Republican Outrages

Hoyer statement, reports by the Democratic Whip and Budget Offices...

Hoyer and Rangel statements, Washington Post article...

WASHINGTON DC – House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD), House Budget Committee Ranking Democrat John Spratt (SC), and Blue Dog Coalition co-chairman and House Agriculture Committee Ranking Democrat Charlie Stenholm (TX) held a press conference today to denounce the sham Republican “pay-as-you-go” or budget “enforcement” bill scheduled for the House floor tomorrow, and also discuss the Democratic alternative.

In two letters sent today, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, and other Congressional Leaders demanded a response from the President and the Republican leaders in Congress on allegations that the Medicare Chief Actuary was forced to withhold Medicare cost estimates from Congress last year. These allegations include charges that the Bush Administration violated federal law.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer released the following statement today strongly criticizing the restrictive process in which the House Republican leadership is permitting floor debate on the FSC/ETI corporate sales tax bill:

For the seventh week this session, the Republican leadership has again put forward a light Floor Schedule that does not address the fundamental problems facing America– including the stubborn unemployment that continues to plague the country as today’s Bureau of Labor Unemployment Report shows.

President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget, H.R. 743 - Social Security Protection Act

The Republican leadership continues to put forward a light Floor Schedule that does not address the fundamental problems facing America– stubborn unemployment, skyrocketing health costs, and struggling schools.