That’s It? Obama Administration Says Trillion-Dollar ‘Stimulus’ Has Run Its Course
GOP Leader Asks “Where are the Jobs?” as Author of Flawed ‘Stimulus’ Sees No Relieve in Sight for Out-of-Work Families
Washington,
Oct 22, 2009 -
One of the authors of the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ is now saying the Obama Administration’s signature domestic initiative has already had its “greatest impact” on helping the economy – even though roughly three million private sector jobs have been lost since it became law in February. Dr. Christina Romer, chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, testified in front of the Joint Economic Committee just one day after new data showed that despite the “stimulus,” 49 out of 50 states have lost jobs in the last seven months.
Dr. Romer, who once predicted that the stimulus would create “about 3.5 million jobs,” also conceded today that unemployment would remain “severely elevated” and rise above 10 percent next year. Echoing a line of thought regularly expressed by Republicans, Dr. Romer testified that future economic growth would be dependent on the private sector. Republicans have offered better solutions to help small businesses create jobs and get our economy moving again.
At his weekly press briefing today, House Republican Leader John Boehner commented on the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ that isn’t working:
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“Yesterday, new state-by-state jobs numbers came out, and they showed that 49 out of 50 states have lost jobs since the Democrats’ trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ was enacted. Ohio alone has lost nearly 100,000 jobs since February. The Speaker claimed that the ‘stimulus’ has ‘saved or created’ two million jobs yesterday. Yet the Speaker’s home state of California has lost more than 300,000 jobs. I was in California a couple weeks ago, and the people I ran into kept asking me, ‘Where are the jobs?’”
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AUTHOR OF TRILLION-DOLLAR ‘STIMULUS’ SAYS IT HAS RUN ITS COURSE, SEES NO RELIEF IN SIGHT FOR OUT-OF-WORK FAMILIES:
“Obama Economic Adviser: The Stimulus’ Impact on Economic Growth Has Past. An interesting tidbit from Dr. Christina Romer’s testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. Citing economic analysts she says the fiscal stimulus will have its greatest impact on growth in the second and third quarters of 2009. (Editor’s note – those quarters are now behind us). Growth in the economy will be dependent on the private sector.” (ABC News, 10/22/09)
“The government's economic stimulus spending has already had its biggest impact and probably won't contribute to significant growth next year, a top White House adviser said Thursday.” (Associated Press, 10/22/09)
“The US unemployment rate is likely to remain ‘severely elevated’ for some time even as the economy recovers from recession, a top White House economic aide said Thursday.” (AFP, 10/22/09)
“White House economist Christina Romer warned this morning that unemployment is ‘unlikely to end 2010 much below’ the current rate of nearly 10%.” (WSJ Washington Wire, 10/22/09)
HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ SOLUTIONS TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES CREATE JOBS INCLUDE:
• Allow small businesses to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income.
• Let small businesses join together to purchase health insurance for their workers the way large businesses and labor unions do.
• Enact genuine legal reform and policies that incentivize wellness to reduce health care costs for small businesses.
• Lower taxes for all taxpayers by reducing the current 15 percent rate to 10 percent and reducing the current 10 percent rate to 5 percent. This will provide an immediate increase in income to every taxpaying family in America and free up capital to help small businesses hire more workers.
• Expand health savings accounts (HSAs) to provide additional flexibility to small businesses in providing health care to their employees.
• Increase the net operating loss carry back from 2 to 5 years to provide struggling employers with additional resources to keep their doors open.
NOTE: These proposals, some of which were presented to President Obama as early as his first week in office, were developed by House Republicans' Economic Recovery and Health Care solutions groups. The Economic Recovery Solutions Group, led by Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), is developing additional proposals to spur job creation.
