Democrats' Déjà Vu: Larsen's Party Leaders Push for Stimulus 2.0 One Year After Their 2010 'Shellacking'

National Republican Congressional Committee

For Immediate Release

D.C. Democrats Have Learned Nothing Since Their First Failed Stimulus Plan was Firmly Rebuked by Voters Last Year

Washington --- Today marks exactly one year since the groundbreaking 2010 election, but Washington families must be getting a strong sense of déjà vu as Rick Larsen's Democrat leaders push for billions more in stimulus spending. If history repeats itself, then their stimulus retread plan will be about as successful and popular as their first $800 billion effort, which actually saw the country's unemployment rate go even higher in addition to piling more debt on current and future generations of American families. Since Larsen proudly supported a multi-billion dollar stimulus package before the 2010 election, will he do the same now or suddenly have a change of heart?

"Rick Larsen's Democrat leaders' proposals for more government spending and job-killing taxes remain the same today as they were one year ago, proving that they have learned nothing from the historic election that removed them from the majority," said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. "Having ignored the message voters sent in 2010, it is clear that Larsen and Pelosi have no new solutions to offer and intend to simply ignore middle-class families and small businesses in Washington who clearly want a new direction from D.C. Will Larsen change his mind or will he support another failed multi-billion dollar stimulus package like he did before?"

One year ago, President Obama admitted the Democrats had received a 'shellacking' in 2010 and vowed they would learn from it:

"A pensive and introspective President Obama said Wednesday the election was a 'shellacking' and took responsibility for his party's disastrous showing, saying that in the rush to get things done, they forgot to make good on their promise to change the way Washington works." (Kara Rowland, "Obama concedes 'shellacking,'" The Washington Times, 11/3/10)

The defeat was due in part to the failure of the first stimulus plan, which was the centerpiece of their economic agenda:

"CBO's high estimate is still short of the 3.5 million jobs that Obama had said would be created by the end of 2010, so it's accurate to say the stimulus has failed to live up to initial expectations." (Lori Robertson, "Dueling Economic Ads," FactCheck.org, 6/30/11)

And yet instead, Democrats are piling on to support yet another round of nearly identical stimulus spending one year later:

"More than 90 lower-chamber Democrats have officially endorsed the president's jobs bill in the past week - a stark jump over a short span that came after Democratic leaders welcomed members to sign on at the party's weekly caucus meeting last Tuesday." (Mike Lillis, "Obama jobs bill picks more than 90 House cosponsors," The Hill, 10/30/11)

A year has passed and Rick Larsen's Democrat leaders have all but ignored the message voters sent to D.C. in 2010. Instead of recognizing that stimulus spending and job-killing taxes are no way to get American families back to work, Larsen's party leaders have decided to double down on these failed policies once again. Will Larsen join them as he did before, or will he finally change his mind?