Blog: Small Businesses Need Help

Statement

Today, the Labor Department released its monthly jobs report, reporting that "the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 9.6%." Although the private sector added 67,000 private sector jobs, there are far too many Americans out of work. Alexi released the following statement on the issue:

Today's disappointing jobs numbers are further evidence that the economic recovery is only boosting salaries on Wall Street while leaving out millions of Americans struggling to find work. I have argued for the past year that we can accelerate recovery by extending tax cuts for low- and middle-income workers, and by opening credit to small and emerging businesses that are the lifeblood of the American economy.

Congressman Kirk demonstrated again today that his solution is to return the failed Bush/Kirk economic policies that got us into this mess. He was a rubberstamp for every single one of the Bush budgets that doubled the national debt, turned record surpluses into record deficits, and destroyed 8 million jobs. Even worse, this is what he wants to go back to. Illinois simply can't afford any more of Congressman Kirk's economic agenda.

Today's unemployment numbers come on the heels of a disturbing report this week by the Institute for Policy Studies which found that CEOs raked in millions in executive compensation while slashing jobs:

Slashing Jobs Pays: CEOs of the 50 firms that have laid off the most workers since the onset of the economic crisis took home nearly $12 million on average in 2009, 42 percent more than the CEO pay average at S&P 500 firms as a whole.

Profit-Employment Disconnect: The overwhelming majority of the layoff-leading firms -- 72 percent -- announced their mass layoffs at a time of positive earnings reports. This reflects a broader trend in Great Recession Corporate America: squeezing workers to boost profits and maintain high CEO pay.

As we climb out of the hole created by eight years of catastrophic Republican economic policies, it's more important than ever that Congressional efforts focus specifically on small businesses that are responsible for the majority of job creation, not mega-corporations that layoff workers by the thousands while showering CEOs with lavish pay. That's why Alexi has proposed a comprehensive economic plan to invest directly in the small businesses which fuel job growth.

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