Stimulus Yields Disappointing Results (July 2009) PDF Print

I wanted to share my thoughts and concerns about the jobs report that was released last Friday. I am concerned by the fact that we have lost another half million jobs and that our national unemployment rate has reached 9.5%. Across Northern California, the unemployment rates are even higher due to additional challenges in our state and a higher frequency of seasonal employment in our area. This past weekend, while discussing the absence of jobs created by the stimulus bill, Vice President Biden commented that, “We misread how bad the economy was.”

Earlier this year, the Democrat Leadership in Congress passed a nearly trillion dollar stimulus bill that, in addition to placing additional debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren, ignored one of the bottom-line principles of economics: Government can’t create jobs or wealth. Job creation comes from people in private enterprise investing and taking risks to grow their businesses. This is the only way to generate sustainable economic growth over time. Government spending is a temporary band-aid that doesn’t fix the underlying problems. Despite the disappointing results of the stimulus bill, even more spending is being planned. This would increase the burden on future generations without improving our economy. I am troubled by the continued interference in private markets by the federal government and am working to promote policies that have proven successful in the past. It is essential that we protect our economy from further harmful policies like a national energy tax that will be a job killer, and that we oppose a move toss government-run health care that would lower quality of care while exploding our deficit. I will continue to push for a lower tax burden on working families and small businesses, to get federal spending under control, and to encourage new investment in America’s industries.

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