A promise not kept

Sunday, June 26, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Shortly before Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner became House speaker, he told ABC News what he interpreted to be the message of the November general elections, which enabled his party to regain control of the lower chamber of Congress. Boehner said: “Let’s get around to creating jobs again and staying focused on what the American people want us to focus on is my No. 1 priority.”

Boehner wasn’t much on sharing details then, and now, nearly eight months later, it’s easy to see why. The only House Republican “plan” to create jobs is to dismantle the health insurance reform law, and to mimic initiatives pushed by former President George W. Bush’s administration, including elimination of government regulations and bureaucracy. How did that work out for Bush? During his eight years in office this country netted only 1.1 million new jobs, compared with 22.7 million new jobs created during the eight years of the Clinton administration, according to a Cleveland Plain Dealer analysis of Labor Department statistics.

Certainly there is red tape that can be eliminated. The Obama administration has said as much, having declared last month that it was rolling back regulations that would save hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses and thousands of man hours a year.

But there is far more to job creation than eliminating regulations, as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats realize. There is investment in job training programs, tax credits to help small businesses, prodding to get banks to lend more money, and many other initiatives that Democrats have pushed through Congress.

There is no question that much more needs to be done, as exemplified by the nation’s high unemployment rate. The Republicans haven’t provided any fresh ideas, as demonstrated by a 25-page report issued Wednesday by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The report covered the committee’s “activities” this year but was notable for its lack of focus on jobs.

The majority includes Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, who voted with fellow Republicans to reject a proposed Democratic amendment to the report that would have required the committee to support maintaining or increasing funding for job creation and training programs under the Workforce Investment Act. In voting against that amendment, Republicans turned their backs on greater support for adult education, literacy programs and dislocated workers.

The committee’s ranking minority member, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., fired back by stating that the committee this year has held 31 hearings and voted on four bills but not one devoted to job creation. As Miller said: “This committee has the opportunity to move aggressively on the agenda of America’s middle class. We do this by protecting workers’ paychecks and retirement security. And we do this by taking care that our children have the tools they need to succeed.”

Sometime between November and now, House Republicans forgot the vows they made to the American people to help them get back to work. A committee with workforce in its title ought to go about the business of creating jobs. Instead, all Republicans have done is stand in the way. Based on its activities to date, the committee has failed.