Obama's Economic Recovery = Extraordinary (Failure)

From RSC Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4) --

The jobs numbers that came out on Friday brought grim news. Last month’s increase of 69,000 jobs is far behind the pace needed even to keep up with population growth. Yet President Obama recently claimed at a campaign fundraiser that our economic “recovery” has been “extraordinary.” Unfortunately, the facts show otherwise.

In the chart below, the red line traces the rate of job growth from Feb. 2010, when the total number of jobs in America hit bottom. Compare that record to the brown line, which shows the average rate of job growth from the bottom of the previous 10 recessions. Based on this data, 4.3 million more Americans would have jobs today if only our economy had recovered at an average rate. Our kids deserve better than this.

When it comes to growing our economy, we shouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than extraordinary. Getting there will require us to make the right choice between a weak economy built on government subsidies and a strong one built on hard work and earned success. The president’s ideas aren’t working. Let’s try something that will.

Take Default Off the Table" Support the Full Faith & Credit Act

In speaking loudly but carrying a little stick, Speaker John Boehner and the D.C. establishment are incorrectly predicting armageddon like consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised and we go into default

The threat of default is nothing more than a political ruse for allowing the establishment elite in D.C. to continue spending us into oblivion, where in reality the Full Faith and Credit Act will enable spending cuts to be made while allowing our country to satisfy needed financial obligations -- thus taking the threat of default off the table.

Analysts from DC’s premiere think tanks have come out in support of the principles behind the Full Faith and Credit Act: Heritage here, CATO here, and AEI here.  

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently conceded in testimony before the House Budget Committee that the Full Faith and Credit Act would “reduce the risk with the debt limit.”  The Foundry’s full account of Chairman Bernanke’s testimony is here.

From the RSC -- 

RSC Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4) to Oppose Spending Deal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			Contact: Brian Straessle
April 12, 2011				(202) 226-9717

RSC Chairman Jordan to

Oppose FY 2011 Spending Deal

Washington, DC – Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan issued the following statement expressing opposition to the compromise spending deal struck for the remainder of FY 2011.

“I thank the Republican leadership for their efforts to cut spending and rein in Washington.  In January, the RSC launched an effort to cut a full $100 billion from President Obama’s budget, and nearly every Republican voted in favor of making those fiscally-responsible cuts.  By contrast, the tax-and-spend Democrats failed to pass their own budget last year, failed to take action on our spending plan this year, and never came up with a plan of their own.”

“While I respect that some of my Republican colleagues will ultimately support this spending deal, I believe voters are asking us to set our sights higher.  The debate is now turning to next year’s budget and the debt ceiling, both of which offer real opportunities to chart a better future than the one toward which the country is currently headed.  Making a real impact will require the discipline to do the right thing even when it’s the hard thing.  Americans want us to reach higher, act bolder, and remember the job we were sent here to do.”

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RSC introduces Welfare Reform Act of 2011

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (OH), freshman Rep. Tim Scott (SC), and Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ) introduced the Welfare Reform Act of 2011...

From the Republican Study Committee --

H.R. 1167: Welfare Reform Act of 2011

“Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit… We must preserve not only the bodies of the unemployed from destitution but also their self-respect, their self-reliance and courage and determination.”

-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1935 State of the Union Address—the speech that launched the American welfare state

Since the “War on Poverty” began in 1964, Americans have spent $16 trillion on state and federal welfare programs. In the two decades leading up to 2008, welfare spending grew by 292%. According to the most recent data available, spending for this purpose will amount to more than $10.3 trillion at all levels of government over the next decade. These spending programs have not achieved the stated aims of their authors, which was to reduce poverty and to increase self-sufficiency. Instead, 43 million Americans live at or below the poverty level, and dependence on government is increasing by any objective measurement. In order to reverse course, the RSC offers the Welfare Reform Act of 2011, which will:

1.      Require disclosure of total means-tested welfare expenditures (for the 77 existing programs) in the President’s budget submission.

2.      Place an aggregate spending cap on these means-tested welfare expenditures limited to the level of 2007 plus inflation growth (effective when unemployment falls below 6.5%).

3.      Provide enforcement of this spending cap through the budget resolution.

4.      Extend work requirements to the Food Stamp program.

5.      Incentivize states to alleviate poverty through self-sufficiency, not dependence on government, by reallocating $300 million of current welfare spending toward a new program of grants to states that successfully reduce poverty and increase self-sufficiency.

6.      Prevent federal funding of abortion through these programs.

Disclosure of Welfare Spending in President’s Budget: The legislation requires the President’s budget to include a figure on proposed aggregate federal welfare expenditures over the next ten years, as well as estimated state and local welfare expenditures over this period. This will give taxpayers information on how much the federal government, and also all levels of government, are spending on means-tested welfare spending.


