Wanted: John Mica, Job Killer
August 08, 2011, 2:00am

The Man Who Wants To Kill More Than 560,000 American Jobs

You’ve probably never heard of Rep. John Mica (R-FL), but he’s someone every American should know about because if he get his way, thousands of people in your home state will lose their jobs in the next year. There’s even a good chance some already have.

Here’s the rundown.

WHO: Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the committee that oversees the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and which is responsible for writing the bills that fund transportation and infrastructure projects across the country (often simply referred to as the “highway bill” even though it funds much more than just highways).

WHAT: Going out of his way to kill American jobs in all 50 states at a time when we already have 9.2 percent unemployment (unemployment is a staggering 16.3 percent in the construction industry).

HOW:

  • Slashing Transportation Funding: Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling, even as countries like China spend hundreds of billions of dollars in sleek, new high-speed trains and airports.

    John Mica’s solution: slash transportation funding, even though our current infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP (2 percent) is already at half what it was in 1960 and less than one-quarter of what China spends today (9 percent). If Mica’s misguided transportation plan were to be implemented, it would be an economic disaster and throw hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work.

    Some key facts about the Mica transportation plan:

Cuts will destroy – rather than support — existing jobs and will not enable creation of the additional jobs needed to put the 16.3% of unemployed workers in the construction industry back to work.

IN ONE SENTENCE: John Mica’s plans to kill more than half a million American jobs are proof that the GOP cares far more about its own extreme ideology than about American jobs or making the investments we need to keep America great.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

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Sign Here: ThinkProgress Launches Petition Asking Reid And Pelosi To Hold The Line

ThinkProgress launched a petition today aimed at bolstering Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as they make their nominations to the new “Super Committee” created in the debt deal.  Take a look at the language and PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN:

Dear Leader Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid:

We have a jobs crisis in America. Unfortunately, the debt limit deal that was signed into law yesterday goes straight in the wrong direction. We are writing to urge you to ensure that we immediately change course.

Specifically, we ask that you only appoint members to the “super committee” who agree in advance they will only support a package that includes:

1. New revenues that exceed any additional cuts
2. A job creation package

If these components are not included, your appointees should agree to oppose the package, even if the result will be that the so-called “trigger” cuts go into effect. It’s time to hold the line.

 

 

 

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