Jobs and the Economy

Unemployment Rates Rose In 44 States In July: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), unemployment rates increased in 44 states in the month of July in yet another example that the president’s failed economic policies are making it harder for average Americans to find jobs and make ends meet. Only two states and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates edge lower in July, while four states saw no change in rates, according to the Labor Department's monthly report on state unemployment. After more than three and a half years in office, the president said “We tried our plan, and it worked.” Apparently the president believes that unemployment rising in 44 states is a success. House Republicans disagree and have a plan to create jobs by cutting the red tape, stopping the tax hike, producing more American energy, and solving our debt crisis.  

Spending

Federal Deficit $974 Billion in First 10 Months of FY 2012: According the Treasury Department, the deficit for the first ten months of fiscal year 2012 totaled $974 billion. The deficit in July 2012 was $70 billion. Treasury’s report indicates that the federal government is well on track to racking up the fourth straight $1 trillion deficit under President Obama. Prior to President Obama taking office, the deficit had never eclipsed $1 trillion and the highest deficit federal deficit in our nation’s history was $458 billion in 2008.

Medicare

Democrats Struggle to Defend Raid on Medicare: Breaking down the losing battle that President Obama and Democrats in Congress are fighting to explain why their federal takeover of healthcare law took more than $700 billion out of Medicare to pay for a costly new entitlement, Yuval Levin noted: “[T]he New York Times [recently quoted] a White House spokeswoman saying these cuts ‘do not cut a single guaranteed Medicare benefit.’  But in a fee-for-service system, cuts to fees are cuts to services, especially because administrative price controls create supply shortages, which means seniors will have fewer options and less access.”  Continuing, “Health-care providers have to make a profit to survive, they’re not just cows to be milked by Medicare. And blunt reductions in payment rates within a very inefficient fee-for-service system that stands in the way of real productivity improvements mean that these providers just won’t be able to keep treating Medicare patients.” 

The Republican Plan for Job Creation and Growth

House Republicans have a plan to restore confidence and certainty to the economy and create jobs. For more information on the House Republican Growth Plan, click here: http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs.