• Ledbetter Act Will Depress Wages And Employment, Especially For Women. "The Ledbetter Act would also lead to myriad unintended consequences. Foremost, it would push down both wages and employment, as businesses change their operations to avoid lawsuits. Perversely, it could actually put women, minorities, and workers who are vocal about their rights at a disadvantage if employers attempt to reduce legal risk by hiring fewer individuals likely to file suit against them or terminating those already in their employ." (Andrew M. Grossman, "The Ledbetter Act: Sacrificing Justice for "Fair" Pay," Legal Memorandum #34, The Heritage Foundation, 1/7/09)

• Tobacco Taxes Under SCHIP Will Be "A Business Killer." "Beginning April 1, the federal excise tax will be raised on tobacco products to support President Barack Obama's recently signed State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Retailers see the move as a business killer at a time when consumers are reining in discretionary spending and the number of smokers is in rapid decline. The tax increases are considerable, shop owners said." (W.J. Hennigan, "Tobacco Tax May Burn Local Shops," East Valley Tribune,3/21/09)

• And Breaks Obama's Pledge Not To Tax Families Making Under $250,000.. "One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday. The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000. This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich." (Calvin Woodward, "Promises, Promises: Obama Tax Pledge Up In Smoke," The Associated Press, 4/1/09)

• Stimulus Ignored "The Main Factor Increasing Unemployment: Lack Of Private Investment." "Obama's signature jobs initiative was the stimulus package, but the bill did little to promote private-sector investment or job creation. The new government spending in the stimulus does not encourage entrepreneurs to start or expand a business enterprise unless they received a stimulus contract. Consequently, the stimulus ignores the main factor increasing unemployment: lack of private investment." (James Sherk and Rea S. Hederman, Jr., Op-ed, "Thanks For The November Jobs Report?," The Wall Street Journal, 12/4/09)

• And Stimulus' "Buy American" Provisions Decreasing Profits Of U.S. Businesses. "But the bill's Buy American provisions -- meant to give U.S. companies a leg up on foreign competition -- are causing ... U.S. companies a lot of grief with both suppliers and clients in Canada ... Canadian communities angered by perceived American chauvinism have started a Buy Canadian campaign to exclude U.S. bidders from municipal contracts. 'If that sticks, well, there goes 25% of my business,' said Mr. Pokorsky." (Peter Fritsch and Corey Boles, "How 'Buy America' Can Hurt U.S. Firms," The Wall Street Journal, 9/17/09)

• 111 Organizations Sign Letter Saying Jobs Could Be Lost "By Restricting Access To Land For Energy Exploration." "In the coming weeks, a massive land grab bill will be brought up that restricts property rights and hamstrings energy exploration in the United States. On behalf of the undersigned 111 organizations representing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, small businesses, shareholders, consumers, and senior citizens, we strongly urge you to oppose the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009... By restricting access to land for energy exploration, this legislation is limiting the potential of the economy and directly interfering with America's entrepreneurial drive." ("AWF Joins 100+ Groups In Opposing The House Omnibus," Alliance for Worker Freedom, 2/18/09)

• Credit Card Reform Act Harms Small Business Ability To Hire By Limiting Credit. "Adding insult to injury is that not only has Washington subsidized credit to large firms, it has taken actions that restrict the credit available to small firms and start-ups.  The prime example of this is the Credit Card Reform Act signed by President Obama in May. As Whitney reports, 'Credit cards are the most common source of liquidity to small businesses, used by 82 percent as a vital portion of their overall funding.'  In restricting the usage of credit cards and reducing the ability to risk-base price, Washington has eliminated the most important source of credit to small business." (Mark A. Calabria, "Credit Card Act Is Affecting The Job Market," Cato Institute's "Cato@Liberty" Blog, 10/2/09)

• Small Manufacturers Hurt By New Regulations, Could Be Forced Out Of Business. "However, FDA regulation is likely to spur consolidation by driving up compliance costs for smaller discount manufacturers. ... 'Due to lesser-scale efficiencies, these manufacturers could either be forced to take meaningful price increases - lower price gaps for premium brands - or be forced out of business due to the costs of new labeling costs of compliance with FDA standards and more complex inventory management,'" said Nik Modi, an analyst with UBS." (Richard Craver, "FDA Regulates Tobacco," Winston-Salem Journal,6/23/09)

• "Cash For Clunkers" Harms Auto Industry In Long Term, Other Industries In Short Term.  "This measure may help car dealers in the short-term. Yet, in economic terms it is a dismal failure. First, consumers are spending money on cars they might have spent on something else. That means 'Cash for Clunkers' is an anti-stimulus for many industries. Also, the law mandates that auto dealers destroy the cars that are traded in. This will deplete the supply of used cars and take perfectly good, inexpensive cars off the market." (Brian Darling, "Recess For Your Wallet," The Heritage Foundation, 8/11/09)

