Read the report.
Washington, D.C. — Today, as the campaigns finalize their preparations for tonight’s presidential debate, a new report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund reveals that Gov. Romney’s job creation plan does not contain any new or innovative policies to stimulate job growth and instead will bring back the Bush-era supply-side strategies that stunted job growth and led to the Great Recession. In fact, according to CAP Action’s conservative estimate, Gov. Romney’s 59-point plan for job creation will actually destroy 360,000 jobs in 2013 alone.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney claims that if he is elected into office, he will create more than 12 million new jobs in his first term—a pace of 250,000 jobs each month. The Romney presidential campaign predicts 7 million of these new jobs will be generated simply by cutting taxes. In their analysis entitled “Romney Has No Real Jobs Plan,” CAP Action Economists Heather Boushey and Adam Hersh detail why this campaign promise is unbelievable.
Kevin Hassett, economic advisor to the Romney campaign, said on National Public Radio recently that “Gov. Romney’s tax plan is modeled after the successful tax plans of the past, and it would generate growth because it would increase the incentive to do things that are good for America’s economy and America’s workers.” But we’ve heard this hyperbole before. Hassett was a part of the team claiming that President George W. Bush’s supply-side economics would create a strong economy. In fact, actual economic performance under these policies fell more than 8 million jobs short of what Bush economic advisors predicted. Boushey and Hersh conclude that Hassett was wrong then and he’s wrong now.
The truth is, Gov. Romney is ignoring facts and history while employing seriously flawed economic logic. The evidence shows that the kind of tax plan Gov. Romney proposes to implement is a job killer. What’s more, successful tax plans of the past followed a different path than the one Gov. Romney now outlines. A number of economists dug into the numbers to demonstrate that the Romney economic plan would, if anything, push our economy back into recession and cost Americans jobs.
The issue brief released today details the following:
- Gov. Romney’s 59-point plan for job creation will do the opposite, costing 360,000 jobs in 2013 alone by our conservative estimate.
- Gov. Romney and his advisor’s insistence on supply-side economics that didn’t work in the past and won’t work now.
- There is broad consensus and economic evidence that now is not the time to implement the spending cuts and deficit-reduction measures the Romney campaign is proposing.
“Gov. Romney wants us to go backward in time and rewrite history to say that supply-side economic policies successfully create a strong economy,” said Boushey. “You can take his word for this argument, or you can look to sound economic analysis and the undisputed historical economic facts under similar policy approaches. The implications of Gov. Romney’s economic platform and his advisors’ jobs predictions are clear: Don’t believe the hype.”
Read the report:
CAP Action experts available for comment
The following experts from the Center for American Progress Action Fund are available to discuss tonight’s presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney:
- Tom Perriello, President and CEO, Center for American Progress Action Fund
- Tara McGuinness, Executive Director, Center for American Progress Action Fund
- Judd Legum, Vice President, Communications; Editor in Chief, ThinkProgress
- Daniella Gibbs Leger, Vice President, American Values & New Communities, Center for American Progress Action Fund
- Vanessa Cárdenas, Director, Progress 2050 Action
To speak with our experts, please contact:
PRINT:
Katie Peters: [email protected] or 202.741.6285
ETHNIC MEDIA:
Laura Pereyra: [email protected] or 202.741.6258
TV:
Lindsay Hamilton: [email protected] or 202.741.6250
RADIO:
Anne Shoup: [email protected] or 202.481.7146
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