As President Travels to Detroit, Motor City Newspapers Slam "Stimulus" Plan That Isn't Working | Republican Leader John Boehner

As President Travels to Detroit, Motor City Newspapers Slam "Stimulus" Plan That Isn't Working | Republican Leader John Boehner

With Unemployment Rising, Boehner and Camp Warn Dems' Small Business Tax and Mandates Will Destroy Millions More American Jobs

Washington, Jul 14 - President Obama travels to Detroit today, in an attempt to continue selling the Democrats’ “stimulus” spending plan that isn’t working. If the reactions from the city’s two newspapers are any indication, he has a tough job ahead in Michigan. While national unemployment has risen far beyond the level predicted by Washington Democrats, Michigan is facing more than 14 percent unemployment, even though the Administration promised immediate job creation after the stimulus became law. That’s led both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press to publish editorials this morning underscoring the “stimulus” bill’s complete lack of success in fulfilling the Administration’s promises on the economy:

Detroit News: “President Barack Obama’s plan to attack the recession through massive deficit spending is not producing the results the president promised in February when he convinced the American people to go deep into hock in the name of creating jobs and boosting economic growth. Obama is well into spending the $787 million approved by Congress for his stimulus programs, and yet the unemployment rate is still climbing and economic recovery remains elusive. Administration economists projected that the huge influx of borrowed federal dollars would keep the national unemployment rate from breaking through the 8 percent mark. It stands at 9.5 percent today and is still rising.”

Detroit Free Press: “Seems that Obama might do better to focus on encouraging folks here about how his policies – the stimulus package, in particular – are going to actually put people back to work... Obama will surely try to offer solutions, but he can’t afford to sugar-coat anything in front of a Michigan audience. If it’s a teachable moment, it may be more of one for the president than for those he’s visiting.”

According to a new CBS News poll, 75 percent of Americans believe the “stimulus” has either had no impact or made the economy worse, leading middle-class families and small businesses in Michigan and across the country to ask, “Where are the jobs?” And the job losses may not be over yet, according to House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Ways & Means Committee Ranking Republican Dave Camp (R-MI). In an op-ed published in today’s Detroit News, in advance of the President’s visit to the Motor City, Boehner and Camp warned that the Democrats’ government takeover of health care could cost more jobs, as a result of the small business tax and mandates that Democratic leaders are planning to use to bankroll the plan:

“[T]he centerpieces of the House Democrats’ government takeover of health care are a new small business tax and a slew of new mandates on employers. These are on top of the president's budget that included even more taxes on small businesses. Small businesses are accustomed to the difficult choices they must make when business costs rise. Equipment purchases are shelved. Health care and retirement benefits are cut. Hiring is put off, and some employees are let go. The result is even more Americans out of work and, yes, fewer with access to quality health care.” “The Democrats’ health care plan also includes a flurry of new employer mandates that will raise the costs of doing business even higher. By penalizing employers – including millions of small businesses – who cannot afford to pay for health care, these new mandates will mean even fewer jobs. According to a methodology developed by the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Christina Romer, the mandates could cost 4.7 million jobs during the next 10 years. The National Federation of Independent Businesses recently warned that they could cost one million small business jobs alone.”

Boehner and Camp noted that the House GOP’s health care reform alternative gives small businesses better options to make health care available and affordable for employees and their families. Small business health plans, a cornerstone of House Republicans’ health care reform proposal, allow smaller firms to band together through associations and purchase high-quality health insurance at lower costs, just like large corporations do.

Indeed, if Washington Democrats are serious about creating more jobs and getting the economy moving again, they should scrap the job-destroying agenda they’re bringing to the floor of the House this summer. Their national energy tax will raise costs for families and small businesses across America and send millions of jobs overseas to competitors like China and India. And their small business tax and mandates, which Democrats reportedly plan to pay for a government takeover of health care, will strangle even more small businesses and destroy millions more jobs. That’s not what middle-class families want – in Michigan or anywhere else in America. Isn’t it time for Washington Democrats to work with Republicans on better solutions to create jobs?