Cap on Welfare Spending: Overall means-tested welfare spending (for the 77 current programs) is limited to the level of 2007 plus inflation growth. This is an overall cap, which means it does not require cuts to any specific program. Instead choices would be made through the budget process. Effective date: On the first fiscal year after the unemployment rate is 6.5% or less.  

Enforcement of Spending Cap: Amend the Budget Act to require all of the following (in order to comply with the cap):

1.      Require the budget resolution to establish a total spending allocation for means-tested welfare spending that does not exceed the aggregate cap established by the legislation.

2.      Require the budget resolution to provide to each authorizing committee with jurisdiction over one or more mandatory means-tested programs a maximum spending allocation for that year for the combined cost of all the mandatory means-tested programs under its jurisdiction.

3.      Provide for reconciliation instructions for each committee of the difference between the allocation and the CBO baseline of spending for means-tested welfare programs under the committee.

4.      Require the budget resolution to place a cap on the Appropriations Committee’s (i.e. discretionary) means-tested spending, and require the committee to divide this cap between the subcommittees.

5.      Require the sum of the mandatory means-tested sub-limits for each of the authorizing committees and the discretionary means-tested limit for the appropriations committee to not exceed the aggregate cap for means-tested welfare spending for that year.

6.      Provide a point of order in House and Senate against consideration of any budget resolution that does not comply with these requirements.

Food Stamp Work Requirements: The legislation establishes work requirements for Food Stamps modeled on the success of the 1996 welfare reform law. States would be required to place 4% of the monthly caseload in a work activation program in 2012, and then 7% in 2013 and thereafter.

In general, able-bodied individuals (from ages 19 to 62) would have to meet work requirements established by the legislation, including:

Ø Employment;

Ø Supervised job search;

Ø Community service work;

Ø Education and job training;

Ø Drug or alcohol treatment.

Individuals would have to meet 60 hours per month of the above-listed activities (families with dependent children 120 hours per month). The legislation would also reduce TANF spending by $1 billion a year, and repeal a provision from the “stimulus” increasing Food Stamp benefits. This money would pay for the cost of state administration of work requirements (authorized at $2.5 billion a year).


Incentives for States to Increase Self-Sufficiency: The legislation creates a new program of grants to states (more than paid for by other spending reductions in the bill) that can meet rigorous standards on reducing poverty without increasing government dependence. To be eligible, a state would have to increase their “self-sufficiency ratio” compared to 2007. This calculation would be based on the number of families that are above the poverty line after excluding receipt of means-tested welfare spending. Up to three states would be eligible for this award, with a total cap on spending for this award of $300 million. Conservatives believe that the answer to poverty is work, higher earnings, and marriage. This program would reward states that can meet the stated aims of the creators of our current welfare programs: to move able-bodied individuals into self-sufficiency. The costs of this program would be more than offset by the savings elsewhere in the bill.

 Prohibition of Federal Abortion Funding: The legislation prohibits federal funding for abortions.

Republican Study Committee members introduce a Bill to prevent Default on the Debt

It looks like Congressman Jim Jordan is on a mission in D.C.! 

From The Republican Study Committee --

Led by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), RSC members have introduced H.R. 421, the Full Faith and Credit Act.  In the event the statutory debt ceiling is reached, this legislation would direct the United States Treasury to prevent a default by paying principal and interest due on debt held by the public before making any other payments.  The bill has also been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

“The ‘full faith and credit’ of the United States should not hang in the balance on every adjustment to the national debt limit,” said Rep. McClintock.  “States protect their credit by pledging first call on revenues to their debts and so should the federal government.  After all, before you can ‘provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty,’ you have to be able to finance them.”

“A pitiful scare tactic already being used by the Treasury Secretary in the debt ceiling debate is the threat of allowing the federal government to default on its obligations,” said Chairman Jordan.  “This is government mismanagement at its worst.  Secretary Geithner knows full well that he has the authority to prioritize federal spending so that default is not an option.  This bill will take Secretary Geithner’s disastrous scenario completely off the table.”

“America's sterling credit rating is vital to our future prosperity,” said Rep. Foxx.  “This bill offers a simple safeguard to protect our credit and prevent a sovereign debt crisis.  It's the sort of common sense solution that we can easily put in place without wading into the debate over raising the debt ceiling.”

“This important piece of legislation ensures America’s debt rating and the threat of default on our debt cannot be used as political weapons.  This bill will remind the markets and the world that America will never default on its debt while giving Congress time to have a meaningful, reasonable discussion about how to rein in out-of-control spending and prevent our country from sliding further into debt,” remarked Rep. Garrett.

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Keep up the good work Congressman Jordan!