• Small Businesses Would Be "Forced To Comply With Onerous" Regulations. "Businesses argue that such a finding would mean even emitters as small as a mom-and-pop grocery store would be forced to comply with onerous greenhouse gas regulations. The administration has crafted rules that would exempt facilities that emit less than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent annually. But it remains unclear if that exemption would hold up in court." (Julet Eilperin, "Obama Administration Will Formally Declare Danger Of Carbon Emissions," The Washington Post, 12/7/09)

• Causing Job Loss And Burdening Manufacturers. "'EPA is moving forward with an agenda that will put additional burdens on manufacturers, cost jobs and drive up the price of energy,' said Keith McCoy, Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy at the. National Association of Manufacturers." ("EPA To Move On Emissions As Congress Stalls," Reuters, 12/7/09)

• Raising The Debt Limit Will Allow for More Binge Spending. HR 4314 increases the debt limit by $286 billion.(HR 4314: To Permit Continued Financing Of Government Operations, CRS Summary, Accessed 1/11/10)

• Obama Said U.S. Debt Could Lead To "Double-Dip Recession." "'It is important though to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession,' he said." ("Obama: Too Much Debt Could Fuel Double-Dip Recession," Reuters, 11/18/09)

• Higher Deficits Will Make America Vulnerable To Another Large Financial Crisis. "[T]he possibility makes us unnecessarily vulnerable to what could be a full-scale financial crisis. Due to our fiscal irresponsibility we are losing control of our economic destiny and may be looking at a future where we cannot count on a standard of living that continually improves." (Alice M. Rivlin And Isabel V. Sawhill, "Why Deficits And Debt Render The United States Vulnerable, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, 2/21/07)

• And Reduce Wages, Lower Living Standards For American Workers. "If they are financed domestically, deficitwill gradually divert capital from productive domestic uses, through a rise in interest rates. This diversion reduces the amount of capital available to U.S. workers, lowering their wages and hence their living standards ..." (Alan J. Auerbach And William G. Gale, "Deficit: What Caused It, Why It Matters," CNNMoney.com, 7/30/09)

• And New Regulations From Obama's Health Care Experiment Will Make It More Difficult For Employers To Hire Workers They Need. "[E]mployers who do not offer 'affordable' coverage to employees would have to help pay the cost of such benefits for their low-income workers ... The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advocacy group, said this proposal 'could unintentionally discourage the hiring of lower-income people,' by adding a new 'health surcharge' to the cost of employing them." (Jeff Zeleny And Robert Pear, "Obama Says Government Health Coverage Plan Would Not Hurt Private Insurers," The New York Times, 6/23/09)

• And Job-Killing "Buy American" Rules Would Still Be In Place. "'Buy American' rules requiring the use of U.S. goods in construction projects would be strengthened under legislation the U.S. House of Representatives approved today. Provisions in the $154 billion economic-aid measure would make it more difficult for government agencies to waive the requirement that most steel and manufactured goods used for highway and bridge projects be produced in the U.S." (Mark Drajem, "'Buy American' Rules Strengthened in U.S. Measure (Update1)," Bloomberg, 12/16/10)

• And $150 Billion Tax On Financial Firms Will Cause The Loss Of 450,000 Jobs. "H.R. 4173 imposes a massive bailout tax that will drain capital from the economy - H.R. 4173 creates a bailout fund to be capitalized by a $150 billion tax on approximately 30 large financial firms, the majority of whom did not cause the financial crisis and do not pose a threat to the stability of the financial system. To capitalize a fund at this amount, covered institutions would each have to pay an average tax of $4.5 billion. A review of economic models suggests that a new tax of this magnitude could reduce overall lending by as much as $55 billion and cause the loss of as many as 450,000 jobs." (Republican Press Office, Committee On Financial Services, "How The Democrats' 1300 Page Financial Regulation Bill (H.R. 4173) Kills Jobs," Press Release, 12/7/09)

• Brookings Institution Says "Cap-And-Trade" Will Cause Long Term Job Loss. "A report issued by the left-leaning research organization said that if Congress passes something similar to President Obama's or the House's proposed plan, the economy would take the biggest hit around 2025. ... the net job loss would be 0.5 percent over the first 10 years that the legislation is in effect." (Amanda DeBard, "Study: Cap And Trade Would Hurt Economy," The Washington Times, 6/9/09) 

• Leading To Increased Energy Costs On Small Businesses. "Business groups were quick to challenge the EPA proposal and said it could lead to unnecessary energy-cost increases and job losses at large facilities such as refineries and factories, as well as small businesses." (Mark W. Peters and Stephen Power, "EPA Proposes Tighter, Costlier Smog Limits," The Wall Street Journal, 1/8/10)

• And EFCA Will Increase Unemployment Rate By 1% For Every 3% Gained In Union Membership. "The precise effect on unemployment will depend on the degree to which EFCA increases union density, but for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs." (Anne Layne-Farrar, "An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications," SSRN.com, 3/4/09)

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