Target Dems Plow Ahead with Job-Killing Agenda that Hits Hispanics Hardest

July 30, 2009

FYI, a localized version of this release went out to: Chet Edwards (TX-17), Gabby Giffords (AZ-08), Alan Grayson (FL-08), Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01), Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24), Betsy Markey (CO-04), Harry Mitchell (AZ-05), Solomon Ortiz (TX-27), Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23), John Salazar (CO-03), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Harry Teague (NM-02), Dina Titus (NV-03)

Harry Teague Plows Ahead with Job-Killing Agenda that Hits Hispanics Hardest
Teague Advocates Democrat Tax-and-Spend Policies as Hispanics in New Mexico Suffer

Washington – As Democrats in Washington continue to enact their anti-jobs agenda, new reports show that Hispanics in New Mexico are being hit hard by unemployment. With national unemployment rates spiraling upwards by the day, the situation in New Mexico is growing worse, especially in the Hispanic community.

“It’s a sad fact that while Hispanic families in New Mexico are being hit hard by the current economic crisis, Harry Teague continues to march in lock step with Nancy Pelosi and his liberal allies in the House, as they develop more ways to kill jobs and frivolously use taxpayer money,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “It is time for Harry Teague to stand up to Speaker Pelosi and live up to his promise to create more jobs instead of higher taxes and more reckless government spending. Unfortunately for the hardworking taxpayers in his district, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

Will Harry Teague support the Democrats’ healthcare plan? Before he finally decides, he should take into account a study by Kate Baicker of the National Bureau of Economic Research on the risks of unemployment caused by Democrats’ massive tax increases included in their healthcare “reform” package found that:

“…more than 60 percent of [workers losing jobs] would be racial or ethnic minorities and about one-third would have less than a college education. The burden of the mandate would fall disproportionately on these groups since, for example, racial and ethnic minorities are only 30 percent of the workforce in this sample.” (“Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment,” National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2007)

Clearly, the Democrats’ plan will disproportionately hurt minorities, Hispanics included. Given the already dire situation that New Mexico Hispanics are in, this can only leave Harry Teague’s constituents asking themselves one question: When will Harry Teague begin to work for their interests instead of blindly following the lead of his party bosses in Washington?

BACKGROUND

Nearly 50% of Harry Teague’s constituents are Hispanic. (U.S. Census Bureau)

The 2007 Baicker study found that minority workers were twice as likely as white workers to lose their jobs thanks to the Democrats’ healthcare bill. This is something New Mexico Hispanics can ill-afford given their already disproportionately high unemployment numbers. (“Unequal Unemployment: Racial disparities by state will worsen in 2010”, Economic Policy Institute, July 21, 2009)

Requiring individuals or employers to purchase insurance, or face a stiff penalty, is part of Democrats’ healthcare plans. However, according to the Congressional Budge Office this would be devastating, especially to low-wage workers. They note that “a pay-or-play provision could reduce the hiring of low-wage workers, whose wages could not fall by the full cost of health insurance or a substantial pay-or-play fee if they were close to the minimum wage.” (“Effects of Changes to the Health Insurance System on Labor Markets,” Congressional Budge Office, July 13, 2009)

The Democrats’ plan will disproportionately affect those already uninsured, resulting in the loss of jobs for many of these workers: “…33 percent of uninsured workers…” will be put “…at risk of unemployment if their employers were required to offer insurance…1.4 percent of uninsured full-time workers would lose their jobs because of a health insurance mandate. Workers who would lose their jobs are disproportionately likely to be high school dropouts, minority, and female. This risk of unemployment should be a crucial component in the evaluation of both the effectiveness and distributional implications of these policies relative to alternatives such as tax credits, Medicaid expansions, and individual mandates, and their broader effects on the well-being of low-wage workers.” (“Unequal Unemployment: Racial disparities by state will worsen in 2010”, Economic Policy Institute, July 21, 2009)

###