Former Small Businessman Boehner: Mr. President, Private Sector Is Not Doing Fine

June 12, 2012

Congressman John Boehner delivered the following remarks today at a press conference responding to President Obama’s claim that – after 40 months of unemployment above 8 percent and with millions of Americans out of work – the “private sector is doing fine.” Congressman Boehner said:

“Mr. President, I used to run a small business. And Mr. President, take it from me, the private sector is not doing well.

“Listen, the American people are still asking the question, ‘where are the jobs?’ Stopping the looming tax hikes will help job creators because they’ll have more certainty about what the tax rates are going to be and help create a better environment for them to create jobs.

“We’re going to vote next month on extending all of the current tax rates. The president should assure the nation that when this bill gets to his desk he’ll sign it into law.

“We also know that the president’s health care law is making it harder for small businesses to hire, and we know that it must be repealed in its entirety. This morning, we learned more about the backroom deals that were made that led to its passage. Emails obtained by the Energy & Commerce Committee show that the White House traded billions of dollars in policy concessions to PhRMA for millions of dollars worth of advertising. The administration created and managed a Super PAC, paid for by PhRMA and run by Jim Messina out of the West Wing of the White House. This is wrong, and the administration must be held accountable for their actions.”