WASHINGTON, DC —  Congressman Jeb Hensarling, Vice Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee and the top Republican on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit issued the following statement after the Department of Labor released November’s unemployment data.

“The United States’ unemployment rate remains in double digits and more than 15.4 million of our fellow citizens are without jobs.  As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in a speech before the Economic Club of New York, “Both the decline in jobs and the increase in the unemployment rate have been more severe than in any other recession since World War II.’

“In the face of these facts the Democrats’ answer is to begin consideration of another job killing bill; the Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act, a massive restructuring of the American financial system.  Only in today’s Washington could a bill that costs taxpayers billions, impedes capital formation and reduces the incentives to invest be considered in the face of these unemployment numbers.”

“Today’s jobs number is further confirmation that our economy remains in dire straits -- in large measure because Democrats misunderstand how jobs are created.  Democrats believe that job creation will occur as a result of a government program that redistributes hard-earned taxpayer dollars through a Washington-directed, one-size-fits-all plan, fueled by higher taxes on American families and small businesses.  Republicans believe jobs are created when taxes are low and hard-working American families and small businesses keep more of what they earn to invest or spend.”

“As the private sector reels under the burdens of regulatory uncertainty and massive government spending on cap-and-trade legislation, the nationalization of our health care system and the Obama administration’s ineffectively targeted stimulus programs it is little wonder job growth has been so slow to recover.”