The new “jobs agenda” outlined in an August 29 memo from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) to House Republicans is laughable as a jobs plan. But the joke is on us if this plan passes because it doesn’t do a thing to actually create jobs.
The memo—a “pre-buttal” to President Barack Obama’s scheduled jobs speech on September 8 —lays out the House schedule of votes for the remainder of the year on the “10 most harmful job-destroying regulations.” The first and last votes on the schedule are on regulations that protect workers’ basic union rights, which indicates that the House Majority thinks workers having too many rights is a core problem causing current joblessness in our economy.
Even people skeptical toward unions should recognize this agenda for what it is: a shameful blaming of workers for problems they didn’t create that proposes solutions that only help the rich and the powerful.
Repackaging a tired, antiunion, pro-CEO agenda as a plan for job creation is a sign of just how far off base the House Majority is. Eliminating these regulations will not create jobs. Instead, they will hurt workers, the middle class, and the economy.
For more on this topic, please see: