Rep. Gerlach's Claims About Small Business Aid Don't Match His Record

Rep. Jim Gerlach's (R-PA) Democrat-leaning suburban Philadelphia district requires the conservative congressman to walk ideological tightropes on most issues. But his latest high-wire act stumbles over the facts of his voting record.

The Reading Eagle reports that Rep. Gerlach bragged to Pennsylvania business owners last week about his "Small Business Assistance Relief Act" and attacked Congress for a "pathetic" record on economics:

Small businesses create most jobs, so Congress should enact legislation that would allow them to grow, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach said during a town hall meeting held Wednesday by the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry at SFS Intec Inc. in Wyomissing.

Gerlach, a Chester County Republican who represents part of Berks, told about 25 Chamber members that he is a co-sponsor of the Small Business Assistance Relief Act, proposed legislation that would help those small businesses.

It would lower taxes for small businesses, ease the regulatory burden on them and make credit easier for them to obtain, he said.

"The record in Congress is pathetic in understanding the fundamentals of economics and job creation," he said. "This bill reflects things small businesses have told us."

Gerlach should have some trouble selling himself as a small-business champion, however, assuming that anyone pays attention to how lawmakers actually vote. When the House voted in June to create a $30 billion lending fund for small businesses and cut their taxes by $3.5 billion, Jim Gerlach voted "no."

According to Reuters, the $30 billion investment Gerlach opposed would put ten times as much money in small business owners' hands:

The Independent Community Bankers of America backed the bill, calling it a "bold new program that will go a long way toward aiding our nation's economic recovery." The group said the $30 billion fund could be leveraged into as much as $300 billion in new credit to small businesses.

The legislation is being combined with another bill earlier passed by the House that would provide $3.5 billion in small business tax breaks before it is sent over to the Senate for a vote.

Naturally, the GOP is blocking the bill in the Senate. And Jim Gerlach is telling voters he wants to spur small business investment just months after he voted against spurring a $300 billion investment in small businesses. He's not forgetting some obscure vote from years ago, he's ignoring a position he took two months ago. Now that is pathetic.