Paul Ryan on the failed stimulus: Washington is moving the goal posts and doubling-down

House Budget Committee Hearing on the Stimulus
July 14, 2010
Opening Statement by Ranking Member Paul Ryan

Over a year ago, Congress enacted a stimulus bill that spread huge spending increases across the government. By every objective measure -- from jobs and economic growth to the rising price tag -- the stimulus has failed.

It has failed to create the jobs promised. Rather than "save or create" 3 to 4 million jobs, the economy has shed 2.7 million jobs since the stimulus passed. It has failed to keep the unemployment rate below 8% as promised. Unemployment still hovers near 10 percent.

It has failed to revive the economy, as growth remains sluggish and there are growing fears of a double-dip recession.

A year ago, we were told the stimulus would cost us $787 billion. That cost has risen in the latest estimate to $862 billion. The total price eclipses one trillion dollars when you include the borrowing costs.

Rather than acknowledge the limitations of this borrow-and-spend approach, the Administration and this Congress have opted to move the goal posts and to double-down. We will likely be told today -- as Americans have been lectured throughout the so-called "Recovery Summer" campaign blitz -- that those promises were based on "miscalculations of the severity of the situation." The proponents will tell us that we should all be grateful that the pain isn't more acute, and that it is not fair to hold policymakers accountable for the failures of their policies.

The economic models that overpromised on the stimulus were clearly wrong, yet the Administration relies on these same economic models to make the case to double-down on this failed borrow-and-spend economic experiment.

The failed stimulus is unfortunately typical of Washington's destructive economic agenda. The government cannot spend, tax, and regulate its way into economic prosperity, but that's exactly the policy course this Majority has chosen. Washington's economic overreach is paralyzing investment and growth, fostering an environment of anxiety and uncertainty, and further eroding the American people's trust in their elected leaders. From health care and the financial sector to the auto industry and the costly cap-and-trade national energy tax -- this Administration and this Congress seem to believe that the answer to every problem is to explode the size of government and to centralize power in Washington.

And, while the Administration will be quick to highlight what it sees as accomplishments from deficit spending on its stimulus program, we still have no budget. We just learned the Administration's budget and economic update -- due tomorrow -- will be delayed this year. We still haven't received the Trustees report on Medicare and Social Security's financial health, which we usually receive in April.

The American people are fed up with the relentless push to spend money we don't have, add to our crushing burden of debt, and evade accountability for the dismal results.

We need to chart a new course. Let's cancel the remaining stimulus funds, get a grip on runaway government spending, and advance pro-growth economic policies. We need to spur sustained job creation, rebuild confidence in our future, and restart the American engine of prosperity.

Cut Spending Now: http://www.house.gov/budget_republicans/press/cutspendingnow.pdf
Cancel Remaining "Stimulus" Funds: http://www.house.gov/budget_republicans/press/2007/cancelstimulus.pdf
Tackle the Debt Threat: http://www.americanroadmap.org/
A Plan for Prosperity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioDKRmV8YxI

http://budget.house.gov/republicans

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[Ecosse57]

ryan for president.

[anryth]

@ErikS1975FreeState as i said, artificial growth is not real growth. solving the problem by kicking the can down the road only insures that when the can finally kicks back, its going to more painful than it would have been if you had solved the problem correctly in the first place. in other words, our economy is a ponzi scheme, it is unsustainable. berney madoff went to jail for doing what the government is doing right now. Keynesian economics does not work.

[loudchristian2112]

@UBSCARED I dont know how to break this news to you, but GDP is calculated by this equation: C+I+G+(E-I). G is government spending. Government spending has risen exponentially, and has exploded enough to raise the whole equation. Investment, or I, has plummeted. Just because the government spends a shit ton and lifts this Keynesian equation, don't act like these absurd policies have worked.

[saltwn]

w/o the stimulus many more would have suffered and suffered truly. Get off this, "I don't want Obama to be President anymore" crap and work with him a bit. Jeeps!

[GOPkicksbutt]

The ONLY way to bring jobs back to America is to lower the minimum wage to $2/hr.

This is the only way we can compete with China. Ryan and my fellow republicans need to act on this now. Employers also should not have to carry the burdern of paying for health care either. Go et em Paul!

[m4mature17plus]

Yes Obama, we do want our change, our $change back.

[Slipknotyk06]

@ErikS1975FreeState - I'm stating we've come back from far worse, far faster.

Plus, the year I mentioned was 1920, not the 1930s. Pay close attention to this. To give yourself a general idea of what happened just wiki the Depression of 1920.