Jobs and the Economy

Statement

When given the option to pay for an extension of unemployment benefits with unused stimulus funds or add nearly $34 billion to the national debt, the President and Congressional Democrats recently chose the latter. On five separate occasions, my colleagues and I have supported extending unemployment benefits that were fully offset, and Senate Democrats objected each time. I believe that unemployed Texans should receive the assistance for which they are eligible, but it is important to ensure that extending full federal funding of unemployment benefits does not further increase our deficit.

Every day we are seeing more and more examples of misplaced priorities and failed policies from this Administration and Democrats in Congress. The largest tax increase will hit Americans in just five months if Democrat leaders allow the bipartisan 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire; every taxpayer will be hit with higher taxes. I'm especially concerned the White House fails to see that raising taxes will further increase the amount of uncertainty that small businesses and job creators face in today's economy. The last thing we need with a nearly 10% unemployment rate is the largest tax increase in history, especially since it falls so disproportionately on individuals and mom-and-pop outfits who are the economic engine that drive job creation in the country. Simply put, increasing taxes on investment income is a job killer and increases uncertainty at a time that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has told Congress that the economic outlook is "unusually uncertain."

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