Yesterday, President Obama outline a proposed $447 billion jobs bill that would cut payroll taxes, increase spending on infrastructure and public works programs, and extend unemployment benefits.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with lightning-fast speed, released a statement and video response last night claiming much of the bill "just won't work." However, top economists say the plan would add 2 million jobs and increase the economy by 2 percent.
"So there are some things that the president outlined that I think we can be supportive of, but my problem with this, quite frankly, is that a lot of it just won't work. A lot of it sounds like things we've already tried, such as more government spending. $800 billion didn't create jobs, how is $447 billion going to create jobs?" Rubio said. "So, ultimately I think the problem is there are some things in there that are good, but by and large, it's a proposal based on things that just won't work, haven't worked in the past and they won't work in the future."
Well, Senator Rubio, here's Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi to explain to you how the bill would add jobs.
According to UPI, he says, the "plan would likely add 1.9 million payroll jobs and grow the U.S. economy 2 percent" and "likely cut the unemployment rate by a percentage point." Zandi isn't alone.
"Payroll tax cuts are very powerful," Allen Sinai, chief economist of Decision Economics, tells the AP. "They provide a boost to direct income and, in turn, spending, which is important to growth."
If anything, there's some economists who say Obama's plan doesn't go far enough, and would like to see more spending.
However, Rubio's insistence that the plan "just won't work," doesn't seem to be the blanket answer for all Republicans.
House Speaker John Boehner says, "The proposals the president outlined tonight merit consideration."
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