On May 6th the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the April 2011 jobs report showing that 244,000 jobs were created in April (actually 268,000 private sector jobs were created while we lost 24,000 in government jobs) with unemployment rising from 8.8% to 9%. The small increase in unemployment is usually considered a sign that confidence is up among job seekers with more people actively looking for jobs. In just the past 3 months the private sector has grown by 760,000 jobs. Surprisingly I have found it nearly impossible to find statistics for job growth outside of the past 3 months, from what I can put together I can estimate private sector job growth under the Obama administration to currently stand somewhere between 3.5 to 4 million (jobs have decreased in the public sector, that is a Republican initiative). If this estimate holds true we have recovered roughly half of the 7.7 million jobs lost during the recession.
Of course only recovering half of jobs lost isn't good enough and I'm certain that many of the unemployed are not comforted by the statistics that I have provided and that is completely understandable. That is primarily why we ended up with a GOP controlled House of Representatives after this most recent mid-term election. Republicans knew that voters were upset and discouraged by the slowness of job growth and made job creation their #1 campaign priority (or maybe a close 2nd behind repealing the Affordable Care Act). They chose to not mention the fact that it was the Republicans who filibustered, watered-down, and put up road blocks to many of the Dem's economic recovery policies, the policies that are creating jobs now at a much slower pace than what the Democrats wanted. Job growth was something the country could get behind and I think most voters figured they would give the GOP a chance to do better than the Democrats did. In January the House convened session and promised to focus on jobs.
So how have they done at this point? Over 200,000 private sector jobs created in each of the last 3 months, that's something right? Unfortunately for those who voted Republican this time around the job growth has nothing to do with GOP initiatives, in fact (remember this is a FACT) the GOP hasn't introduced a single bill that has anything to do with job creation. That's right, they campaigned on jobs being their #1 priority and even though it's now May they still haven't introduced any job-creating legislation. I went online to see how many bills have been passed in the House so far and what they pertain to. To date they have passed 40 bills (120+ if you count continuing resolutions, joint resolutions, and procedural rules) and almost none of them have made it passed the Senate and none of them have anything to do with jobs. Here's a few of the highlights from this session so far with links to the full bill and votes in parenthesis (Yea-Nay):
HR2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act (245-189)
-I especially liked this title, it would repeal the Affordable Care Act and in doing so would add all of the savings outlined by the CBO back onto our deficit. Doesn't create jobs.
HR3 No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (251-175)
-In its original format it redefined "rape" but that part got dropped once that was brought to light, essentially they passed a bill for something that's already illegal. Doesn't create jobs.
HR292 Stop the OverPrinting (STOP) Act (399-0)
-Requires bills to be communicated to members of congress in electronic format. Doesn't create jobs.
HR359 To Reduce Federal Spending and the Deficit by Terminating Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Election Campaigns and Party Conventions (239-160)
-Gets rid of that check box on your tax form asking if you wish to donate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Doesn't create jobs.
HR570 Dental Emergency Responder Act of 2011(401-12)
-Adds dental health facilities to NHSS for public health emergencies. Doesn't create jobs.
HR836 Emergency Mortgage Relief Program Termination Act (242-177)
-Cancels all remaining funding for and terminates a program designed to help keep people in their homes and to help keep banks from taking a loss on foreclosures. Doesn't create jobs and puts people on the streets!
HR872 Reducing Regulatory Burdens ACT of 2011 (292-130)
-Prevents the EPA from enforcing the Clean Water Act, who needs clean water anyway? Doesn't create jobs.
HR1231 Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act (243-179)
-This was passed during the BP oil spill, the President placed a moratorium on offshore drilling until we could find out what caused the Horizon rig explosion. The GOP felt better about moving forward with drilling even though the same problems could have existed on other rigs. Doesn't create jobs.
That's pretty much it, there were a few bills to build new post offices, some procedural things, the budget bill, and a few more bills that attempted to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act and other Obama initiatives and items that help Americans. The fact is that the GOP doesn't care about jobs, I feel that I can safely say that because after 5 months in power they've not acted on job creation. As I've said time and time again, the GOP represents the interests of the very few at the very top which is why they've put more effort in reducing taxes for the rich and continuing corporate welfare programs (such as oil industry tax subsidies) than putting Americans back to work.
To borrow a phrase from Kieth Olbermann, where are the jobs Speaker Boehner?
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