This morning, the U.S. Department of Labor reported a loss of 263,000 jobs in the month of September and an increase in the national unemployment rate to 9.8 percent. Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement:
“Today’s jobs report prompts a very important question: Where are the jobs? Nearly seven months ago, the American people were asked to spend nearly a trillion dollars to finance Democrats’ risky scheme to expand the size of government in the hopes that it would spur economic recovery. Since then, approximately three million more Americans have lost their jobs, and millions more spend each day worrying about the next round of pink slips. To say the stimulus has not worked is an understatement.
“Yet in the face of failed policies, Democrats in Congress are pushing for more of the same. More government control over health care. New entitlement spending and federal meddling in our schools. A national energy tax that would overwhelm family budgets and cripple job-creating American businesses.
“I’ve called for pressing the ‘reset’ button on health care and bringing both parties together to find commonsense solutions that will bring down health care costs, expand access to quality coverage, and keep medical decisions between patients and their doctors. With job losses continuing to mount, it’s clear we need to press the ‘reset’ button on Democrats’ failed economic schemes as well. Republicans stand ready to develop pro-growth policies that recognize it is American enterprise and ingenuity – and not the federal government – that creates jobs.”
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