 |
Toledo Blade...
Portman: Plan will
get people back to work
Reid counters that Republicans thwarting small businesses bill
By Tom Troy
U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R., Ohio) Thursday said his “Senate
Republican Jobs Plan” would give a shot in the arm to an economy that
suffered disappointing news this week.
The plan calls for tax cuts, more oil exploration, fewer regulations,
repealing health-care reform, and adding a balanced budget amendment to
the Constitution.
“This is a pro-growth, pro-jobs plan that will create the environment
necessary to get Americans back to work and ensure that American
businesses are competitive globally,” Mr. Portman said.
In a telephone news conference Thursday, Mr. Portman said two negative
economic news items this week add urgency to the situation --
first-quarter economic growth of 1.8 percent rather than the hoped-for
3 percent and a rise in unemployment claims. He blamed the
disappointing lack of economic expansion on high oil prices and on the
federal government’s failure to enact the right policies.
Of the 23 items in the seven-point plan, Mr. Portman cited one as
having a strong chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate
-- ratification of trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
And he said there is great interest in “tax reform,” although he
acknowledged that Democrats and Republicans have different goals.
He said as a freshman senator, he had the lead role in developing the
GOP jobs blueprint because he asked for the responsibility. He said he
met with small business owners, workers, and economic development
groups in Ohio and discussed the provisions with members of the
Republican caucus before releasing the document.
The plan’s highlights include:
● Spending restrictions in federal law and the Constitution.
● Reduced and simplified business and individual tax rates.
● Reining in federal regulations; prohibiting the Environmental
Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air
Act.
● Defeating “card check,” the labor-backed proposal to expand union
organization; and simplifying and making more accessible federal
job-training now handled by 44 federal agencies.
● Ratifying trade agreements.
● Lifting restrictions on oil exploration in the Outer Continental
Shelf, allowing exploration on federal lands, increasing loan
guarantees for nuclear power.
● Repealing the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans refer to as
ObamaCare; allowing insurance purchases across state lines; allowing
health-care savings accounts, and cracking down on medical malpractice
lawsuits.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nevada) complained on his Web
site that Republicans were blocking the “Small Businesses jobs bill”
that Mr. Reid said would “help small businesses innovate, grow, and put
Americans back to work.”
“Now they have blocked this bill altogether, despite our efforts to
accommodate their concerns and just a day after paying lip service to
the need to create jobs. Republican rhetoric is one thing, but their
actions speak louder than words,” Mr. Reid said.
Mr. Portman said, “I’m cautiously optimistic that despite that rhetoric
that’s on [Senator Reid’s] Web site and despite the obvious deadlock
we’ve got right now over the budget that there are some things in this
plan that can move forward and must move forward.”
Read it at the Toledo Blade
|
