Cape News

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith expressed criticism towards the Biden-Harris Administration following the release of the October 2024 jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a creation of only 12,000 jobs for that month.

Smith stated, "This jobs report is more evidence of the stunning incompetence of the Biden-Harris Administration. If you look under the hood of the Biden-Harris jobs market, the facts show an ongoing struggle for blue-collar workers, a boom for bureaucrats, and paychecks that don’t pay the bills anymore." He pointed out that while over 1.6 million new bureaucratic positions have been funded under this administration, manufacturers have cut 50,000 jobs in the past year.

Smith also criticized Vice President Harris's stance on tax policy, noting her intention to repeal Trump-era tax cuts. He warned that such actions would significantly increase taxes for American small businesses compared to those in Communist China. According to Smith, "Ways and Means Republican Tax Teams have traveled to 20 states to conduct more than 120 listening sessions with job creators. They are telling us the Harris tax hike would devastate their ability to keep even the employees they have right now."

The statement further highlighted economic challenges under current policies: prices rising by 20.5 percent since January 2021; real wages falling by 3.2 percent; inflation surpassing wage growth for over two years; and interest rates reaching a high not seen in decades.

Other financial strains include increased mortgage costs—nearly doubling since early 2021—and consumer credit debt exceeding $1 trillion across five quarters.

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