to cover up the "Ominous" Spending Bill.....................
GOP Minority Leader] Boehner: White House trying to distract with Limbaugh
The Hill | March 4, 2009 | Molly K. Hooper
White House efforts to highlight Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party are an attempt to divert attention from the administration’s massive budget proposal, GOP House leaders said Wednesday.
They said Americans are more concerned about the economy and President Obama’s budget than Limbaugh, under White House fire for saying he hoped Obama would fail because of his policies.
“This is nothing more than a distraction created by the administration to take people’s attention away from the fact that they’re going to raise taxes and grow the size of government,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Wednesday following a weekly GOP policy meeting.
The attention given to Limbaugh, who was mentioned again Wednesday at the White House briefing, is making it more difficult for Republicans on Capitol Hill to get out their own message.
After Wednesday’s policy briefing, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) attempted to direct attention back to the topic of Republican concern on Capitol Hill: the president’s budget.
“It’s not about Rush Limbaugh, it is not about Rahm Emanuel, it’s not about individuals right now — this is about real impact on families across this country,” Cantor said.
Cantor, the second-ranking House GOP leader, was careful neither to agree nor disagree with Limbaugh’s hope that Obama’s economic policies fail. Instead, he emphasized that Republicans do not think an expansion of government will succeed in reviving the economy.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said House Republicans will not stand by while Congress and the White House push policies that conservatives believe will raise taxes and grow the size of government.
“Republicans will not back down in our stand to defend the interests of the American people against the onslaught of more government and more taxes,” Pence said. “We will vigorously oppose every policy that will harm our efforts to put this economy back on track.”
The Republican leadership’s comments come after Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele apologized to Limbaugh for describing him as "incendiary" and an "entertainer." Steele made the comments after Limbaugh, speaking at a conservative conference in Washington, reiterated his hope that Obama’s economic policies would fail.
White House officials have delighted in drawing attention to Steele’s apology to Limbaugh.