TOP TEN REASONS WHY THE GOP SO-CALLED “JOBS” BILL WILL HURT THE ECONOMY AND COST AMERICAN JOBS

1) The Republican So-Called “Jobs” Bill Could Harm The Economy And Is Unlikely To Create Any Jobs And Make The Jobs Crisis Worse. According to Gus Faucher, the director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Analytics, “In the short term, demand is weak, businesses aren’t hiring, and consumers aren’t spending. That’s the cause of the current weakness — and Republican Senate proposals aren’t going to address that in the short term. In fact, they could be harmful in the short run, if the focus is on cutting spending.” [Washington Post, 10/17/11]

2) Meanwhile, The American Jobs Act Will Create Jobs, Reduce Unemployment And Spur Economic Growth Immediately. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moody’s Analytics said of the American Jobs Act, “The plan would add 2 percentage points to GDP growth next year, add 1.9 million jobs, and cut the unemployment rate by a percentage point.” [Moody’s Analytics, 9/9/11]

3) The GOP’s Balanced Budget Amendment Could Require Massive Cuts That Would Kill Jobs, Decimate Crucial Education And Security Programs. Over the last 40 years, federal outlays were 20.8% of the GDP on average. In CBO’s baseline projections, mandatory spending averages 13.2% of GDP over the coming 10 years, in contrast to the 9.9% of GDP it averaged from 1971 to 2010. That means the Republicans’ arbitrary spending cap would force grossly inadequate funding levels for discretionary spending such as education, homeland security and law enforcement. [CBO, January 2011]

4) The GOP Plan Would Force Massive Cuts In Social Security And Medicare. Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute wrote of Republican Balanced Budget proposals capping federal spending at 18% of GDP, “To reach 18 percent of GDP would require some combination of spending cuts that would either severely slash Social Security and Medicare well below the levels contemplated in the Simpson/Bowles fiscal commission or cutting discretionary spending in half, or decimating defense… It is hard to respect Senators who know, or should know, better for mindlessly supporting such an irresponsible amendment--and that will be true as well for any Democrats who join in this effort.” [Roll Call, 3/30/11]

5) The GOP Plan Showers More Tax Breaks On Millionaires Over The Objections Of An Overwhelming Majority Of Americans. According to Bloomberg, “About 25 percent of millionaires in the U.S. pay federal taxes at lower effective rates than a significant portion of middle-income taxpayers, according to a legislative analysis.” According to a CNN poll released on October 17, 76% of Americans support “Increasing the taxes paid by people who make more than one million dollars a year,” including 56% of Republicans. According to the same poll, 75% support “Providing federal money to state governments to allow them to hire teachers and first responders,” including 63% of Republicans. [Bloomberg, 10/12/11; CNN, 10/17/11]

6) GOP Efforts To Hamstring The NLRB Would Allow Employers To Ship Jobs Overseas. In 2000, the National Labor Relations Board intervened and stopped jewelry manufacturer Quadrtech Corp. from moving its operation to Mexico in retaliation for working attempting to form a union. In September, 248 legal scholars wrote that under the GOP plan to de-fang the NLRB, “Employers will be able to eliminate lines of work, hire subcontractors, switch jobs to non-union facilities or transfer them out of the country in violation of the NLRA—secure in the knowledge that the Board will be unable to order it to undo those actions." [Los Angeles Times, 12/12/00; Education and Workforce Committee, Minority blog, 9/13/11]

7) GOP’s Gutting Of EPA Standards Will Kill Jobs And Threaten Public Health. Proposed updates to the Clean Air Act are estimated to create 1.46 million jobs, or about 290,000 jobs on average in each of the next five years. Many of the facilities receiving job-creating, pollution-reducing upgrades are concentrated in the very industrial cities hit hardest by job loss in this recession. The largest estimated job gains are in Illinois, (122,695), Virginia, (123,014), Tennessee, (113,138), North Carolina (76,966) and Ohio (76,240). The CAA also has a proven record of protecting public health and saving lives. By 1990, the CAA had prevented 205,00 premature deaths, 674,000 cases of chronic bronchitis, 22,00 cases of heart disease, 850,000 asthma attacks and 18 million child respiratory illnesses. In 2010 alone the Clean Air Act prevented 160,000 adult mortalities, 86,000 emergency room visits and 13 million lost work days due to air-pollution related health problems. [Report by Ceres and the PERI Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act, 1970 to 1990 – Executive Summary; EPA: The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act: 1990 to 2020 – Summary Report]

Former Reagan Official: GOP Anti-Regulatory Agenda “Is A Simple Case Of Political Opportunism, Not A Serious Effort To Deal With High Unemployment.” Discussing Republican claims that regulations are the principal factor holding back job growth, former Reagan advisor Bruce Bartlett wrote, “No hard evidence is offered for this claim; it is simply asserted as self-evident and repeated endlessly throughout the conservative echo chamber… In my opinion, regulatory uncertainty is a canard invented by Republicans that allows them to use current economic problems to pursue an agenda supported by the business community year in and year out. In other words, it is a simple case of political opportunism, not a serious effort to deal with high unemployment.” [New York Times, 10/4/11]

8) Repealing The Affordable Care Act Would Add Roughly $124 Billion To The Deficit, Increase Taxes On Small Businesses And Harm Seniors By Pushing Them Back Into The Part D “Donut Hole.” According to the most recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, repealing the Affordable Care Act would add approximately $124 billion to the deficit. Additionally, more than 4 million small businesses are eligible for a tax credit for purchasing health insurance for their employees, which the GOP plan would eliminate. Moreover, repeal of the ACA would re-open the Medicare Part D donut hole. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, almost 1.8 million Medicare recipients have taken advantage close to $1 billion in discounts as the donut hole closes under the ACA, discounts that would be eliminated with repeal. [CBO, 2/18/11; CBO, 10/17/11; Small Business Majority, July 2010; HHS Press Release, 10/6/11]

9) GOP’s Repeal Of Wall Street Reform Will Roll Back Key Consumer Protections And Allow Wall Street To Go Back To Running “Roughshod.” In a July 2011 editorial, USA Today wrote, “A new federal agency with an unfortunate mouthful of a name — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau— opened last week to ensure that people are well informed when they sign up for a mortgage, credit card or some other financial product. It's a straightforward mission. Yet, even as the bureau gets up and running, big banks and their allies in Congress are still waging a battle to neuter the agency and deprive it of a leader. That's not good news for consumers who've suffered as financial institutions ran roughshod while federal regulators stood by and did nothing.” Though the CFPB Has only been up and running a few months, they are already working to develop their oversight of mortgage services and working with Holly Petraeus to examine financial instruments tailored to our men and women in uniform to ensure they are protected from abuse in the financial market. [USA Today, Editorial, 7/24/11; CFPB, 10/13/11; CFPB, 9/7/01]

10) Not One Economist Has Confirmed That This Bill In Its Entirety Will Create A Solitary Job.