Cicilline Takes on GOP
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Congressman David Cicilline is among the many Democrats blasting Republicans for failing to bring any job creation bill to the House floor in their first two months as the majority party.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, which Cicilline joined last month, held the floor for two hours earlier in the week criticizing what they have coined the “Republican No Jobs Agenda,” a plan that focuses only on cutting the deficit while not addressing the need get people back to work.
“Our colleagues, since assuming the majority last month, haven’t offered a single piece of legislation that will create jobs,” the freshman Congressman said.
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On Thursday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a YouTube video featuring its members criticizing the opposition party.
Cicilline joined 22 other Democrats in voicing their displeasure with House Republicans, who they believe have gone back on their campaign rhetoric, which centered on economic recovery and job creation. Arizona Representative Raúl M. Grijalva said he refuses to allow Republicans to rush their proposed spending bill.
“This is the opening salvo in what will be a protracted battle on job creation, sensible debt reduction and future budget planning,” Grijalva, the co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said. “We are determined to speak on behalf of the American people for as long as it takes.”
A Million Jobs At Risk
In a statement released to GoLocalProv last week, Cicilline was critical of what the Republicans’ $74 billion budget cut proposal could do to job growth in Rhode Island. Now the Economic Policy Institute has suggested the cuts could cost the nation more jobs than anyone first predicted.
“Cuts of this magnitude will undermine gross domestic product performance at a time when the economy is seeing anemic post-recession growth,” Rebecca Thiess, a policy analyst wrote on the Institute’s website. “Cuts in the range of $74 billion will lead to the loss of roughly 700,000 jobs. The domestic discretionary reduction of $58 billion will result in the loss of around 590,000 jobs.”
Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Congressman and co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the Republicans have let Americans down.
“They can talk a good game, but the Republican No Jobs Agenda proves that they can’t walk the walk for the American people,” Ellison said. “After nearly two months in control of the legislative agenda, their only jobs bill is a job-cutting bill to the tune of 1 million American jobs.”
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