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Harry Reid: Regulations have nothing to do with killing jobs
Hotair ^ | 11/15/2012 | Mary Katherine Ham

Posted on 11/15/2012 6:09:04 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Sen. Harry Reid, in a floor speech Tuesday:

Republicans "have yet to produce a single shred of evidence that the regulations they hate so much do the broad economic harms they claim. That's because there is none," said Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada.

In a Senate speech, Reid said the Bureau of Labor Statistics has concluded "only a tiny fraction of layoffs have anything at all to do with tighter regulation."

"Last year, only three-tenths of 1 percent of people who lost their jobs were let go principally because of government regulation or intervention," Reid said. "On the other hand, a quarter of them were laid off because of lack of business.

The Heritage Foundation’s James Gattuso explains the statistic:

The numbers come from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which, in cooperation from state authorities, tracks mass layoffs, defined as layoffs of 50 or more workers for 31 days or more. In each case in which such a “mass layoff” is identified, state authorities interview the employers involved, asking them (among other things) the reason for the layoffs. For the third quarter, BLS reported that 0.3 percent of respondents listed “governmental regulations/intervention” as the reason…

It appears to be a simple process, but it’s actually quite tricky. The first problem is that economic hardship does not come with labels. Employers know if their costs are rising but not necessarily whether it is due to new burdens imposed on their suppliers or other factors. They may know that they didn’t get the capital they needed but not if it was because investors had better opportunities or because of government financial rules. They will know if demand has slumped, but it’s not so clear whether it was because their product is valued less by the marketplace or because government rules choked off demand from customers. The actual causes are likely to be mixed.

But even if government interviewers could identify with precision the reasons for mass layoffs, that would tell us little about why unemployment is so high. Mass layoffs are only part of the job loss picture—job losses don’t always come 50 or more at a time. Most small businesses don’t even have 50 employees.

But where Reid and others really miss the mark, however, is in assuming that job losses are the problem, rather than a lack of job creation. As argued by my colleague James Sherk, layoffs spiked early in the recession but then they fell sharply. Since late 2009, gross job losses in the economy have actually been below their pre-recession levels. In fact, in 2010 there were fewer gross job losses than any time since the government began tracking these figures in 1992. Unemployment remains high because the economy has not been creating jobs. Last September, for instance, employers hired only 4.2 million new workers—a million fewer monthly new hires than before the recession.

Let’s lay aside the fact that it is job creation that’s most of our problem and that all the layoffs we’ve been hearing about lately seem to be Obamacare regulation-related.

Sen. Harry Reid, meet the people you think don’t exist. A boutique, local, organic, artisan maker of cured meats is closing in Denver thanks to a USDA regulation that would require him to taint his all-natural, Old World methods for making his product in order to comply:

“In August, the USDA imposed additional requirements on Il Mondo Vecchio’s production methods. After two months of sharing information and collaboration back and forth between Il Mondo Vecchio and the USDA as well as various attempts to modify the production methods,” the owners announced, “Il Mondo Vecchio has determined that the impact of the regulatory requirements on dry cured sausage products was detrimental to the quality of the product and therefore, Mark and Gennaro are forced to close the[ir] doors.”

This conflict between modern regulations and traditional methods is something DeNittis thought for a time he could navigate.

“We adhere to Old World techniques of natural process while following New World regulations,” Il Mondo Vecchio’s website states.

When it comes to Old World methods, I think it would be hard to find a better example of a traditional, conscientious, sustainable, and local producer than Il Mondo Vecchio.

The product has, of course, never sickened anyone or faced any complaint, and Denver foodies will count it a loss to their community. This is, literally, the war on bacon.

And, one man’s dream, his livelihood, his community, and his employees are poorer for it. But by all means, keep piling them on, Harry.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: 2012; commieairhead; congress; democrats; epaoutofcontrol; harryreid; ilmondovecchio; jobs; layoffs; liberalfascism; nevada; regulations; reid; unemployment
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To: SeekAndFind

Harry Reid’s mob connections have nothing to do with his corrupt behavior in the Senate. /s


21 posted on 11/15/2012 6:33:06 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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Donate here!

FReepathon is still on. Day 46
If not now, when?



