Voters Rejected Dems’ Agenda On Tuesday, But Obama Still Pushing Job-Killing Experiments Amidst Rising Unemployment

AS UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO RISE …

After Obama Signed His $787 Billion Economic Experiment In February, Over 2.8 Million Jobs Have Been Lost.  (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 11/6/09)

Last Month, America Lost 190,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rose To 10.2 Percent. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed11/6/09)

SOME DEMS REALIZE VOTERS REJECTED OBAMA’S AGENDA ON TUESDAY

After Tuesday, Dems Admit Obama’s Agenda Too Focused On Growing Government Instead Of Jobs.  “Many Democratic politicians and operatives publicly and privately say Obama’s ‘big bang’ strategy — trying to move several major policy initiatives in his first year — has also caused independent voters to question whether he is sufficiently focused on their primary concern, reviving the stagnant economy.”  (John F. Harris and Alexander Burns, “We Got Walloped,” Politico, 11/5/09)

Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) Said “Voters Sent A Clear Message” That The Focus Needs To Be On The Economy. “‘I think voters sent a clear message that the administration and Congress need to focus on the economy,’ said Rep. Dan Boren (D., Okla.). ‘We need to focus on creating jobs right now, and you don’t do that by raising taxes on small business.’” (Peter Wallsten And Jonathan Weisman, “Democrats Confront Coalition Strains,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/5/09)

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) Says “‘Agenda Needs To Be Patterned Towards’ The Economy.” “Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a big swing vote for Democratic leaders, said Tuesday’s elections should tell Democrats that their ‘agenda needs to be patterned towards’ the economy. ‘People need to be saying slow it down and don’t add more to the deficit,’ Nelson said. ‘And what have many of us been talking about? We don’t want to see anything added to the deficit unless there’s cost containment.’” (Manu Raju and Jonathan Allen, “Election Result: Red-State Dems Worried, Rethink Agenda,” Politico, 11/5/09)

Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME) Wants Dems To Focus On “Jobs And The Economy.” “‘People want jobs,’ said Representative Michael Michaud, Democrat of Maine and a ‘Blue Dog’ conservative still undecided on the health care bill. ‘We have got to start focusing on jobs and the economy.’” (Susan Milligan, “Voters Send A Message On The Economy,” The Boston Globe, 11/5/09)

BUT OBAMA ISN’T LISTENING

“Undeterred” By Election Results, House Dems To Vote On Obama’s $1 Trillion Health Care Experiment Tomorrow. “House Democratic leaders, undeterred by delays in the Senate or this week’s Republican electoral triumphs, plan to call a vote Saturday on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. health-care policy in four decades.” (James Rowley, “House Prepares Health Vote, Undaunted By Elections,” Bloomberg, 11/5/09)

• That Includes $460 Billion Income Tax Increase, Hitting Many Small Businesses And Killing Jobs. “This [surtax] would hit job creators especially hard because more than six of every 10 who earn that much are small business owners, operators or investors, according to a 2007 Treasury study... America’s successful small businesses would pay higher tax rates than the Fortune 500, and for that matter than most companies around the world ...” (“Estimated Revenue Effects Of Possible Modifications To The Revenue Provisions Of H.R. 3962, The ‘Affordable Health Care For America Act’,” Joint Committee On Taxation Publication, 10/29/09; Editorial, “The Small Business Surtax,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/14/09)
• An 8 Percent Payroll Tax On Businesses Who Can’t Afford To Cover Their Employees, Making It More Difficult For Them To Hire Workers They Need. “[E]mployers who do not offer ‘affordable’ coverage to employees would have to help pay the cost of such benefits for their low-income workers ... The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advocacy group, said this proposal ‘could unintentionally discourage the hiring of lower-income people,’ by adding a new ‘health surcharge’ to the cost of employing them.” (House Committees On Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, And Education & Labor, “Detailed Summary Of Affordable Health Care For America Act,” Fact Sheet, 10/29/09; Jeff Zeleny & Robert Pear, “Obama Says Government Health Coverage Plan Would Not Hurt Private Insurers,” The New York Times, 6/23/09)
• And A New Tax On Medical Devices That Would “Jeopardize Thousands Of High-Paying” Jobs. “The proposed tax would have a significant and unfair impact on our industry, a worldwide leader in biomedical innovation … Such a rate would dramatically increase our overall effective tax rate, and, in turn constrain resources used for research and development and investment in physical manufacturing capacity. In short, the tax would jeopardize thousands of high-paying scientific and engineering jobs ...” (House Committees On Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, And Education & Labor, “Detailed Summary Of Affordable Health Care For America Act,” Fact Sheet, 10/29/09; California Health Care Institute et. al., Letter To Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), 9/18/09)

Yesterday, Dems In Senate Environment Committee Pushing Through Obama’s National Energy Tax.  “Disregarding a Republican boycott, Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed legislation Thursday morning that would impose a mandatory curb on greenhouse gas emissions.”  (Juliet Eilperin, “Senate Democrats Pass Bill To Curb Emissions Without GOP,” The Washington Post, 11/5/09)

• That Could Mean Nearly 1 Million Jobs Lost Per Year. “Overall, a cap-and-trade system that reduces annual GDP by 0.34 percent per year can be expected to reduce U.S. employment by roughly 964,900 jobs per year, reduce household earnings by $37.8 billion, and reduce total U.S. economic output by $136.1 billion.” (Andrew Chamberlain, “Who Pays For Climate Policy? New Estimates Of The Household Burden And Economic Impact Of A U.S. Cap-And-Trade System,” Tax Foundation, 3/09)
• And Lower Wages For Those Who Keep Their Jobs. CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf: “Reduce the total supply of labor by raising the prices of consumer goods and thus reducing workers’ real wages.” (Douglas Elmendorf, Committee On Energy And Natural Resources, United States Senate, 10/14/09)