Twice The Misinformation: Rep. Cantor Repeats False Claim That GOP Plan Would Create "Twice As Many Jobs"

Rep. Cantor Falsely Claimed GOP Plan Will Create Twice As Many Jobs

Rep. Cantor: "House Republicans have laid out a serious and substantive plan to create twice as many jobs, but instead America got a partisan spending bill that Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid rammed through Congress and the President signed into law." [Press Release, 6/8/09]

Reality: As Media Matters Action Network Has Previously Noted, This Statement Is Just Plain Wrong.  In Estimating The Effect Of Their "Jobs Plan," Republicans Admitted They Misused A Formula Published In An Academic Paper They Weren't Able To Understand In The First Place.

Far From "Substantive," GOP Admitted Jobs Figure Was "Speculative" And "Dictated By Assumptions." In a document released to explain the mathematical reasoning behind the "6.2 million jobs" claim, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee wrote: "Efforts to quantify the extent to which even large spending increases or tax cuts will impact future economic growth and employment are largely speculative, and the conclusions are generally dictated by the assumptions made by the authors." [House Ways and Means Republican Staff via TPM, 1/28/09; emphasis added]

GOP Said Source Document Used "Lacks Critical Details Necessary To Fully Understand." In a document released to explain the mathematical reasoning behind the "6.2 million jobs" claim, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee wrote, "they use a multiplier that suggests tax cuts equal to 1% of Gross Domestic Product (or 'GDP' which is a measure of national output) have a less than 1% effect on output, while spending increases of the same size have a greater that 1% effect.  The Romer-Bernstein paper lacks critical details necessary to fully understand their reasoning..." [House Ways and Means Republican Staff via TPM, 1/28/09; emphasis added]