Last week, representatives of the Obama Administration toured the country to tout the unsuccessful, big-government stimulus.  At the same time the Vice President attempted to sell these expensive failed policies, the President yesterday went to the bully pulpit and urged Congress to extend unemployment benefits.  It appears that this Administration is sending mixed messages.  If the stimulus was so successful, why do we need to increase our debt by billions more for additional unemployment benefits?

By the Administration’s own standards, the stimulus has not worked.  The American people know the stimulus has not worked.  In fact, a recent CBS poll reveals that three-fourths of the American people believe the stimulus failed to improve the economy.

Rather than acknowledge the dismal results of the stimulus, the President and his Administration continue to propose new government programs that increase the deficit and fail to create one job.  During his speech, the President said, the American people “are not looking for a hand-out.  They desperately want to work.  They just can’t find a job.”  The President is absolutely correct.  Washington must focus its efforts on solutions that incentivize long-term job creation.
 
Americans overwhelmingly favor (by 70 percent) the free-enterprise system.  The federal government needs to get out of the way and stop these expensive obstacles to the entrepreneur spirit.  Congress should be removing regulatory barriers and promoting lower taxes that allow individuals and small businesses to keep more of its hard earned money.  The American people understand that we cannot spend our way to prosperity. I introduced the JOBS Act—H.R. 4100—which would provide relief to small businesses so they can create jobs, while also rescinding and recouping all unspent tax dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

I urge the President to reconsider his own words and focus on creating jobs, not a larger national debt.  We need to empower our job creators so we can put Americans back to work.