February 6, 2012 /

The Republican Plan Backwards

John Boehner is here, in his district today, to unveil the Republican jobs plan: U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., will talk at ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America Inc. on Monday about the U.S. House Republicans’ jobs plan. This is the second time a major Republican politician has promoted their jobs plans at ThyssenKrupp, […]

John Boehner is here, in his district today, to unveil the Republican jobs plan:

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., will talk at ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America Inc. on Monday about the U.S. House Republicans’ jobs plan.

This is the second time a major Republican politician has promoted their jobs plans at ThyssenKrupp, a manufacturer of shock absorbers for automobiles. Ohio Gov. John Kasich visited the plant in June to promote JobsOhio, the nonprofit agency formed in 2011 responsible for the state’s job creation efforts.

While it’s great that ThyssenKrupp is doing well, this area is still bleeding jobs at a record pace:

The news also came Friday that the Liz Claiborne distribution facility in West Chester Twp. will close Sept. 1, affecting 365 jobs.

The mass layoff notice is the fourth released for Butler County in 2012 by Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Office of Workforce Development. Job losses announced this year total 548 between Diversapack of Monroe, Liz Claiborne and Schneider Logistics Inc. of West Chester Twp.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts said last month it lost its contract to manage Hueston Woods Lodge in College Corner, but the 93 employees were offered their jobs with the new manager.

Mohawk Fine Papers of Hamilton closed in January, cutting another 137 jobs. SMART Papers of Hamilton will have cut more than 200 jobs if it closes this month. Pella Corp. of Fairfield also said in 2010 it would eliminate 198 jobs when it closes in 2012, but 40 jobs have already been shed by the company through attrition.

Then we got the typical plan of the GOP:

The House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators proposes easing regulatory burden; reform of the tax code; passing pending free trade agreements; modernizing and improving the patent system; review of the visa system; reauthorizing U.S. FDA programs; modernizing domestic energy production; and paying down the country’s debt burden, according to the plan online at www.gop.gov.

But what’s really interesting about this is that on the same day as Boehner’s visit and in the same newspaper promoting it, we learn that these regulations actually create jobs:

New fuel-economy standards mandated by the Obama administration last summer could create more than 23,000 jobs in Ohio over the next decade, according to a recent report from Ceres, a nonprofit group that studies “sustainability” issues.

The government’s new Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards, known as CAFE, would require automakers to raise the minimum average fuel economy of the cars they sell in the U.S. to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current standard is 27.5 miles per gallon.

Advocates say the push to improve fuel economy will spur hiring at auto plants and suppliers of fuel-saving technologies while at the same time slashing fuel costs for businesses and consumers.

So Boehner is actually pushing a plan that could end up costing his state 23,000 jobs, while celebrating less than 200 jobs in the area.

Now doesn’t that sound like the most awesome plan you have ever heard of?

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