House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on the release of the annual summer update of the budget and economic outlook of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which shows Fiscal Year 2011 will mark the third straight year with deficits in excess of $1 trillion, while unemployment remains above 8 percent into 2014. 

“A slight decrease in the projected deficit is nothing to celebrate, particularly when it is accompanied by the grim news that CBO expects the national unemployment rate to continue to exceed 8 percent well past next year.  The president's policies were supposed to keep that from happening.  Instead they've added trillions to our debt at the expense of our children and helped put our nation’s credit rating in jeopardy.  Where are the jobs?

"The bottom line in this underwhelming report: while the spending cuts made in recent months have resulted in some limited improvement in our fiscal outlook, President Obama’s policies are continuing to make it harder for the private sector to create jobs, and that’s continuing to make it harder to balance the federal budget.  The CBO update is further confirmation of the need for the president to abandon his reliance on short-term fixes and ‘stimulus’ spending gimmicks, and work with us to remove government barriers that are standing in the way of long-term job growth.

“Since President Obama took office, unemployment in America has gone up and stayed up – and with fewer Americans working, revenues to the federal government have consequently dropped.  This – coupled with the unprecedented and disastrous spending binge the president launched upon taking office – has resulted in a staggering budget deficit that has exceeded $1 trillion for three straight years.   

“Americans are yearning for solutions, and they aren’t getting them from the Democrats – who, despite the president’s recent rhetorical efforts to pretend otherwise, still run most of Washington.  Instead of giving a campaign-minded speech on jobs next month, the president must take action.  He must break sharply with his past policies, abandon his reliance on short-term fixes and ‘stimulus’ spending gimmicks that are driving up the deficit and spreading uncertainty, and begin a bipartisan effort to remove government barriers that are standing in the way of long-term private-sector job growth.  He must also put the full weight of the presidency behind bipartisan fiscal reforms that will reduce the deficit and strengthen the integrity of our entitlement programs while rejecting job-killing tax hikes.

“These steps need to be taken immediately to help put our country back on a path to economic growth.  We stand ready to work with him to enact such reforms into law without delay.”

NOTE: Approximately two-thirds of the limited improvement in the baseline fiscal outlook included in the new CBO estimate stems from the enactment of the Budget Control Act, which will reduce spending by $2.1 trillion over the next decade.  The House Republican plan to remove government barriers to private-sector job growth can be seen at Jobs.GOP.Gov.

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