July 14, 2009 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) | Permalink
PresidentObama travels to Detroit today, in an attempt to continue selling theDemocrats’ “stimulus” spending plan that isn’t working. If thereactions from the city’s two newspapers are any indication, he has atough job ahead in Michigan. While national unemployment has risen farbeyond the level predicted by Washington Democrats, Michigan is facingmore than 14 percent unemployment, even though the Administrationpromised immediate job creation after the stimulus became law. That’sled both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Pressto publish editorials this morning underscoring the “stimulus” bill’scomplete lack of success in fulfilling the Administration’s promises onthe economy:
- Detroit News:“President Barack Obama’s plan to attack the recession through massivedeficit spending is not producing the results the president promised inFebruary when he convinced the American people to go deep into hock inthe name of creating jobs and boosting economic growth. Obama is wellinto spending the $787 million approved by Congress for his stimulusprograms, and yet the unemployment rate is still climbing and economicrecovery remains elusive. Administration economists projected that thehuge influx of borrowed federal dollars would keep the nationalunemployment rate from breaking through the 8 percent mark. It standsat 9.5 percent today and is still rising.”
- Detroit Free Press:“Seems that Obama might do better to focus on encouraging folks hereabout how his policies – the stimulus package, in particular – aregoing to actually put people back to work... Obama will surely try tooffer solutions, but he can’t afford to sugar-coat anything in front ofa Michigan audience. If it’s a teachable moment, it may be more of onefor the president than for those he’s visiting.”
According to a new CBS News poll,75 percent of Americans believe the “stimulus” has either had no impactor made the economy worse, leading middle-class families and smallbusinesses in Michigan and across the country to ask, “Where are the jobs?” And the job losses may not be over yet, according to House RepublicanLeader John Boehner (R-OH) and Ways & Means Committee RankingRepublican Dave Camp (R-MI). In an op-ed published in today’s Detroit News,in advance of the President’s visit to the Motor City, Boehner and Campwarned that the Democrats’ government takeover of health care couldcost more jobs, as a result of the small business tax and mandates thatDemocratic leaders are planning to use to bankroll the plan: | “[T]hecenterpieces of the House Democrats’ government takeover of health careare a new small business tax and a slew of new mandates on employers. These are on top of the president's budget that included even moretaxes on small businesses. Small businesses are accustomed to thedifficult choices they must make when business costs rise. Equipmentpurchases are shelved. Health care and retirement benefits are cut. Hiring is put off, and some employees are let go. The result is evenmore Americans out of work and, yes, fewer with access to qualityhealth care.” “The Democrats’ health care plan also includes aflurry of new employer mandates that will raise the costs of doingbusiness even higher. By penalizing employers – including millions ofsmall businesses – who cannot afford to pay for health care, these newmandates will mean even fewer jobs. According to a methodologydeveloped by the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors,Christina Romer, the mandates could cost 4.7 million jobs during thenext 10 years. The National Federation of Independent Businessesrecently warned that they could cost one million small business jobsalone.” | Boehner and Camp noted that the House GOP’s health care reform alternativegives small businesses better options to make health care available andaffordable for employees and their families. Small business healthplans, a cornerstone of House Republicans’ health care reform proposal,allow smaller firms to band together through associations and purchasehigh-quality health insurance at lower costs, just like largecorporations do. Indeed, if Washington Democrats are seriousabout creating more jobs and getting the economy moving again, theyshould scrap the job-destroying agenda they’re bringing to the floor ofthe House this summer. Their national energy tax will raise costs forfamilies and small businesses across America and send millions of jobsoverseas to competitors like China and India. And their small businesstax and mandates, which Democrats reportedly plan to pay for agovernment takeover of health care, will strangle even more smallbusinesses and destroy millions more jobs. That’s not whatmiddle-class families want – in Michigan or anywhere else in America. Isn’t it time for Washington Democrats to work with Republicans onbetter solutions to create jobs? |
Comments