Over half of the $157 billion bill does nothing for job creation, but rather extends unemployment benefits.
The point was to allow Democrats to put their names on a “jobs bill” before heading home for the holidays to their increasingly disappointed constituents. But many of those same Democrats are taking a detour through Denmark, and their constituents deserve to know that their work there is all about killing jobs, not creating them. (NPR)
The Congressional Budget Office and the Energy Information Administration say the cap and trade bill, passed by the House and awaiting Senate approval, will lead to more job loss. The bill virtually admits this by adding a subsidizing clause to aid those “hardest hit,” which of course, would be the industries producing the most carbon emissions. Globally, such provisions are what world leaders at Copenhagen were understandably upset about (i.e. that first world nations would create loopholes in legislation).
The bill includes a tacit admission that it would be a job-killer: To prevent mass layoffs, it would subsidize the industries hit hardest by higher energy costs. Refineries and utility companies would get billions of dollars’ worth of free carbon permits to offset the costs associated with capping their emissions. (NPR)
