Boehner’s closing argument: ‘Americans haven’t experienced change promised’

House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner (Ohio) said Americans
“haven’t experienced the change President Obama promised” as he
delivered what amounts to the GOP’s closing argument days before the
midterm elections.

“In the final days of the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama promised to
‘change this country and change the world.’ Well I don’t know about the
world, but here at home, Americans haven’t experienced the change
President Obama promised,” Boehner said in the Republican weekly
address on Saturday.

{mosads}“One in ten of our fellow citizens is out of
work. Our national debt has grown by $3 trillion. Trust in government
has fallen to an all-time low.

“Now these problems didn’t start under President Obama,” Boehner said.
“But instead of fixing them, his policies have made them worse.”

In
all likelihood, Boehner would become Speaker if Republicans win control
of the House after Tuesday, as many analysts now expect them to do.

Criticizing the stimulus package, the healthcare law and a
cap-and-trade energy bill that was never enacted, Boehner said that
“Americans are demanding a new way forward in Washington – an approach
that neither party has tried.”

He touted the GOP’s “Pledge to America,” saying Congress needs to
reduce spending and prevent a tax hike by extending the George W.
Bush-era tax cuts.

While Boehner said a new GOP Congress would
mark a departure from the Obama agenda, he also acknowledged voter
dissatisfaction with Republicans, saying a renewed focus on cutting
spending would be “a break from the direction in which Republicans were
headed when Americans last entrusted us with the reins of government.”