cost us tens of thousands of jobs. This health care bill . . . hundreds of new mandates on businesses, all kinds of new expenses; it doesn't lower the cost of health care; in fact, it's expected to raise the cost of premiums for people buying their own health care, and the taxes that would be imposed""new taxes can only discourage the creation of new jobs."
On Suggestions for President Obama
"First, we ought terminate this TARP program; it was ill-conceived in the first place; some of these monies have not yet been actually spent; we can cut it off now and let's have a very specific plan to require the repayment of these bailout payments that went to big banks."
"Secondly, I'd like to see us rescind the unspent and unobligated portion of the stimulus bill. It isn't working; why continue spending money we don't have? Let's save the hundreds of billions of dollars that can be saved by ending the TARP program and ending the unspent portion of the stimulus bill."
"Thirdly, I think we really need to consider a cap on federal spending. Now, when I say a cap, it wouldn't be an absolute dollar cap. It would be a tool to limit the rate of growth . . . we need a mechanism to limit the rate of growth, because clearly it's been growing at an unsustainable rate."
"Now if we did those things, the many hundreds of billions of dollars we would save would, number one, reduce our deficit, help to get our debt under control. But secondly, I would advocate taking a portion of it and using it to lower payroll taxes. If we had an across-the-board cut in payroll taxes, both for workers and employers, every worker would immediately get a take-home pay raise on day one . . . and by providing a match on the employer's share "" a reduction in the tax that employers have to pay, we'd make it less expensive to hire the next worker. That's how you generate more job growth."
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