Today's hearing reviews the implementation of the Fostering Connections law approved last fall.  That law made important changes we all hope will benefit young people in foster care.  The changes include stepped up efforts to place children with relatives instead of strangers and improved incentives for adopting children out of foster care.  I am especially interested in provisions… Read more

Today, the White House issued an updated release of the number of jobs “created or saved” as a result of the Democrats' so-called stimulus bill.  Contrary to the Administration’s continued claims of jobs “created or saved” by stimulus, former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich broke the code when he said last week of such estimates that, “It… Read more

    The Labor Department announced this morning that employers eliminated another 216,000 American jobs last month, driving the unemployment rate to 9.7%.  However, just yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden stated that, “the recovery act is doing more, faster, more efficiently and more effectively than we had hoped.”   “The so-called stimulus bill has disastrously failed to meet… Read more

Despite the Administration’s claim that the “stimulus” is working, the Obama Misery Index (OMI) continued to rise in July.  The OMI measures the combined change in the public debt and unemployment since President Obama was inaugurated, which are now 40% higher than the levels on January 21, 2009.  The July rise in the OMI was driven by a continued sharp rise in the public debt, more… Read more

Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement today in reaction to the July jobs report and a statement by Christina Romer (Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors) that the Stimulus bill passed by Congress was "well-conceived": “The Administration said their Stimulus program would save or create millions of jobs. The reality, however, is… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) Mr. Speaker, I intend to vote against this bill, but I recognize that it does contain one worthy section: ensuring workers continue to get promised regular and extended unemployment benefits and States are able to keep paying those benefits.  Let’s be clear why this provision is necessary: the Democrats’ economic policy has resulted in record job loss, record… Read more

Today’s unemployment insurance (UI) benefit claims data from the U.S. Department of Labor reveals yet another record number of Americans collecting unemployment instead of a paycheck.  For the week ending July 4, the most recent for which we have full State and Federal data, nearly 9.2 million laid off workers collected UI benefits.  As the data below shows, the rise in the number of UI… Read more

President Obama’s rhetoric about a recession he “inherited” cannot disguise the fact the economy’s performance since his inauguration has only gotten worse.  Despite campaign pledges of fiscal responsibility and job creation, his early achievements, including an $800 billion stimulus bill, have resulted in rapidly growing debt combined with rising unemployment.  Taken together,… Read more

  Washington, DC – Three U.S. Representatives who serve as the top Democrat and Republicans on subcommittees overseeing the Social Security Administration (SSA) have requested a thorough explanation of why taxpayer funds were used for a conference at the luxurious Arizona Biltmore resort.  Seeking the information are John Tanner (D-TN) and Sam Johnson (R-TX), respectively the Chairman… Read more

The Obama Administration famously predicted its so-called stimulus plan would “save or create 3.5 million jobs.”  However, the unemployment rate in June reached 9.5%, well above the 8% level the Administration projected if stimulus passed.  This means 2.5 million more Americans unemployed than the President promised. While the President… Read more