Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, Speaker of the House John Boehner noted that the House passed 30 jobs bills in 2011, which have never made it to the floor of the Senate, thanks to Democrat Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. While Obama constantly claims Republicans are the party of No, and that they are responsible for the lack of new jobs in this country, these facts speak otherwise.
On Speaker Boehner’s blog this weekend (www.speaker.gov/blog), the following article was posted, noting that Obama’s own Jobs Council has endorsed the approach to job creation that the Republicans have been pursuing all year, in order to get Americans back to work. (Note how many bills have the comment “Senate has taken no action to date.”) Hmmm…who is the REAL party of No??
Yesterday, the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness released its year-end report, recommending how we can “create jobs in the short run and improve our nation’s competitiveness over the long term.” The recommendations focus on reducing regulatory burdens, simplifying our tax code, utilizing American sources of energy, and fostering private sector innovation and global competitiveness – the very approach House Republicans have advocated. As Speaker Boehner noted, “With this report, President Obama’s own panel of experts has endorsed the approach to job creation House Republicans have been pursuing for more than a year.” Not only does the report align with the approach Republicans have proposed, it reflects legislation already passed by the House and awaiting action in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The House has acted, and all we need now is a willing partner in the Senate to make many of the Council’s recommendations a reality. That’s why Speaker Boehner yesterday urged, “the President to call on Senate leaders to take up these House-passed jobs bills so we can provide the solutions American job creators say are needed to put people back to work.”
Here are the ideas proposed in the Council’s report, followed by bills and ideas proposed by House Republicans.
President’s Jobs Council: Adopt an “All-In” Strategy on Energy – “In order to stay competitive, the U.S. must maintain access to abundant and affordable energy while reducing our reliance on foreign imports and moving toward cleaner energy sources.”
House GOP Solutions:
- Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, H.R. 1230 (Passed the House, Senate has taken no action to date)
- Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act, H.R. 1229 (Passed the House, Senate has taken no action to date)
- Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act, H.R. 1231 (Passed the House, Senate has taken no action to date)
- Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011, H.R. 2021 (Passed the House, Senate has taken no action to date)
- North American-Made Energy Security Act, H.R. 1938 (Passed the House, Senate has taken no action to date)
