On Capitol Hill, all eyes are on tomorrow morning’s federal jobs report.
As described by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee — which is responsible for deliberating taxes and other fiscal policy measures — President Joe Biden has fallen 700,000 jobs short of his 2.4 million promised new positions for the second quarter of 2021.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, told The Daily Wire that policymakers — and average American citizens — ought to therefore keep their eyes on three particular findings in the upcoming report.
First — “Is Biden closing his own jobs deficit?”
Brady noted that the commander-in-chief would need “1.36 million jobs to close that gap.” He predicted that Biden “will fall far short,” but affirmed that Republicans “will continue to track the gap between what he promised and what he’s delivering with the COVID jobs money.”
Second — “Are workers coming back?”
Brady said job market distortions are behind rampant inflation and widespread supply chain issues: “The labor force participation rate, that key indicator — it’s just stuck at a very low rate. It hasn’t budged in six months under President Biden. Without those workers returning, we’re gonna continue to see those higher prices and those slower deliveries in a major way.”
Third — “Are families going to continue falling farther behind with their buying power?”
Since the beginning of 2021, inflation has outpaced wage growth for the typical American family, leading to a progressive erosion in buying power. Brady said that rising price levels could “continue to outstrip wages for the seventh consecutive month.”
Brady concluded that lawmakers must stop inflicting both short-term and long-term harms upon the American economy by avoiding the temptation to create new social programs.
“The biggest mistake Congress could make would be to double down on government spending,” he argued. “A double down on endless government checks and the creation of new entitlements will increase dependency on government and discourage people from work and self-sufficiency.”
“Those are the biggest worries I think we have right now.”
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.