Mr. NUNNELEE. Madam Speaker, we continue to suffer from an unemployment rate of over 10 percent, and America saw zero job growth in the month of August. Our Nation has a jobs crisis. So why is the Obama administration making it so difficult to create jobs?
Not only do we have a jobs crisis, but we also have a debt crisis. These two things are interconnected, and we certainly should not make one worse while making the other better.
The President has outlined his $447 billion jobs plan, and it's essentially stimulus number two. It's the same recycled ideas that clearly didn't work from the last $800 billion stimulus. At the same time, the President wants to pay for his plan with $1.5 trillion in new taxes.
It's estimated that small business owners would pay over half the taxes raised under this proposal, ultimately hitting our employers the hardest and creating an even worse environment for private sector job growth.
Tax increases destroy jobs. They're not an option.
Now, there are some issues we agree on. For example, infrastructure funding. That's an appropriate function of government. It's something we could do to boost a sagging economy. But the problem is mistrust. With the President's first stimulus, little went to actual infrastructure development.
Now, we agree that we must move forward on the three free trade agreements. By passing those agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea we'll increase competitiveness of American manufacturers and have an increase of 250,000 American jobs.
While we can find common ground on a few things, the President continues to show reluctance on impacting entitlement program solvency. His proposal seeks to strengthen the independent advisory board which was created by ObamaCare. This board of unelected bureaucrats was given way too much authority in the first place to determine what benefits are covered and how much physicians are paid.
The best way to control costs in Medicare is to increase choice and competition, not by empowering a group of unelected bureaucrats.
The Obama administration has created a triple threat of out-of-control spending, excessive regulations, and higher taxes. And these three things have resulted in an environment that has destroyed the confidence and prevented job creators from hiring.
Washington must create an environment favorable to job creation and focus on removing this triple threat. First, we must continue to fight to rein in Washington's unrestrained spending.
This fall, the Congress will deal with a balanced budget agreement which would finally force Washington to live within its means and do what families, businesses, and local and State governments are already required to do, and that is balance their budgets.
We must focus on regulatory relief. Just recently the House passed a bill that would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from dictating where an employer can and cannot locate jobs in the United States. Employers need to be allowed to invest in the State that offers the best economic climate for job creation.
This week we're going to vote on the TRAIN Act.
The Obama EPA has imposed unnecessary and burdensome regulations on businesses, and we want to determine how those regulations affect electricity prices, fuel prices, and unemployment.
The TRAIN Act will help uncover exactly how much the EPA is costing Mississippi consumers, farmers, small businesses, and State and local governments. These are just a few examples of the frustrating regulations that have come out of the Obama administration.
Lastly, we must concentrate on tax reform. The Joint Select Committee has the opportunity to lay the foundation for fundamental tax reform, but they must not enact tax increases. The American people don't need or want more solutions from the Federal Government. They want the Federal Government to get out of their way.
By tackling our spending problem, by removing excess regulations and by guaranteeing that taxes will not increase, we will unleash the American economy and give businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.