The Hill News

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the most recent jobs report “a punch in the gut” to the economy and blamed the lackluster recovery on the failed policies of the Obama administration.



“The jobs report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor last week was a punch in the gut. . .a sobering reality check,” Boehner plans to say in a speech Saturday night in Ashland, Ohio, according to excerpts provided by his political office.

That report showed the economy created just 54,000 jobs in May, a sharp drop from previous months and well below economist expectations.


The Speaker will argue, as he has before, that the 2009 economic stimulus has fallen far short of administration predictions that it would ke! ep the unemployment rate from breaching 8 percent. It stands now at 9.1 percent.


“The reason we are continuing to struggle economically is because we’ve been placing too much trust in government programs, and not enough trust in our people, who’ve always been the real driving force behind the American economy,” Boehner plans to say. “The reality is that the bigger the government gets, the smaller the American people get. More government means less freedom.  Less freedom means less growth. Less growth means fewer jobs.”


Boehner also contends that the exploding national debt, now above $14.3 trillion, is not merely a long-term concern but is “threatening our economy right now in a very tangible way with very real consequences.”

He will reiterate his demand that any increase in the debt limit this summer be accompanied by even greater spending cuts.”


Boehner is speaking at a memorial dinner honoring t! he late Rep. John Ashbrook (R-Ohio).