This Week's Trifacta - May 7
Jobs
Taking twice as long to find a job in the Obama Economy: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it takes job seekers 39.1 weeks on average to find a job. This average is up from 19.8 weeks in January 2009 when President Obama took office.
Spending
On Track for Fourth Consecutive Trillion Dollar Deficit: With the Congressional Budget Office projecting a $1.17 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year and the Treasury Department recently confirming that the federal government spent $779 billion that it does not have through March of this year, it looks almost certain that Fiscal Year 2012 will be 4th year in a row in which the federal budget deficit exceeds $1 trillion.
Medicare
“Premium Support” Competition Works: Former OMB Director under President Clinton, Alice Rivlin, in her April 27, 2012 testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Health, explains “we are confident that this process [the Bipartisan Policy Center’s premium support proposal] will reduce the rate of growth of Medicare spending, just as similar market competition works to improve quality and reduce cost for virtually every other good or service in our economy and others around the world.” (emphasis added) Rivlin’s testimony recounts numerous ways in which her proposal is the same or similar to the premium support proposal passed by the House of Representatives on March 29, 2012.
The Republican Plan for Job Creation and Growth
House Republicans have a plan to restore confidence and certainty to the economy and create jobs. For more information on the House Republican Growth Plan, click here: http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs.
For additional information, contact:
The House Republican Conference Policy Office