22 posted on 11/15/2012 6:34:24 PM PST by RedMDer (May we always be happy and may our enemies always know it. - Sarah Palin, 10-18-2010)
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To: SeekAndFind

The man is an imbecile


23 posted on 11/15/2012 6:34:36 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: SeekAndFind
Ni@@a, Pleezzeee!
24 posted on 11/15/2012 6:39:44 PM PST by bayouranger (The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The personification of Stuck on Stupid

Wow. Shame on Nevada.


25 posted on 11/15/2012 6:39:56 PM PST by A_Former_Democrat (Elections do have consequences, young people of America)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

As a life-long public sector leech, his only real world experience with regulations is that those are the things he gets pay-offs for, from the people who are paying him off to look the other way.

Seriously.


26 posted on 11/15/2012 6:42:04 PM PST by Newtoidaho (Fight organized crime. Vote out all incumbent Democrats!)
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To: Octar

That makes me smile.


27 posted on 11/15/2012 6:53:27 PM PST by ilovesarah2012
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To: John W
lying doesn't make him crazy, simply a liar...
28 posted on 11/15/2012 6:54:24 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: SeekAndFind
Let's all put our thinking caps on, shall we?

Let's take a business
Let's add regulation. Restrictions, licenses, fees, paperwork.
Let's increase the minimum wage.
Let's increase mandated benefits (health care, unemployment, etc.)
Let's increase the cost of energy through misguided energy policy
Let's increase taxes. All taxes. Income taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, energy taxes, tolls, fees, etc.
Let's institute lawsuits for descrimation, environmental violations, jobsite safety, yada yada yada.
Let's do everything we can to strengthen union power
Let's denegrate capital formation and investment.

Let's do all these things and then cross our fingers for job creation.

Welcome to Obamanomics.

29 posted on 11/15/2012 6:56:09 PM PST by fhayek
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To: SeekAndFind

Idiot


30 posted on 11/15/2012 6:56:39 PM PST by WriteOn (Truth)
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To: SeekAndFind

Idiot


31 posted on 11/15/2012 6:56:39 PM PST by WriteOn (Truth)
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To: SeekAndFind

Just ask me, Harry . . . POS . . . . how can these people sleep at night???


32 posted on 11/15/2012 6:58:23 PM PST by RatRipper (Self-centeredness, greed, envy, deceit and lawless corruption has killed this once great nation.)
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To: SeekAndFind

According to the BLS (Bureau of Lying Statistics), the cheap political whore of the administration....yah, I believe everything they say.


33 posted on 11/15/2012 7:10:39 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (The law of unintended consequences is an unforgiving and vindictive b!tch!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I can think of one right off the bat that dirty Harry shamelessly rammed through Congress in the middle of the night and on weekends, ignoring public outrage: OBAMACARE


34 posted on 11/15/2012 7:17:19 PM PST by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (IMPEACH OBAMA)
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To: SeekAndFind

WHY is that pusillanimous pustule still sucking oxygen?


35 posted on 11/15/2012 7:33:08 PM PST by left that other site (Worry is the Darkroom that Develops Negatives.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Reid,like Obama and Pelosi, hasn’t so much as run a hot dog stand and has no clue what it is like to run a business or make a payroll. They are clueless about how much time and money is wasted on permits, approvals and mindless government paperwork. Many businesses need to have full time government compliance specialists that are just an overhead cost and don’t add a dime to the bottom line. When I worked in the private sector, I was a government affairs liaison for a national corporation and my sole job was to get the permits and government approvals needed to develop new projects.


36 posted on 11/15/2012 7:38:07 PM PST by The Great RJ
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To: SeekAndFind

Of course not Harry, we just lay people off because we want to do less business and make less money.


37 posted on 11/15/2012 7:46:14 PM PST by Track9
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To: null and void

Sometimes there’s just not enough Geritol.


38 posted on 11/15/2012 7:46:19 PM PST by Bshaw (A nefarious deceit is upon us all!)
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To: SeekAndFind

what vile, evil, empty, corrupt, and angry man he is.

Not only that, I believe he is mentally ill.


39 posted on 11/15/2012 8:16:00 PM PST by Hammerhead
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To: John W
This guy belongs in a straightjacket in a rubber room.

Along with Pelosi and Obama. And we think the Republican party leadership has problems?

What a sad reflection of our country.

40 posted on 11/15/2012 8:18:19 PM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas (Viva Christo Rey!)
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