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Left Turns

“New Direction” Leads to Massive Job Losses

Since taking control of Congress in January 2007, the Democrat leadership has advanced an agenda that has proven devastating to working families. Speaker Pelosi promised a “new direction,” but the American people weren’t prepared for the more than 7.5 million jobs that would be lost along the way. Below are just a few ways that the Democrat agenda is bad for American workers.

1.    Increasing the regulatory burden on America’s job-creators

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual report, the cost of regulatory compliance in 2008 reached an estimated $1.172 trillion. Some may argue with the report’s methodology, but no one can argue that the burden of oppressive government regulations fall heavily on job creators. Recent reports note the White House may soon deny government contracts to private businesses that fail to meet new, still undefined wage and benefit rules. Whether it’s in the classroom or the workplace, Democrat leaders aren’t shy about ensuring even more bureaucratic control in Washington and less economic freedom across the country.

2.    Government takeover of health care…

Despite their overwhelming objection, the American public watched in disappointment as Washington Democrats enacted a government takeover of health care. The legislation signed into law by President Obama imposes $569 billion in job-killing tax increases – the largest tax hike in American history – including a projected $52 billion tax hike on employers, regardless of an employer’s profitability. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) estimated that a national health care mandate would eliminate 1.6 million jobs over a five-year period. To add insult to injury, two out of three of those jobs would be shed from the small businesses that drive our economy. In a “key vote” letter opposing final passage of the Democrat health care reform bill, the NFIB said that the employer mandate will force employers to “make changes to their workforce, including reducing their full-time workforce to part-time, moving to an all part-time workforce, reducing staff or forgoing hiring altogether. All of these options reduce employment and job creation – the opposite policy direction that we need to create jobs and spur economic growth.”

3.    And a government takeover of student loans

Most Americans might have missed it, but buried in the Democrats’ government takeover of health care is a government takeover of student loans. For nearly twenty years Democrats on Capitol Hill have tried to eliminate the private-public partnership for student lending, the Federal Family Education Loan program. Seizing on the global credit crunch and taking advantage of the complex parliamentary maneuvers being used to ram through the final elements of their government takeover of health care, Democrats are finally imposing their long-sought goal of complete federal control over student lending. As if federalization of the loan program was not bad enough, Democrats are taking $9 billion from students to pay for government-run health care – a proposition that would be unacceptable to most Americans. Last February 36,000 jobs were lost. As a result of the Democrats’ latest government takeover, now as many as 35,000 workers are at risk of losing their jobs too.

4.    Union favoritism that leaves businesses less competitive

It is no secret that Big Labor has big friends in the ranks of the Democrat leadership. For years, union bosses have pressured Washington to advance their pet project: the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). One economic study estimated that 600,000 jobs could be lost this year alone if EFCA became law. But Speaker Pelosi has called it “essential” to American workers and recently the White House reiterated the “importance” of EFCA in a report – also surprisingly – intended to promote the Middle Class. EFCA simply promotes more workplace intimidation and more union dues. That won’t stop Democrats from trying.

5.    Runaway federal spending that’s created more government and more debt

More than one year ago Speaker Pelosi and the president promised that borrowing $787 billion would keep unemployment below 8 percent. Since that time, 3.3 million jobs have been lost and unemployment stands at 9.7 percent – proving that wasteful government spending does not create jobs. Worse still, the Congressional Budget Office recently revised its estimate of the cost of that “stimulus” bill to $862 billion. A 2003 working paper by economists at the Dallas Federal Reserve noted that “increases in government spending or taxes lead to persistent decreases in the rate of job growth.” After three years of the Democrats’ record spending spree and more than 7.5 million job losses, American workers get it. As Congress considers ways to pay for the president’s $3.8 trillion budget plan, the question is: When will Democrats get it? 


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