The August jobs report released on Friday showed a massive slowdown in the U.S. economy. Economists anticipated 725,000 jobs to be added in August. However, growth fell short with the economy adding a scant 235,000 jobs. This report comes as 8.4 million Americans remain unemployed, with over 10.5 million job openings. The labor force participation rate remained at 61.7 percent, while the number of unfilled job openings remained above the historical average of 22 percent.
While President Biden blames COVID alone for this disappointing jobs report, it’s the policies of the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats that incentivize Americans to stay out of the workforce, as well as reckless spending that continues to hold our economy back.
Opposed to partisan and exorbitant spending
Last week, I participated in the House Natural Resources Committee markup on a portion of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion supplemental spending package that they plan to pass using budget reconciliation – a procedural move that only requires 51 votes in the Senate. Despite the ongoing efforts to address the crisis in Afghanistan, devastation from Hurricane Ida, growing wildfires in the West, and the ongoing immigration crisis at our Southern border, democrats have prioritized their partisan and reckless reconciliation budget.
While the full text of the entire package is not yet known, provisions in the Natural Resources component of the reconciliation package include policies that burden American workers and job creators. In total this portion of the bigger bill includes $31.7 billion dollars – most of it for Democrats far-left, Green New Deal policies. To add insult to injury, $200 million of your tax dollars are included for a park in Speaker Pelosi’s district. Democrats on the committee also unanimously opposed all amendments offered by Republicans that protect our country’s mineral independence and ensure we don’t become dependent on mines run by foreign adversaries such as China, the Taliban, or Russia.
I am opposed to this partisan and exorbitant spending. Every dollar spent in Washington is a dollar taken out of a hardworking American’s pocket. I ran for office pledging to do my part to stop the spigot of spending and get our house in order, and I will not break my pledge to my constituents and the American people.
Congressman Daniel Webster represents The Villages in the U.S. House of Representatives.