Reps. Boehner & Cantor Falsely Claim Health Care Bills Would Kill Jobs
On February 8, 2010, House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel falsely claiming current health care reform legislation would kill jobs. In reality, the bills in front of Congress could create up to 400,000 jobs.
Republican Leadership Repeats False Talking Points
Congressmen John Boehner & Eric Cantor:
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that the President is "absolutely not" resetting the legislative process for health care. If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate. [Boehner Release, 2/8/10]
Health Care Reform Could Create Up To 400,000 Jobs
Health Care Reform Could Create Up To 400,000 Jobs Within The Next 10 Years. According to the Center for American Progress:
Clearly, health care reform that reduces premium growth is economic policy as well as health policy. The reform goals of a healthier America are well understood. In this paper, however, we demonstrate a less emphasized point about the health care reform legislation currently before Congress-if successful, its provisions can lower the costs of business and increase both the number of jobs by 250,000 to 400,000 annually over the next decade and increase wage growth.
Health care reform that includes even more robust measures to contain health care costs could further enhance job creation. In an economy that has lost 5 million jobs in the past year and where wages have stagnated for many years, this is a strong reason to pass health care reform that contains growth in health care costs and modernizes the U.S. health care system. [Center for American Progress, New Jobs Through Better Health Care, January 2010; emphasis added]
