House Dems’ Deep Commitment to Small Business Job Destruction

December 21, 2011

Washington Democrats’ Latest Job-Destroying Action Targets Small Businesses and Leaves Struggling Middle Class Families Waiting for Much-Needed Tax Relief

President Obama has repeatedly insisted that the payroll tax holiday for middle class families be extended for one full year, a measure the House passed on a bipartisan basis last week.
But instead of giving middle-class families security about how much will be left in their paycheck in 2012, Democrats are insisting on creating uncertainty for American families by kicking the can two months down the road. Sadly, Democrats’ irresponsibility could create “substantial problems” for small business job creators.
Democrats’ decision to avoid payroll tax certainty for American families is just the latest example in what has become a never-ending pattern of job-destroying actions by Washington Democrats.

BACKGROUND

President Obama has repeatedly insisted that the payroll tax holiday for middle class families be extended for one full year, a measure the House passed on a bipartisan basis last week:

OBAMA: “INEXCUSABLE” FOR CONGRESS NOT TO EXTEND PAYROLL TAX CUT FOR ONE YEAR: “While this agreement is for two months, it is my expectation — in fact it would be inexcusable for Congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year. It should be a formality.” (President Barack Obama statement, 12/17/2011)

But instead of giving middle-class families security about how much will be left in their paycheck in 2012, Democrats are insisting on creating uncertainty for American families by kicking the can two months down the road. Sadly, Democrats’ irresponsibility could create “substantial problems” for small business job creators:

REID TAKES HIS BALL AND GOES HOME, INSISTS HE WON’T “REOPEN NEGOTIATIONS” ON FULL-YEAR INCOME TAX RELIEF: “But Harry Reid, leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate, insisted he would not recall the chamber to reopen negotiations. Reid has won backing from some Republicans in the Senate who have called on their colleagues in the House to back the deal.” (Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan, “Obama Says Time Running Out for Payroll Tax Cut Deal,” Bloomberg, 12/20/2011)

PELOSI SAYS SHE WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR FULL-YEAR INCOME TAX RELIEF: “And on Monday night, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would not appoint any House Democrats to participate in the conference.”(Lucy Madison, “House Rejects Payroll Tax Cut Compromise,” CBS News, 12/20/2011)

FULL-YEAR PAYROLL TAX RELIEF WOULD SAVE $1,000: “The payroll tax break alone is worth roughly $1,000 a year for an average family and affects about 160 million Americans.” (Tom Cohen and Allen Silverleib, “House Disapproves of Senate Payroll Tax Plan,”CNN Politics, 12/20/2011)

93% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSE FULL $1,000 TAX BREAK: (Roll Call 923, Clerk of the U.S. House, 12/13/2011)

HEADACHES ON THE HORIZON FOR SMALL BUSINESSES IF DEMOCRATS’ DISASTER PASSES:

PELOSI-REID PLAN “CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED PROPERLY”: “Officials from the policy-neutral National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Inc. have expressed concern to members of Congress that the two-month payroll tax holiday passed by the Senate and supported by President Obama cannot be implemented properly.” (Jake Tapper, “Two-Month Payroll Tax Holiday Passed By Senate, Pushed By President, Cannot Be Implemented Properly, Experts Say,” ABC News, 12/19/2011)

PELOSI-REID PLAN COULD BRING MORE IRS HEADACHES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: “‘The concern is really for those who don’t use a payroll service provider,’ he said. Americans will have different outcomes, he said, causing confusion ‘because they’ll have different outcomes. Some will have it done on time, some won’t, some will have adjustment notices later in the year.’ … Isberg wrote that ‘many payroll systems are not likely to be able to make such a substantial programming change before January or even February. The systems affected tend to be highly complex, normally requiring at least ninety days for a change of this magnitude for software testing alone; not to mention analysis, design, coding and implementation.'” (Jake Tapper, “Two-Month Payroll Tax Holiday Passed By Senate, Pushed By President, Cannot Be Implemented Properly, Experts Say,” ABC News, 12/19/2011)

PELOSI-REID PLAN “COULD CREATE SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEMS, CONFUSION AND COSTS” TO “A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYERS”: “Pete Isberg, president of the NPRC today wrote to the key leaders of the relevant committees of the House and Senate, telling them that ‘insufficient lead time’ to implement the complicated change mandated by the legislation means the two-month payroll tax holiday ‘could create substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees.'” (Jake Tapper, “Two-Month Payroll Tax Holiday Passed By Senate, Pushed By President, Cannot Be Implemented Properly, Experts Say,” ABC News, 12/19/2011)

Democrats’ decision to avoid payroll tax certainty for American families is just the latest example in what has become a never-ending pattern of job-destroying actions by Washington Democrats:

EPA POISED TO FINALIZE NEW UTILITY MACT RULE THIS WEEK: (Patrick Reis, Politico’s “Morning Energy”, 12/19/2011)

UTILITY MACT RULE IS PROJECTED TO COST 1.44 MILLION JOB-YEARS: “Some plants may shut their doors while others will sharply decrease production or abandon plans to expand their facility. The NERA study predicts that the United States will lose 1.44 million job-years (where one job is for one year) by 2020 should both regulations be finalized and implemented.” (Paul A. Yost, National Association of Manufacturers, 8/4/2011)

MORE MAJOR REGULATIONS AVERAGED UNDER OBAMA THAN UNDER BUSH OR CLINTON: “According to an analysis of the Federal Register by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, the Cabinet departments and agencies finalized 84 such regulations annually on average in President Obama’s first two years. The annual average under President Bush was 62 and under President Clinton 56.”(Editorial, “Regulation for Dummies,” Wall Street Journal, 12/15/2011)

“EVIDENCE IS OVERWHELMING” THAT “OBAMA REGULATORY SURGE IS ONE REASON THE CURRENT ECONOMIC RECOVERY HAS BEEN SO LACKLUSTER”: “The evidence is overwhelming that the Obama regulatory surge is one reason the current economic recovery has been so lackluster by historical standards. Rather than nurture an economy trying to rebuild confidence after a financial heart attack, the Administration pushed through its now-famous blitz of liberal policies on health care, financial services, energy, housing, education and student loans, telecom, labor relations, transportation and probably some other industries we’ve forgotten. Anyone who thinks this has only minimal impact on business has never been in business.” (Editorial, “Regulation for Dummies,” Wall Street Journal, 12/15/2011)

“CBO: STIMULUS HURTS ECONOMY IN THE LONG RUN“: “CBO said that while the Recovery Act boosted the economy in the short run, the extra debt that the stimulus piled up ‘crowds out’ private investment and ‘will reduce output slightly in the long run — by between 0 and 0.2 percent after 2016.'” (Stephen Dinan, “CBO: Stimulus Hurts Economy in the Long Run,” The Washington Times, 11/22/2011)

“THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS 11 PERCENT”: “But today, the most important sentence isn’t a report on something that just happened, but a fresh look at something that’s been happening for the last three years. In particular, it’s this sentence by the Financial Times’ Ed Luce, who writes, ‘According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent.'” (Ezra Klein, “Wonkbook: The Real Unemployment Rate is 11 Percent,” The Washington Post, 12/12/2011)