If President Obama “can’t wait” to fix the economy, he should consider Republicans’ job-creation plans, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Fox & Friends Wednesday.
The comment was a reference to the president’s new “we can’t wait” slogan, which Obama rolled out this week along with a series of economic initiatives, including reforms to housing and student debt, that he can pass without congressional approval.
In a separate appearance on CNN's American Morning, McCarthy touted a proposed bill that would remove a Depression-era restriction on access to capital for small businesses, which he said are the main engine of job growth. Under current law, companies can only solicit funds from investors with which they already have a relationship or they have to pay to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposed bill would eliminate that restriction.
The California congressman described his own experience, at age 20, of opening a deli -- an example of an industry that isn't high-growth, which banks don't consider good bets, but that helped McCarthy pay for college. He cited Facebook and Apple as examples of companies that started from nothing and got all the capital they needed—and wondered aloud how many companies failed before they got off the ground because they couldn’t access capital.
The proposed bill is “not the end-all, but a big beginning of it,” McCarthy said.
He also pointed to 15 “forgotten” plans sitting in the Senate that have not been taken up. These would create jobs, reform the housing industry, and improve the economy, and the president should consider them, he said.
“If we can’t wait… I can’t wait for [Obama] to get off the campaign trail and get back here and work with us to solve some of these problems,” McCarthy told Fox & Friends.
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