It's déjà vu all over again. Democrats in congress have re-introduced a small business –jobs bill that has no hope of helping small business. Pandering to labor union interests, filled with Democrats’ flawed understanding of what creates private sector jobs, and crammed full of recycled regulations from the failed Waxman-Markey Energy bill, H.R. 870 is dangerous legislation that uses buzz words rather than sound business principles to encourage small business growth and job creation.
The legislation, thinly disguised as a jobs creation bill, panders to the tired, failed policies of Democrats’ left-wing, extremist base. The bill focuses on “green jobs”, construction of “wind turbines and solar panels”, enforces ineffective but restrictive penalties on China trade and determines which industries will be rewarded by handouts from the government by identifying which industries Democrats believe provide jobs that are “actually needed”.
Important memo to Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer: Wake up! When a country is trying to grow the economy and “grow” jobs—all jobs are “actually needed.”
The bill is filled with bits and pieces of entitlement benefits and government handouts from other pieces of failed Democrat legislation. For example, there is funding for state Head Start programs and funding for emergency food stamp subsidy programs (p. 5).The, bill reeks of socialism in the form of “Employment Opportunity Grants”, (p.3) thinly disguised as federal government handouts to reward businesses that support left-wing ideological efforts.
Even more dangerous is the vague legislation which allows “grant” recipients to create ACORN-like entities: “a recipient of a grant may use the remaining amount of the grant to assist public entities, nonprofit community-based organizations “(Sec.4.c.2).
Of course, in order to get the grants, business will have to “consult with community leaders, including labor organizations” (p.7) and conform to develop the jobs in the areas where the Secretary of labor thinks growth is most likely. (p.12). As if that’s not enough, slipped in at the very end of the bill is an amendment to the IRS tax code implementing a new tax on Securities Transactions (Sec. 7).
This plan, as identified by Democrat leaders, will supposedly “create an environment and policies that encourage and realize that we make ‘it’ — products, agricultural products as well — that we make goods in America.” Fine words, but Democrat deeds have ensured that their policies discourage entrepreneurship, risk taking and the growth of capitalism.
Alas, the Democrats’ assault on Americans most responsible for creating wealth and new jobs goes on. Thanks to Obamacare, Stimulus funding, FinReg small businesses have already been shouldered with new burdens and reporting requirements, which have restricted access to capital, increased taxes and eroded business profitability.
For example, healthcare insurance providers have announced that the rate hikes due to Obamacare may result in businesses facing a 9% increase in the cost of healthcare premiums. For many small businesses, 9% oftentimes represents the business' entire profit that year, so the Obamacare mandate could wipe out the fruits of an entire year's effort, or even worse, put a small business in the red.
Americans see small businesses frequently being used as a prop by Democrat leaders. When the Administration needs to show diversity, it trots out a small business. When the President needed to break bad news, such as the rising unemployment numbers--he staged a press conference at the offices of a small business owner. To show he's in touch with the younger generation and distract attention from policies which will, in essence, enslave them and their children -- Obama showed up at a start-up bootstrapping facility.
Small businesses create 3 out of every 4 jobs and deserve to be more than just convenient props for the Democrats’ failed policies.
Over the past 28 months, Americans have been inundated with Democrats’ latest jobs-creation attempts, none of which actually have reversed the tide of unemployment (currently at 9%) or created the kinds of jobs that create long-term economic growth. Yet, full of hubris and delusions of innovation, Democrats continue to trot out their retreads--tired legislation that almost certainly guarantees long-term, systemic, economic failure.
If the definition of insanity is, as Albert Einstein said, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then it would seem that the country has even bigger problems than the crushing attacks on small business and increasing unemployment—a political party that controls the White House and the Senate, that hasn’t figured out that they are not just wrong, but very, very wrong. And, that is very, very bad news for this country.