Michael Steele
Chairman
Republican National Committee

Comments and Articles from the Chairman

If anyone had any doubt about the real “change” President Obama had in mind for America, it surely vanished with the government’s bailout of General Motors last week. “Government Motors” is the latest of many examples that prove the “change” the president and Congressional Democrats have in mind is to abandon the very principles of private ownership, free enterprise and fiscal responsibility that have made our economic system the envy of the world.

The Democrats have made Washington, D.C. the center of economic as well as political power in our nation. Today, the federal government owns GM. The federal government owns banks. It owns mortgage companies. It owns insurance companies. And if President Obama has his way, the federal government will soon control our health care system.

So, the “change” the president is bringing to America is a vast expansion of interventionist government financed with irresponsible and reckless government spending and debt – with no jobs to show for it.

Congressional Democrats are the facilitators of this “change.” They supported his intervention in our free-market economy. They gave the president a $787 billion economic stimulus bill, legislation that Vice President Biden recently confessed would inevitably lead to waste and fraud.

Then there’s the debt. The Democrats adopted the president’s $3.5 trillion budget that would leave America with a $9 trillion deficit 10 years from now. In 2009 publicly held debt is projected to jump to 54.8 percent of GDP, up from 40.8 percent in 2008. This is the largest year-to-year increase in debt since World War II. This is what’s already happened and says nothing about what the Democrats still plan to do on health care.

When Congressional Republicans proposed alternative solutions to create jobs, cut spending and make government work smarter, Congressional Democrats rejected them all, despite their claims of bipartisanship.

This isn’t the “change” Americans want, and recent surveys prove that voters oppose the expansion of government that the Democrats are engineering. Consider the following:

· A new Gallup Poll shows for the first time a majority of respondents disapprove of Obama on the issue of “controlling federal spending” 51 percent to 45 percent.

· According to a Rasmussen survey, 60% of voters think the government already has too much money and power. The same survey found that 67% oppose President Obama’s GM bailout plan, and a majority of voters are concerned that the government may have done too much in response to the troubled economy.

Republicans believe that the most responsible, responsive and accountable forms of government are when they are closest to the people. Democrats believe in top-down, industrial age policies that only expand the federal government’s influence over more and more of our economy, not to mention our lives.

While the president and Congressional Democrats continue their march toward nationalization of our economy and financial insolvency, I urge Republicans to do three things:

1. Continue to stand for fiscal responsibility: Yesterday, President Obama and Vice President Biden said they will be ramping-up spending associated with their economic stimulus bill – essentially admitting that it isn’t working. Other Democrats are calling for another stimulus bill with more spending. That is a frightening prospect, as FBI Director Robert Mueller warned: “These funds are inherently vulnerable to bribery, fraud, conflicts of interest and collusion. Where there is money to be made fraud is not far behind, like bees to honey.”

This all comes on the eve of major discussions on health care reform, where the Democrats’ plans are estimated to cost an additional $1 trillion on top of this year’s record $1.8 trillion deficit.

The Democrats’ spending spree continues despite warnings from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and many others that the Democrats need to get spending under control or risk endangering the economy’s long-term health.

2. Demand to see an exit plan about when the government will get out of the business of running car companies and banks. Many economists and business leaders are concerned about the government’s involvement in the private sector, and the Obama Administration has so far refused to provide any clear answer to questions about when they will get out. Xerox CEO and former Obama economic advisor Anne Mulcahy warned: "There's a need for an exit plan.”

Republicans should continue to demand answers from the Administration about when they plan on returning companies to the private sector and getting them off of the public dole.

3. Advocate for health care reform while opposing efforts by President Obama and Congressional Democrats to force Americans into a government-run health care system. In the finest tradition of other government run “successes” such as Amtrak and the Postal Service, the Democrats want to put the federal government in control of our health care system. The consequences would be disastrous, as Senator Mitch McConnell explained:

“It should be perfectly obvious to anyone who’s followed government takeovers in the financial sector and the auto industry that government creates an unfair playing field that puts other companies at a disadvantage and only ends up hurting consumers in the end.”

Families want more control over their health care decisions and better access to affordable care, not to be trapped in a system that is run with the efficiency of their local DMV.

Republicans may be the minority party in Congress; however we represent the majority of Americans when it comes to limiting spending and reining in the power of the federal government. If we stand on our principles, I’m confident that we can grow our economy, create jobs, and demonstrate that Republican principles and solutions are best for families, not to mention our nation’s economic future.