December 1, 2010

GOP Opposes Job-Creating Bills While Claiming To Care About Jobs

Today Republicans claimed that they “have been urging Congress to make private-sector job creation a priority all year.” Yet for the last two years, they have repeatedly opposed bills that would create or save millions of jobs, and they are currently blocking a preservation of unemployment insurance that economists say would save or create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Clearly, Republicans’ actions on jobs are a far cry from their empty rhetoric. 

Job-Creating Bills Opposed by Republicans:
 

• Republicans Opposed the Recovery Act, Which Created Millions of Jobs. Last month the Congressional Budget Office estimated between July and September, the Recovery Act “increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.6 million.” [CBO, 11/24/10]
   
• Republicans Opposed the HIRE Act, Which Saved Millions of Jobs. On August 2, 2010, the Treasury Department reported that from February 2010 to June 2010, businesses hired an estimated 5.6 million new workers who had been unemployed for eight weeks or longer, making those businesses eligible to receive HIRE Act tax exemptions and credits. [Department of Treasury, 8/2/10]
   
• Only Two Republicans Supported the Small Business Jobs Bill Which Will Create Over Half a Million Jobs. According to the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), the small business lending facility and the small business tax cuts in this legislation could create half a million jobs over the next two years.  [ICBA, 7/21/10]
   
• Republicans Oppose Extending Unemployment Insurance, Which Would Create or Save Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs. “[E]xtending unemployment insurance benefits through 2011 would create or save 488,000 payroll jobs. The extension would also generate over 12 million weekly work hours for people who already have jobs, which means that extending benefits would support a total of 723,000 full-time equivalent jobs.” [Economic Policy Institute, 11/4/10]
   
• Republicans Opposed the Cash for Clunkers Program, Which Saved Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs. Cash for Clunkers In December 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported to Congress that the CARS program created or saved an estimated 60,000 jobs. Across the entire automotive supply chain, Cash for Clunkers was projected to potentially generate or maintain hundreds of thousands of jobs. [NHTSA, December 2009; Center for American Progress, 3/23/09]
   
• Republicans Tried to Block The Travel Promotion Act, Which Will Create 40,000 New Jobs. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that the Travel Promotion Act could create 40,000 American jobs and yield $321 million in new federal tax revenue annually. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that it would reduce the deficit by $425 million over the next decade. [U.S. Travel Association, Get America’s Economy Back on Track; Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate, S. 1023; Senate Vote 28, HR 1299, 2/25/10]

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