Labor & Employment Law

Republican ?Jobs? Bills Fail Truth Test

By Mike Hall

If there was a ?truth in labeling law? for congressional legislation, a series of Republican bills aimed at repealing last year?s landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law would be facing felony charges, AFL-CIO Policy Director Damon Silvers told a congressional hearing today.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises on the Republicans? so-called ?job creation? bills, Silvers said:

The proposals under consideration during today?s hearing are not about putting Americans back to work. The proposals are an attempt to chip away at the first meaningful steps toward re-regulating our financial markets after 30 years of deregulation led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

For example, if there was ?truth in labeling,? he said, the Burdensome Data Collection Relief Act that repeals part of the new law?s provision that brings transparency to CEO pay should be renamed ?The Promote CEO Pay Secrecy Act.?

The Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act, which would exempt rating agencies from the same standards that apply to other experts giving opinions in connection with offerings of asset-backed securities, would be called ?Legal Immunity for the People Who Brought You the Financial Panic Act.?

Silvers told the panel the ?The American people are genuinely worried about unemployment and are frustrated that Congress is focused on side-issues that will not help get people back to work.?

A Kaiser Health Tracking Poll conducted in February found that 71 percent of adults in this country feel that Congress is paying too little attention to the economy and jobs. Tragically, cynical exercises in financial deregulation, such as the bills under consideration today, are only going to intensify public frustration with Congress.

Click here for his full testimony.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on March 16, 2011 (boomark / email).