Andy Harris on AMERICAN jobs

Andy Harris released a statement arguing against Obama’s jobs bill proposal. Andy writes: “Over Labor Day weekend I met with many small business owners on the Ocean City Boardwalk – a common theme I heard from those potential job creators was their desire to get government out of the way so that they could do what they do best: grow their businesses and create American jobs.”

He HAS to be kidding! Create AMERICAN jobs on the boardwalk by simply getting government out of the way? The Dispatch noted Harris commenting that Labor Day is the last weekend for many OC businesses to make money. Where is government standing in the way of boardwalk businesses creating American jobs if they won’t be open for business until roughly Easter of next year? Did Harris just conveniently forget that the Ocean City business model of employment is 3-5 months of work, followed by unemployment benefits for the remainder of the year for those workers who actually ARE Americans? Given his Party's strong objection to sustained unemployment benefits, I’m really surprised he would try to paint OC boardwalk businesses as an example of potential American jobs. Does he not realize that Ocean City now actively recruits a FOREIGN workforce to fill most of these seasonal jobs? No longer do we see American college students filling the bulk of these seasonal positions at OC retail stores and restaurants. Now they are primarily Russian speaking workers. (Hop on the bus in Ocean City in the summer and see if English is spoken as much as Russian.)

I’ll try to give Harris some credit in his statement. Maybe what he means by getting government out of the way for boardwalk businesses is eliminating the burden of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Business owners don't have to pay this when hiring temporary foreign workers like they do when they hire American workers. Maybe if we just eliminate Social Security, we could have Ocean City boardwalk businesses create American jobs again – at least for a few months per year. Or maybe he is referring to the burden of having to pay a worker the outrageous minimum of $7.25 per hour worked. Maybe that is the governmental burden he is referring to. Maybe it's both. 

Whatever government regulations he may be eluding to, it is clear he has no idea of the economic realities regarding American jobs. Not on the seasonal Ocean City boardwalk, and not on the national scale.