The Obama administration claims its policies have been “remarkably effective,” but according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s most recent Small Business Outlook Survey released today, America’s job creators disagree.  The vast majority of small business owners surveyed say that the Obama administration’s onslaught of excessive regulations and the president’s failure to address high gas prices are weighing heavily on their ability to plan ahead and hire new workers.  Here are a few key points from the survey, and a look at what House Republicans are doing to help small businesses put Americans back to work:

PROBLEM: High Gas Prices “Pose an Immediate Threat” to Small Businesses.  “Eight out of ten small business owners report that higher energy prices pose an immediate threat to the success of their business,” according to the survey.  While President Obama claims to support an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, his rhetoric is belied by the fact that gas prices have doubled on his watch, while he continues calling for tax hikes that will increases energy costs and blocking access to America’s resources. 

• GOP SOLUTION:  Increase American Energy Production to Help Address High Gas Prices & Create Jobs.  With the American Energy Initiative, House Republicans have passed numerous bills that would remove barriers to American energy production and help create jobs (most of which have been blocked by Senate Democrats).  That effort will continue moving forward in the coming weeks with action on the Gasoline Regulations Act aimed at stopping the government red tape that drives up energy prices, and the Strategic Energy Production Act, legislation ensuring the Obama administration does not tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve without taking steps to increase American energy production.  The House will also continue fighting for approval of the widely-popular Keystone pipeline that President Obama has rejected and personally lobbied against, at the expense of 20,000 new American jobs. 

PROBLEM: Excessive Regulations One of the Greatest Threats to Small Business Success.  More than half (52 percent) of the small business owners surveyed say that excessive government red tape is the “greatest threat to the success of their business, increasing 9 percent since last June.”  The Obama administration has more than 3,000 new regulations in the pipeline, and has already implemented more than 100 major regulations that have added $46 billion in new costs to the economy per year, according to a recent Heritage Foundation report.

• GOP SOLUTION: A Jobs Plan that Stops the Onslaught of Burdensome Regulations.  The Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators includes several measures aimed at reducing the excessive regulatory burden on small businesses, including the Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) that “requires agencies to assess the costs and benefits” of new regulations on small businesses, and the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act that would require an up-or-down vote on new rules that will have a major impact on jobs and the economy.  These bills – along with several others that remove regulatory obstacles to small business growth – also remain stalled in the Democratic-led Senate.

PROBLEM: ObamaCare “An Obstacle to Hiring More Employees.”  “Nearly three out of four (73%)” of the small business owners surveyed say ObamaCare “is an obstacle to hiring more employees.”  Small businesses owners have repeatedly warned that Democrats’ government takeover of health care is holding back hiring, and more than two hundred economists agree that that the maze of mandates, penalties and regulations in ObamaCare constitutes a major “barrier to stronger job growth.”

• GOP SOLUTION: Keeping the Pledge to America to Repeal ObamaCare & Protect Small Businesses.  House Republicans have voted more than 25 times to repeal, defund and dismantle ObamaCare, including a bill that saved small businesses from the job-crushing paperwork mandate.  The effort to fully repeal the law and replace it with better solutions will continue in the weeks and months ahead.  

This week, the House will continue working to create a better environment for small business job growth by passing the Small Business Tax Cut Act – Pledge to America legislation that will allow job creators to invest more of their resources in their businesses and hire new workers.  Learn more on the Republican Plan for America's Job Creators website at: www.jobs.gop.gov.