Friday, June 1, 2012 5:46 pm

Over the last month, unemployment has risen to 8.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sadly, the jobs report has become a monthly reminder of how badly President Obama’s fiscal and economic policies have failed the American people. Upwards of 23 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. And their prospects for finding full-time employment are persistently bleak after 40 straight months of unemployment at 8 percent or higher. This is completely unacceptable. By the White House’s own estimates in January 2009, the President’s recovery plan, also known as the stimulus, would bring unemployment down to below 6 percent by May 2012. It’s clear that the stimulus failed to produce the number of jobs that were promised, but all of the hype came with a big price tag for taxpayers who are left holding the bag.  Since President Obama took office, he has increased U.S. debt by 5 trillion dollars, and more than 1 trillion of that came from the failed stimulus package. If only the President were as good at creating jobs as he is at raking up more debt. Massive fiscal stimulus, ballooning debt, and regulatory uncertainty, due in large part to Obamacare, have stalled the economic recovery and kept unemployment unacceptably high. I am fighting to repeal this disastrous piece of legislation and other costly, unnecessary regulations and mandates that expand government and limit freedom and opportunity. I have cosponsored and voted for numerous job-creating bills that have already gone through the committee process and passed the House of Representatives, including regulatory relief for small businesses, repealing Obamacare tax hikes, and more. To track the status of important jobs legislation as it moves through Congress, you can go to  www.majorityleader.gov/JobsTracker/ As you can see from the jobs bill tracker, the vast majority of these bills remain stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate. All the while, millions of Americans remain jobless, and small businesses are struggling to stay afloat amongst the onslaught of new regulations and taxes. To get our economy moving again, we must work together to enact pro-growth tax reform, repeal Obamacare, and provide regulatory relief for America’s job creators.