"To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more -– on tax cuts for middle-class families to spur the economy; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. These emergency steps also added to the deficit."
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March 2011
The House speaker's answer came in response to a question from Pacifica Radio's Leigh Ann Caldwell.
"Do you have any estimate on how many jobs will be lost through this?" she asked, referring to the impact on government payrolls of the Republican majority's plans to reduce Washington's record levels of red ink by cutting federal spending by billions of dollars.
Boehner's reply: "Since President Obama has taken office, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs, and if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it. We're broke."