In light of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) announcement this morning that House Democrats will not pass a budget this year – failing to fulfill what he has called “the most basic responsibility” of governing – the following important fiscal health warning has been issued:
THE BUDGET HAS BEEN
CANCELLED
WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT
THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET
PLANNED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS’ OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING SPREE.
AN APOLOGY FOR THIS BETRAYAL OF AMERICAN TAXPAYERS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE FORTHCOMING AT THIS TIME.
BE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING SERVICES WILL BE INTERRUPTED:
Imposing the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and boost our economy
Reining in the out-of-control spending spree that is killing American jobs
Carrying out the “most basic responsibility of governing”
Stopping middle-class tax hikes that will sock family budgets at the worst possible time
Providing the leadership on jobs and the economy that Americans say is sorely lacking
Protecting our kids and grandkids from the enormous debt burden Washington has placed on them
We reserve the right to notify you of additional consequences that may arise in light of this budget failure, which is unprecedented in the modern era. In the interim, please brace for more spending, more debt, more tax hikes, more broken promises.
For families and small businesses looking for a government that listens to the people it serves and respects their hard-earned money, House Republicans are offering better solutions to cut spending now and help small businesses put people back to work.
Think that blows? Oh, it gets worse. Obamacare is really going to hit Ohio hard:
Just in time for the upcoming three month anniversary of the signing of President Obama’s new health care law, the state of Ohio has determined that taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill for millions of dollars in additional costs to expand Medicaid under the new law. The Columbus Dispatch reports:
The sharp Medicaid expansion under the new federal health-care law will cost Ohio taxpayers $1.45 billion from 2014 through 2019, according to projections released to The Dispatch yesterday by the state.
Job and Family Services spokesman Benjamin Johnson said the agency estimates that Ohio's cost in 2014 will be $190 million and $267 million the next year. By 2019, the state cost will reach an estimated $332 million.
As Ohio prepares to face an estimated $8 billion budget deficit in an already difficult economy, this additional burden is the last thing the state needs. Throughout the debate over health care, Congressman Boehner and fellow Ohio members of Congress repeatedly warned Governor Ted Strickland (D) about the unfunded mandates that could be forced on Ohio under the president’s plan. On October 20, 2009 the members wrote:
Many other governors, Democratic and Republican, have gone on the record with their clear opposition to this plan due to the harmful effect it will have on the people of their states. As Dennis Smith of the Heritage Foundation wrote recently: 'One day perhaps, Congress will realize that expanding Medicaid comes at the expense of other state and federal priorities including education and the child welfare system. As Medicaid grows, funding for other programs shrink, which in turn, increases demand for Medicaid to become the source of funding for those other programs. Only the governors have the clout to push back and break the vicious cycle that. . .threatens to bankrupt the states.'
For this reason, we respectfully ask that you express clear opposition on behalf of our state to the legislation moving through Congress.
Despite these warnings, Gov. Strickland refused to stand up for Ohio taxpayers, and instead enthusiastically endorsed the president’s proposal. Now taxpayers will be forced to pick up the tab.
The more that Ohioans learn about all the mandates, tax hikes, and Medicare cuts in the president’s new health care law, the more they want nothing to do with it. Recent surveys have found that 59 percent of Ohioans want the president’s costly new health care law repealed.
Earlier this week, House Republicans adopted an idea from Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) on AmericaSpeakingOut.com that would have repealed the unconstitutional individual mandate at the core of the president’s health care law and offered it for an up or down vote in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rallied her members to defeat the measure 187-230.
