Jobs and the Economy

Consumer Confidence Takes Another Hit:The consumer confidence index fell 2.4 points in June, down to 62. This was the biggest drop in eight months. At the same point in the Reagan recovery from the 1981-82 recession, consumer confidence was hovering around 100. A confidence level of 90 is considered good, a level not seen since 2007.

Spending

U.S. Adds $274 Billion in Debt, Only $117 Billion in GDP in 2^nd Quarter: In the second quarter of 2012, the U.S. added $274.3 billion in debt according to the Department of Treasury. By comparison, our economy was able to add only $117.6 billion in GDP, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. New debt in the second quarter of 2012 more than doubled economic growth. In fact, over the past two years, the US has added 2.4 times more debt than it has added GDP under the President’s failed economic policies.

Medicare

Democrats Avoid the Inconvenient Truth of House Republicans’ Medicare Reforms: Last week, a post on Sen. Jim Demint’s (R-SC) “Freedom on Call” blog highlighted the incongruity (and weak economic logic) of Democrats’ “Mediscare” attacks of the past year claiming that premium support proposals, such as those included in House Republicans’ Path to Prosperity budget, would raise seniors’ Medicare premiums. Noting the inadequate scoring methodology for calculating budgetary savings from increased competition for Medicare beneficiaries, the post contrasts the resulting ZERO projected savings—which is the crux of Democrat attacks—with a quote from Democrats trumpeting the competitive bidding process with savings in another area.  The post concludes by asking: “So if the Administration admits that competitive bidding can work for durable medical equipment purchases within Medicare – saving taxpayers (and seniors) money without harming beneficiaries – why can’t the same tactics work for the Medicare program as a whole?  Or are Democrats’ objections to premium support primarily ideological – because liberals can’t stomach the idea of seniors choosing their own private health insurance plan, rather than participating in an entitlement run by the federal government…?”

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.