In his column of February 6, 2014, Mr. Robert Hurt, Congressman for Madison’s Congressional District continues his criticism of President Barack Obama, particularly criticizing the President’s policies for growing the economy and creating jobs. Mr. Hurt encourages his readers to support his and his fellow Republicans in their attempts to pass bills to grow the economy and create jobs.
However, Mr. Hurt does not cite one such bill put forward by the House because there is no such bill. What Republicans call “jobs bills” are bills to reduce regulations on industries like the gas and oil industry. The Republican House has refused to take up a genuine jobs bill – even legislation that would strengthen “buy America” provisions and strengthen our transportation infrastructure.
Representative Hurt says he’s for ordinary workers, but the House has refused to pass an extension to the unemployment insurance bill. For those people who have a job, Republicans in the House refuse to consider a bill to raise the minimum wage, even though it has been demonstrated that raising the minimum wage not only boosts a family’s well-being but also boosts the economy.
If you pay people more, they have more to spend, creating more demand in our consumer-driven economy. That’s why President Obama has decided to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for employees of federal contractors and to do whatever else he can to boost the economy, using his executive powers.
The fact is that ever since President Obama was elected in 2008, Republicans have tried to cripple his Presidency. If the President is for a policy, Republicans are against it. It has nothing to do with what is good for our country.
President Obama has helped to create millions of new jobs. The economy has grown steadily. The deficit has been cut in half and the stock market has reached historic highs. While there is yet a lot of work to do, the picture Mr. Hurt paints of the state of our nation and the accomplishments of our President are more than a little distorted.
-Barry Siegel
