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Mr. NUNES. Madam Speaker, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That seems to be the Democrats' creed and motto.
There wouldn't be any need for today's bill if the failed trillion-dollar stimulus package last year actually worked. A year ago the Democrats promised the American people their so-called stimulus would keep unemployment at 8 percent, but a year later we are near 10 percent.
Put simply, you cannot create jobs by dumping a trillion dollars into Federal agencies. The administration claims that $1.5 billion in stimulus moneys saved or created 1,664 jobs in California's San Joaquin Valley where I live. Even if one charitably assumes the accuracy of these numbers, the Federal Government has spent a whopping $900,000 to save or create one job in the San Joaquin Valley. Despite spending $900,000 per job, there are still communities in the valley that suffer from 20 to 40 percent unemployment. In fact, in the wake of the stimulus, we saw 3 million additional Americans lose their jobs rather than the 3.7 million jobs that are now being promised by the Obama administration. Sadly, a record 16 million Americans are now unemployed because the stimulus promises were empty and unaffordable.
Is it any wonder why the American people continue to ask, Where are the jobs?
It appears that the stimulus was not very stimulating outside of Washington. So here we are back again with yet another multibillion-dollar plan slapped together by the Democrats that will probably, once again, fail.
Madam Speaker, the Soviet Union experience, sadly, taught us that just because you're going to grow 1 billion bushels of potatoes does not mean that there will be potatoes on the shelves. Similarly, just because the Democrats have chosen to message this as a ``jobs'' bill does not mean that it will actually create a job.
The centerpiece of the Democrats' new bill is a payroll tax exemption, a hiring credit for employers to bring on new workers. While I give the Democrats credit for acknowledging that tax cuts are preferable to spending increases, the sad reality is that this is a political charade and it won't work. How do we know? Because the same idea didn't work when Jimmy Carter tried it in the late 1970s.
Numerous studies by noted economists from all across the political spectrum have confirmed that these temporary hiring incentives will have little, if any, positive effect on jobs. It is beyond ridiculous to claim that you can have a meaningful impact upon a $14 trillion economy by spending $13 billion on gimmick tax cuts. Let's think about it: If you're an employer, are you really going to hire someone for a permanent position because you get a modest, temporary tax incentive?
We could have improved this bill had the Ways and Means Committee actually held a hearing and a markup, but once again we see significant tax legislation taken directly to the floor without a committee hearing, without a committee markup, and without an opportunity to even offer amendments.
I understand that there was a change in the chairmanship on the Ways and Means Committee yesterday, but, in fact, this bill on the floor today proves that it's a political sham. It is far from serious to enact sound policy to improve our economy when you can't even decide who the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is going to be.
You don't have to read Adam Smith to know that markets cannot thrive with uncertainty. What employers really need from Washington is the assurance that the Democrats' massive Big Government tax-and-spend agenda isn't going to drive them out of business.
Employers face uncertainty about the Democrats' massive takeover of the health care system, about the new $1 trillion cap-and-trade energy tax. They face uncertainty with environmental regulations like those that have driven 84 saw mills from California since 1989, and they face uncertainty about the largest tax increase in American history that will be enacted this year.
Madam Speaker, employers don't need more Federal spending to create good private sector jobs; they already know how to create good jobs if Washington would just get out of the way.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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