Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee are calling for an immediate hearing to examine the nation’s high unemployment rate, the continued revelations of faulty reporting related to the Democrats’ $787 billion ‘stimulus’ package, and how the Administration plans to address these concerns. In a letter sent today to the panel’s Chairman, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Education and Labor Committee Republicans requested that Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis appear before the committee to answer questions about the efficacy of the Administration’s economic recovery efforts and the accounting of taxpayer dollars. Since Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor in February, she has not testified before the committee.
“This Administration and congressional Democrats promised the American people transparency, accountability, and above all else, economic recovery. They have delivered on none of those promises,” said Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the committee’s Senior Republican Member. “Spending nearly a trillion dollars that will be repaid by our children and grandchildren, Democrats promised their efforts would stall the rise in unemployment and foster a new level of accountability. Nine months later, as they continue to spend, tax, and borrow billions of dollars out of our economy, these antiquated government expansion policies have not given small businesses – our nation’s job creators – the incentive or ability to put more Americans back to work.”
Before enactment of the Democrats’ so-called economic stimulus package in February, the national unemployment rate stood at 7.6 percent. Democrats assured the American people the jobless rate would not exceed 8 percent if the stimulus was enacted, and pledged their plan would “save or create” three million jobs. Nine months later, the national unemployment rate stands at 10.2 percent, and approximately 3 million additional jobs have been shed from the American economy.
“The economic benefits of the government stimulus have been nonexistent, and the level of accountability for jobs created and jobs ‘saved’ has been woefully inadequate. From fictional congressional districts to inflated job creation statistics, the Obama Administration has perpetuated the American people’s concern that billions in stimulus dollars have been wasted or simply remain unaccounted for,” continued Kline. “I hope we will have an opportunity to find out what the Administration plans to do to foster greater confidence in their stewardship of the economy. At the very least, there needs to be a full accounting of how and why the supposed level of transparency on the part of the Democrats’ stimulus package has brought us misleading and outright false reporting. With so many unanswered questions, it’s time for the Secretary of Labor to provide some answers.”
NOTE: For a copy of the letter, which was signed by all 19 Republican Members of the House Education and Labor Committee, please click here.
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