While the President recently said the economy had “turned a corner,” it’s hard to tell that from looking at the job situation across the U.S.  According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor, and the chart below, through March 2010 a total of 48 out of 50 States had seen net job losses since the President signed the Democrats’ stimulus plan into law in February 2009.  The… Read more

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, despite its obvious shortcomings, and yield myself such time as I may consume. On March 17th, the House approved the prior version of this bill, which would have extended Federal unemployment, COBRA and related benefits, plus the Medicare “doc fix,” through the month of April.  Everyone in this town knew those benefits and programs were… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today released a list of tax increases totaling $670.341 billion that have been enacted into law under President Obama.  The gross tax increases equate to more than $2,100 for every man, woman and child in the United States and include at least 14 violations of the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans earning… Read more

On Sunday April 4, 2010, in discussing the effects of the Democrats’ February 2009 economic stimulus package, Dr. Christina Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said "I think it has done exactly what we would say it would do." Fortunately, a solid set of data exists to judge the accuracy of such claims. In January 2009, the Administration released a detailed… Read more

Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today released data showing the “Obama Misery Index” – the combined change in unemployment and public debt since the President took office – has skyrocketed 57 percent through the first quarter of 2010.  Camp stated, “The Obama Misery Index highlights how the Democrats’ stimulus plan has been a costly failure.  Since the President took… Read more

In the April 5, 2010 New York Times, Dr. Larry Summers, “the president’s top economic adviser” said the U.S. economy is “running somewhat ahead of what the administration was forecasting.”  Unfortunately, as the chart below shows, the U.S. unemployment rate is also running “somewhat ahead of what the Administration was forecasting” if its 2009 stimulus bill passed.  In fact, the… Read more

   This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 162,000 jobs in March.  While positive job growth is welcome news, this still leaves the Administration 6.7 million short of its promise that its stimulus bill would create 3.7 million jobs by the end of 2010.  During the rest of this year, the economy will need to add more than 750,000 jobs per month --… Read more

While the President recently claimed his February 2009 stimulus bill will "save or create 1.5 million jobs in 2010 after saving or creating as many as 2 million jobs thus far,” the table below compares the White House's original projections of state-by-state job creation with the actual change in state payroll employment through February 2010, using the latest data from the U.S.… Read more

Madame Speaker, It is tough to see this bill as either a small business bill or a jobs bill.  Specifically, I have three main concerns:  It raises taxes on employers during a recession – making it tougher for Americans to find needed work.  Roughly 80 percent of the so-called tax relief in the bill is dedicated to state and local governments. Small governments are not… Read more

Mr. Chairman, thank you and let me take this opportunity to publicly congratulate you on your new rank within this Committee.  We have always had a good working relationship, and I look forward to this continuing.  You have said your approach will be “collegial but tough.”  I think that is exactly what we will have here today as we consider the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs… Read more