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House Republicans Unveil Another Plank in Platform

House Republicans will roll out their economic action plan today — the second plank in their election-year agenda.

The plan focuses on four areas: lowering gas prices, stopping wasteful spending, cutting taxes and ensuring long-term economic growth.

A few weeks ago, the GOP began their agenda rollout by focusing on energy. Later efforts will focus on national security just before Members head home for the July Fourth recess and health care later in July.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) — who led the yearlong effort to develop an election-year message and strategy — said today’s release is the next step in demonstrating to voters what Republicans would do differently if they were to regain the House majority.

“Over the past 18 months, the American people have seen what the Democrats who run Congress have to offer: higher taxes, broken promises and skyrocketing gas prices,” Boehner said. “We will fight to lower taxes, expand American energy to bring down gas prices, establish patient-centered health care and cut wasteful Washington spending.”

Among the proposals the GOP will put forward to help ensure longer-term economic growth include extending current welfare work requirements to other programs, namely food stamps and housing, and cutting taxes on American businesses.

Republicans are also calling for an overhaul of the tax code. They are proposing offering taxpayers a choice between the current tax system and a one-page, two-tier flat tax system.

Their plan also calls for balancing the federal budget by 2012 without raising taxes.

Democrats continued to dismiss the GOP agenda as unimaginative, and they took the opportunity to link Congressional Republicans with the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), and President Bush.

“The party that presided over an economic collapse now has a plan for more of the same,” said Nick Papas, a spokesman for the House Democratic Caucus. “The American people aren’t interested in four more years of Bush-McCain economics.”

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