4/22/2009 1:52 PM ET
(RTTNews) -
As President Barack Obama nears his 100th day in office, House Republicans are becoming increasingly critical of his performance.
House Republican Leader Rep. John Boehner, of Ohio, said Wednesday that Obama's first 100 days in office had failed to turn around the economy, decrease unemployment or end an era of fiscal irresponsibility in Washington.
"This Sunday, we come to National Debt Day. National Debt Day is the day during the fiscal year when we have spent all of the revenue coming in to the federal government," Boehner said at a press conference in Washington. "And so after Sunday - every dime that is spent, every new program that is approved - the money has to be borrowed from our kids and grandkids."
He added, "This National Debt Day is three and a half months earlier this year than it was last year because of the stimulus bill."
Boehner noted that he'd attended a recent rally in California designed to raise awareness of the national debt on April 15, and he said that he'd found the attendees to be truly scared.
"They're not really scared about themselves, but they're scared about the future for their kids and their grandkids, because they understand that the kind of spending that's going on here and borrowing that's going on here will imprison their kids and grandkids' futures," he said.
Republicans, Boehner said, would move forward to offer better solutions as well as criticisms of Obama's efforts.
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House Republican Whip, speaking at the same press conference, added that Obama's first 100 days hadn't lived up to the pledges of bipartisanship heard during the transition and early days of the administration.
"The era of bipartisanship we had hoped for could probably be improved upon," he said. "That's how we come back from the Easter recess, to say to the President we do want to work together, that we can actually unite. Washington should be more thoughtful about trying to deliver for the American people."
Cantor cited Obama's recent instruction to his Cabinet secretaries to cut $100 million from their budgets as an area in which he felt Obama fell short.
"Now any amount of savings is commendable, but I think that we can do better," Cantor said. "There is an enormous amount of opportunity for us to work together, to actually produce real savings for the American people."
by RTT Staff Writer
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