Miller Signals Alarm That American Jobs At Risk from Looming Political Threats

“The Tea Party Republican ‘my-way-or-the-highway’, extortionist, hostage-taking legislative strategy has done more to sow deep anxiety and uncertainty over the economy than nearly any other set of events lately. Working Americans, whether Republicans, Democrats or Independents, have every reason to worry that three upcoming critical bills, and the jobs they each create, are at risk if the GOP’s extreme demands are not met: The long-term Federal Aviation Administration bill, the highway and mass transit reauthorization and the extension of unemployment insurance benefits. 

 

“These immediate threats of additional job losses have nothing to do with ongoing global economic instability. Rather, they have everything to do with manufactured Republican politics that should be of great concern to those without a job now and those who fear that their jobs could be next on the chopping block.

 

“First – The FAA. While thousands of airport construction workers will return to work because of this week’s deal to reopen the Federal Aviation Administration, these workers could be out of a job again when the legislation expires on September 16th.  Republicans are demanding  a radical change to a long-standing and accepted labor practice and are threatening to shut the FAA down, again, over it. This would put close to 90,000 private sector construction workers and engineers out of work. There is no agreement in Congress to make this change to workers’ rights. Insisting it be included in the FAA bill will only cause more economic uncertainty.

 

“Second – The Highway bill. Our nation’s highway and mass transit program authorization expires on September 30.  Republicans in the House are pushing a bill that would slash our historic commitment to rebuild our country, threatening to kill 650,000 private sector construction and engineering jobs for highways and mass transit projects. There is a competing bi-partisan bill in the Senate that could be taken up and passed next month that would continue the program for two years at current funding levels without risking one construction worker’s paycheck. Pushing the House Republican highway bill instead will only fuel further economic uncertainty and anxiety.

 

“Third – Unemployment Insurance. While my top priority is to see more jobs created, those who cannot find work through no fault of their own will soon run out of the only lifeline they have left if extended unemployment insurance expires at the end of this year. Congressional Republicans have fought against extending UI time after time even though every dollar of unemployment insurance generates $1.61 of economic growth in return. Cutting off this lifeline would not just hurt those who are out of work, it would have a devastating effect on the small businesses that rely on these families as customers who buy groceries, gas and other necessities. Speaker Boehner and House Republicans should make a commitment to extend unemployment insurance while we work together to end the jobs crisis. Failure to do so will deepen economic uncertainty, hurt small businesses and sow more middle class anxiety over their ability to put food on their families’ tables.

 

“Republicans in Congress have proven beyond a doubt they will kill jobs in America if they cannot win their extreme and ideological demands. Their uncompromising approach that has become a substitute to bi-partisan cooperation in Congress is the No. 1 threat to Americans jobs right now and cannot be allowed to continue.”